FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1952, 23 July 1891, Page 28

FOOTBALL.

I NOTES BY FORWARD. The following is the premiership list to date :— ,i

Thirty-three members of the Pirates Club have so far this season played in the first fifteen, f M'lntyre, who was suspended by the Wellington jjugby Union in 1889, and expelled from the ranks of the Poneke Club, upon a suspicion of having combined with Roberts for the transfer, in consideration of monetary advantages, of their services to the Wellington Club, has reappeared as a member of the first fifteen of the Poneke. Undismayed by the miserable weather, and undismayed by the fact that accidents and other unforeseen circumstances have made terrible breaches in their ranks — there being no fewer than four fresh vacancies in their beam since the previous week — the Pirates went to Mosgiel on Saturday to fulfil their fixture with the Taieri. /The weather had cleared up by the time they got to Mosgiel, bat for all that they were not expected to put in an appearance. The ground, however, was in good condition, and a good game eventuated, the scores at the finish, — 7 points for the Taieri to 5 for the Pirates — about representing the merits of the teams. The play of the three-quarter basks was the feature in which the winning team displayed the moat marked superiority over the Pirates, and it was in the centre that the superiority was most noticeable. Mackie, who is the centre three-quarter back of the Taieri team, is a player of sterling merit, who both runs and passes with judgment. Opposed to him the Pirates tried Crawshaw, Burton, Cran, and J. Morris in succession— Orbell, who has recently filled the position, playing full back owing to the inability of Williams, Matheson,or fcMorley to form one of the team. The weather was not suited to the play of the Elders, but both made some smart dashes and kicked well. .Stevenson also did fine work as half back ; . while of the forwards Findlay, a tall, heavy man, who was playing his second game only, showed that he was made of the right stuff, and that he was likely to develop into a splendid performer. Flynn, the Taieri full back, who has been mentioned as an aspirant for interprovincial honours, got plenty to do, and played a safe game. He is inclined to trust too much to his running — he runs with his head down, and is a nasty customer to tackle — and he went in for the dangerous practice (in a full back) of following up bis kick. He may be reminded that when he is following hi 3 kick up it is not good form to howl and yell with the idea of flurrying the opposing player in whose direction the ball is falling. Oroell made a very creditable appearance as a full back for the Pirates, and did some capital tackling and saving. The threequarter backs call for no special mention, but Cran performed effectively, as usual, behind the scrum, and Crawshaw also played well at half back, the latter's weak point being that he does not get round to the back of the scrum to spoil the opposing halves. J. H. Morris, who reappeared in the Pirates team, proved that his long sojourn in the country had not impaired his dribbling powers. The forwards on the losing side played pretty evenly all round, and they were well led by Drabble. - The bad weather which prevailed in town on Saturday introduced a very strong element of chance into the only senior-club match which was played — that between the Kaikorai and Dunedin Clubs, on the Caledonian ground. It frequently happens when a match is played under such conditions that the winning team have to thank Dame Fortune for their victory, and tbis is especially so when the scoring is confined to a goal obtained from the field, such as constituted the only score in the match under notice. The game was, of course, chiefly a forward one, and the uncertain foothold tended to produce something more nearly approaching an equality among the forwards than is usually found on a dry ground. The backs did not get the ball frequently, and were heavily handicapped when they did get it, by its state as well as by the state of the ground. H. Fulton, who has only been playing for. a few weeks— and chiefly with the second fifteen of bis club— was decidedly the most prominent back of the afternoon. A powerful player, who runs strongly and kicks well, and who moreover roes his head, he might, if he had persevered with his play, have made a name for himself in the field long before this. On the same side Cuff and Sullivan did good work ; while Richardson and Laurenson, of whom the former appears to be improving, were the pick of the back division of the Kaikorai team. The Caversham First Fifteen deserved a better fate when they proceeded to Mosgiel to play the Taieri Second Fifteen than to find that a team conld not be mustered to play against them. Surely if a town club can get a team to go to the Taieri on a wet Saturday to fulfil their fixture the local club should be able to raise a team to oppose them. The University Second Fifteen were to have opposed the Milton Club on the latter's ground, but a team of 14, including three members of the First Fifteen, was all that could be raised. An enjoyable game was played, however, Milton winning in the end by 3 points to nil. From the Cromwell Argus I learn that on a recent evening about 20 members of the promwell Football Club met to present Mr J. Swan with a purse of sovereigns on the occasion of his marriage, as a token of the esteem in which he is held on and off the football field. The captain of the club made the presentation, and expressed a hope that Mr Swan would long don the colours of the C.F.C. Mr Swan expressed his heartfelt thanks for the kindness shown him, and hoped that he would long be able to play for the C.F.C. The company appear to have had " a good time of it," for on reading further down I find that after a number of songs were sung an adjournment was made to the dining room, where a spread such as is seldom seen on the goldfields— " poultry, hams, tongue,' with a variety of light delicacies " — was provided by the hostess. It may seem an ungenerous thing to cast a wet blanket over the participators in such a rejoicing, but it is only right to point out that the recipient, at any rate, of the purse of sovereigns appears to have debarred himself— if indeed all the subscribers to the presentation have not also debarred themselves — from again playing. I suppose it did not occur to those who promoted the presentation or to the gentleman who accepted it that they were bringing themselves within the scope of the laws relating to professionalism, but if they will refer to the Otago Rugby Football Union's Annual, and turn to page 48, they will there find, under the

heading of " revised regulations relating to professionalism," the following clause :—" Every testimonial to any member of a football club belonging to the union is illegal, and both the giver and receiver ahall be considered as infringing the laws of professionalism unless the presentation has been sanctioned by the committee of the county in which the club is situate. The spirit of the union laws on professionalism for the time being shall bo taken as a guide by the county committee." The powers delegated to county committees, which include the sanctioning of a presentation, have been expressly delegated also to colonial unions, as will be seen from a letter addressed by the hon. secretary of the Rugby Football Union to the hon. secretary of the O.R P.U., and published afc page 16 of the Annual. In that letter Mr Rowland Hill states that his committee have instructed him to say that " it was certainly their intention that the unions of New Zealand should have the full powers of a county committee to deal with cases of professionalism and all the other matters which are delegated to those bodies." The following decision of the Rugby Union Committee will be ; found at page 45 of the Annual : — " It is not permissible to give a testimonial in the form of money to any player, and a club is not allowed out of its funds to subscribe to a testimonial of any kind." Ido not suggest that the presentation that I have referred to is of a kind that would warrant the recipient in being branded as a professional, but it seems clear that the members of the Cromwell Club have overlooked the regulations that deal with the giving of testimonials, and my object in drawing attention to the present case and to the penalties involved in the making of money presentations, is principally to warn clubs that they may be bringing unpleasant consequences upon members in their manifestations of good fellowship. The Charleston Herald gives an account, which is well worth reading,, of a match between the Charleston and Westport Clubs. The latter won by 11 points to 0. The Herald says : — •* There was a pretty fair 1 muster of spectators on the ground, who seemed to take a good deal of interest in the struggle, especially the juvenile portion. The grass was a little moist, and in several places hidden from view altogether by small sheets of water, ranging in depth from a foot to a foot and a-half or two feet, and to our mind it was in these little reservoirs the skill of the players was seen to the best advantage. The Charleston boys, to put it as mildly as we can, were completely outclassed by their opponents at all points of the game. No doubt they are a sturdy combination, possessing plenty of weight and muscle, but we are inclined to think the majority of them have too much of the avoirdupois located at the end of the back, which greatly militates against celerity of action and promptness of despatch. In the first spell of the game they managed to hold their own, and had a point to the good", but it was clear to the majority of the onlookers that their opponents were masters of the situation at any time they wished to, exercise the privilege. We can explain this last item by the result of the second spell, which was— Westport 6, Charleston nix." The news of Harold Hassal's death, which occurred at Christchurch on Saturday last from typhoid fever, came as a great shock to his many friends in Dunedin, where he was well-known 3d athletic circles ; haviDg been for some seasons a prominent member of the Pirates Club. From no person in Christchurch did members of visiting football teams from Otago receive 'a heartier welcome than fromHassal. The last time that I saw him was during the Easter Encampment at Oamaru, where he was with the company to which he belonged — the Christ's College Rifles — and at that time nobody, seeing his stalwart form, would have supposed that within the spaca of so few months the hand of Death was to be laid upon him. The annual match between teams representing the Canterbury and South Canterbury Rugby Unions is set down for Saturday next at Lancaster Park. The Canterbury team has been selected as follows : — H. Wilson, G. Homer, T. R .Cresswell. W. Balch, F. Homer, T. Gordon J. Cow, F. Evans, A. Ebert, L. Ebert, C. Garrard, G. Humphreys, F. Leach, A. Pitcaithly, H. Thacker. Merivale has six representatives, Canterbury College four, Christchurch and East Christchurch two each, and Linwood one. Despite, the wretched | weather which prevailed on Saturaay a large number of persons assembled at the Caledonian grounds to witness the match between the Kaikorai and Dunedin teams. Owing to the heavy rain a start was not made with the game till about 3.35 p.m., when the weather had clearly up slightly. It was accordingly decided to play 40 minute spells, or until the referee considered it too dark to continue the' game. Kaikorai kicked off with the wind in their favour, and soon the play was in the Dunedin quarters, the Bines being forced down three times quickly in succession, after a series of good dribbling rushes on the part of their opponents. After about 20 minutes play in the Dunedin territory Cuff managed to secure the ball from the scrum and made a good run, passing to Power, who was collared in the middle of the ground. A good dribbling rush then saw the play transferred for a short time to the Kaikorai twenty-five. The Kaikorai men, however, soon rushed the ball down towards their opponents' quarters, but Fulton saved his side by a judicious kick. When the ball was next in the Dunedin ground the Blues got a free kick, in consequence of the off-side play of a Kaikorai man, but it did not eventuate in anything. A good lopg kick by Duncan afterwards resulted in Dunedin being again forced down. The next bit of good play was by Dunoan, Macdonald, and Laurenson, who did a smart passing run, but the ball was called back. Shortly afterwards Macdonald obtained a mark from a good kick by one of the Dunedin men, and Laurenson kicked a goal, this being the first score in the game. Taiaroa picked up the ball off-side, and Laurenson took a kick from the same position as formerly, but was not successful. Elder subsequently did good service for his side by stopping a'dribble smartly, and half-time was called with the score standing— Kaikorai 3 points, Dunedin nil. The second spell was commenced in a heavy downpour of rain. During the first few minutes, Kaikorai made some good dribbling rushes, and caused a force down. Power subsequently tackled King off-side, and Kaikorai got a free kick, but nothing came of it. A good bit of play ou the part of Dunedin ensued, and culminated in Taiaroa nearly kicking a goal from a drop kick. The Bines shortly afterwards got a force down. Fulton then made a rattling good run, but was collared by Richardson on the Kaikorai boundary. The Dunedin men were now on their mettle, and played much better than in the previous spell Fulton kicked the leather down thefield to the Kaikora line, when Sullivan dashed in, and got over, but lost the ball. Fulton then came to the front once more, and by means of a good bit of play on his part Kaikorai were again forced down. The play was shifted to Dunedin territory, but fine dribbling rushes by the Blues ensued, and they seemed likely to score, but Richardson saved his Bide by marking. The game ended shortly afterwards, no further score having been made. Kaikorai thus won by 3 points to nil.

The return match between the Taieri and Pirates Clubs was played on Saturday afternoon

on the ground of the former. The weather was anything but inviting when the Pirates stepped into the train at the railway statioL, and there was every indication that the rain had set in for the afternoon, but on their arrival at Mosgiel they found that the clouds had passed away, and, moreover, the ground was in good condition. In order that the town team might return by the 5.15 train it waß arranged that the spells should be of 35 minutes' duration, and about 3.25 p.m. Davidson -kicked off. For a quarter of an hour or so the play was kept in the Taieri half of the ground, but some wild passing let the home team into their opponents' quarters. R. Elder made frequent attempts to cross the line, but was never allowed to make I much progress. On the other wing W. Elder made a strong run dowa to the full back, Orball, who upset him in fine style, and then grassed the player to whom Elder passed. The Pirates cleared their lines for some minutes ; but Findlay obtained the ball from a loose scrum and got as far as the line, over which he fell in Orbell's embrace, scoring a try, which was converted. The Taieri continued to press their opponents, the three-quarter backs— Mackie in particular — completely outshining those of the visiting team, and eventually Stevenson crossed the line, scoring near the posts. The place kick again resulted in the major points being registered. In the second spell the Colours invaded the Pirates' quarters, and, as the result of some passing, R. Elder obtained a try, which was not enhanced — an attempt to kick a goal from a mark, obtained by Mackie, being similarly ineffectual. In the face of these reverses the Pirates played up with considerable spirit, and some good dribbling, in which Matthewson, J. Morris, and Wales were prominent, put the home team on the defensive, and Flynn had his hands full in defending his lines. A deliberate piece of off-side play by one of the Taieri forwards gave the visitors a free kick, and Drabble improved the occasion by piloting the ball safely over the, bbarr r while shortly afterwards — immediately before the call of time— Crawshaw obtained the ball about^he quarter distance, and, eluding Flynn, scored under the posts after a neat run. grabble I kicked a goal from the place, and the game terminated in favour of the Taieri by two goals and a try (7 points) to two goals (5 points). Mr F. T. Home controlled the play in the capacity of referee.

At Wellington the Te Aute College met the Wellington Club on Saturday afternoon, and, after a tough game, defeated them by one try to nil. The ground was in a terrible state, and made fast play out of the question. The visitors had t the best of the spell, and Jameson, after a magnificent run from the vicinity of the centre flag, scored a try, but the attempt at goal was a failure. In the second spell the home team played up better, and had the Te Aute boys sorely pressed on several occasions, but they could not score in the face of the fine combination shown by the visitors' forwatd division. In the Athletic-Fetone round for the senior championship, the former won by 2 points to nil.

The Rangers, playing under Association rules, journeyed to Burnside on Saturday and played the local team, who defeated them by four goals to nil. The game was a very enjoyable one, and the Rangers made a fair stand against the senior club, considering that they were playing three substitutes. The following scored for the winners :— Scott, Turner (2), and Hamilton. A. W. North, Helgendorf, and J. North played well for the losers.

18. >s. Club. Played. Won. Lost. Drawn. For.] Aget. 6 23 26 28 35 klhambr.? Caikora* Jnlon ;.. laieri !... Junedip iingariLiohm'nd fnivr'sity 'iratel... 7 10 9 8 10 7 8 5 4 4 r 2 4 4 5 48 68 40 I 23 i 2 * 1 8 6 10 1 1 2 5 4 8 2 1 12 10 23 31 48 52