SATURDAY'S MATCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2103, 14 June 1894, Page 32

SATURDAY'S MATCHES.

The drizzling rain which fell practically with' out intermission on Saturday caused the abandonment of nearly every football matcb. arranged for the afternoon, but the Kaikoraf and Alhambra Clubs decided to proceed with, their fixture, for which bhe Caledonian ground had been secured. The match did nob causo nearly so much interest as ib has caused in other seasons— this faofc being due to the wellfounded impression that the Kaikorai team was many points better thftn the Alhatnbra, as well as superior to every o,th©r senior club playing in Dunedin— »bub there was, nevertheless, a large crowd of spectators — probably between 2000 and 300Q people being present— and the sympathisers of _ the Alhambra were, if noise went for any- . thing, in a decided preponderance. The teams were somewhat late in starting, and ib was 3.15 p.m. before Mr J. Croxford, ] who filled the position of referee with admirable -.- smartness, gave the warning whistle which: indicated that the play was about to begin. It, was noticed when the teams lined oub that R;. Elder, who had been chosen to play for the Reds, was not presenb, and bhat M'Kenzie,. th«» Otago representative cricketer, took his, place, and, with Smyth and Haig, completed the weakest brio of bhree-quarber backs that the Alhambra has ever put in the field.. Tqq Kaikorai for the first spell defended bhe Kensington end, and when the play setbled Cor some bime after the kick-off in their hM? of the field, a good many scrummages taking plsca in a swampy pabch bebween the fifby and twenby-five flags, , and bhe Reds' forwards, among whom Esquilant . was conspicuous, holding their own, the supporters of the Opoho team hugged themselves in the belief that the hitherto invincible Kaikorai players were to be severely tried. The Reds had evidently made up their miads to. make the game a forward one, if possible, andi the conditions favoured them, for the ground was decidedly soft— the very day for a dribbling team — and the ball became so greasy that the* backs were placed at a great disadvantage. The Kaikorai baoks, however, accommodated; themselves to the circumstances surprisingly well, and the game had not been long in progress before Sinclair passed the ball oub nicely and, after ib had been through another pair of hands, ib fell into bhe possession of D. M'Laren,. who gabherod up wonderful speed and, dodgingRoss, terminated a fine run by scoring between, the posts. Woods, who was entrusted with thekick, piloted bhe ball through the uprights, bub as it had been touched in its night by one of the Albwnbw team the goal was nullified, Th&

kick-out left the play in neutral territory, bub the Reds were soon defending again. Woods and Duncan were successively stopped close to the line and Armit missed a good chance by failing to take a pass ; then the Blues were awarded a free kick for interference outside a scrum a few yards from the line, and Kerr ] made a good attempt with the place kick ; and eventually, after M'Kenzie had shifted the play momentarily from the Reds' quarters, Davis ran back well, and wound up by passing to Duncan, who ran in close to the goal. Woods failed.with the kick. By this time ib was apparent that the forward teams were about evenly matched — the Alhambra, however, having nine forwards to their opponents' eight, — and that the Kaikorai back division was much too strong for the Reds. On the resumption of play there was some close work about the centre ; but the Blues speedily got going again, and a capital passing rush, in which Davis, Duncan, and Woods had a hand, carried the play inside the the Alhambra quarters, where W. Wilkinson seenred possession, and while the Reds, who seemed for the time to have lost their heads, looked on, he ran ia almost unopposed. H. Wilkinson improved the score. Starting from the centre with the kick off did not help the Alhambra, as Gawne and H. Wilkinson in quick succession by good play and fast following up, soon had Ross in difficulties ; but the Alhambra full back, who repeatedly saved his side during the match, prevented a score on each of these occasions. Duncan and Armit also made their way into the Reds' quarters, whence the play was, principally through Kestieaux's exertions, removed for a while, a fine passing rush by Duncan, Woods, and Armit taking it back again. There had been no farther score, however, when half time was called. The second spell opened with a good deal of play in neutral territory, whence the ball was carried by Dayie into the Reds' quarters, a hard kick driving it back, however, into midfield, where a lot of close and uninteresting work followed, in the course of which the referee had frequent occasion to operate upon his implement of office. On the ball being driven out of the melee, Ross made one of his few mistakes in the game, and bad fielding on his part gave the Kaikorai forwards possession of the ball and they swept over the lino with ifc in front of them, D. M'Laren scoring a try which Kerr failed to convert. A few minutes after this, the play being in the Reds' quarters, a pass from Davis gave Duncan a show, and the Blues' captain, dodging through the Alhambra backs, scored another try, while within a very short space of time after this, the Kaikorai having again assumed the offensive, a rush was instituted, which Rose, through slipping, was powerless to stop, and Duncan again scored. The attempts at goal in each of these instances were unsuccessful, but the state of the ball afforded reasonable excuse to the kickers. With 20 points recorded against them and certain defeat staring them in the face, the Alhambra team palled themselves together in a plucky and creditable manner, and they were warmly cheered fora dribbling rash with which they invaded the Kaikorai half of the ground, bub King, who like his vis-a-vis, hardly made a mistake — haviDg, however, very much less to do than Ross had — stopped their progress, and a minute or so later he satisfactorily returned a long drop kick from M'Kenzie. Tho Reds' forwards, encouraged by the shouts of bheir friends, gallantly rushed the ball into the Blues' quarters, but this effort was bub a flash in the pan, and the Kaikorai forwards first carried the ball back past tho centre and thea swept over the Reds' line with it, Kerr claiming a try, which was nob allowed by the referee, who ruled for a force down. The ball had hardly been kicked oub before the Blues were again attacking vigorously, and good passing between Duncan, Armit, and Woods let the latter score behind the posts. Again the kick at* goal was faultless, but just before time was called the Blues rushed the ball in front of the Alhambra goal, and Sinclair, ilipping across the line, scored a try, which was converted, and the match ended in a victory for the Kaikorai by two goals and six tries (28 points) to nothing.

The winning team undoubtedly held the upper hand throughout the game, and after the first half-hour's play the only questions in the minds of disinterested spectators were, How many points will the Kaikorai make P and Will the, Alhambra succeed in scoring? As in the other matches played by the Kaikorai this season, it was ia the back department that their superiority was manifested, but while this is so, it would be unjust to ignore the splendid combination and the simply admirable following up of the forwards, who, if they do play a hard rather than a scientific game, are certainly not to be despised. The great cause for regret in the play of both teams of forwards was their indifference to the value of dribbling. On such a ground and on such a day a good team of dribbling forwards— say, a team of Southland representative forwards — would go far to win any match. In the back division Robs was the only member of the Alhambra team who distinguished himself, his saving play and his kicking being remarkably good. Crawford and Restieaux played quite aD ordinary game at half back, and though M'Kenzie did a lot of spoiling the play of the three-quarter backs was beneath mediocrity. The Kaikorai backs, on the other hand, played an admirably combined game. King was safe as full back, and those in front of him handled the greasy ball with wonderful accuracy.

The match between Dunedin and Taieri was played at Mosgiel and resulted in a win fir Dunedin by 9 points to 3. Sullivan kicked off for the town team, and for the first 10 minutes the game was confined to Taieri quarters. Eventually a good pass from Sullivan enabled Best to score, but no goal resulted. After the kick out the Taieri forwards worked the ball down the field. Johnston, Cannon, and Bcingans put in some useful work for the Colours, and the Blues had a warm time defending their line. Flynn missed a good chance of scoring through trying to pot, but shortly afterwards the Colours' forwards dribbled the ball over the line, Milligan scoring. The attempt at goal was a failure. The Dunedin then showed up with some good passing rashes. From one of these Martin gob away, and a try seemed certain, but he was nicely collared by Miller, the Taieri fall back. The Dunedin were not to be denied, however, and from another passing rush M'Kenzie obtained a try, but the score was not enhanced. After the second spell commenced M'Kenzie scored another try for the Blues. The remainder of the game, which — owing to the delay in starting— was played in the dark, was evenly contested, there being no further score on either side. The Taieri forwards were superior to their opponents in the scram, some of the Dunedin men appearing to shirk this department of the game. In the loose play Dunedin had the advantage. Of the backs, Flynn for the Taieri was a host in himself, while Miller at full back was safe. The Dunedin backs all worked well, and their passing undoubtedly won them the game. Mr D. Torrance gave every satisfaction as referee. , _ . , The School and Port teams met on Saturday on the Asylum ground, when, in spile of the jnißfe and of the deplorable state of the ground, it

was decided to play. The game resulted in a win for the School by 8 points to 3. Good play was out of the question, as the greasy state of the ball made passing and kicking very uncertain. In the first spell Port had slightly the advantage, and succeeded in scoring one .try, which was not converted* In the second spell, however, the School played a rattling good game from beginning to end, scoring twice, and pressing Port hard all the time. For the School, Carter and J. G. Macdonald scored tries, and J. B. Macdonald converted one of them. Mackenzie at half back, and Inder, Paterson, and Fenwick (forwards) also played well for the School. Mr G. Thomson held the whistle and gave every satisfaction.

The Thistle Association Club played a match with a team from H.M.S. Rapid, and after a very enjoyable game defeated them by 4 goals to 1. Seaman G. May scored for the visitors, and E. Johnson, F. Warden, and P. Ross (2) for the Thistle team.