ASSOCIATION NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 57

ASSOCIATION NOTES

The positions of the various teams are now at a very interesting stage. Last Saturday's matches brought oul two surprises — i.e., Southern and Green Island a draw, and the downfall of the Northern at the hands — or rather feet— of Mornington. Southern are at present leading by one point, with Roslyn a good second. Supporters of the game are at a loss in re3pect to the positions of the junior clubs. Perhaps this is due to the .fact that the captain of junior clubs fail to send in reports of matches. However, if anyone has a full tabular list I shall be very pleased to have it.

Rather a. fine point cropped up in the Ros-Jyn-Wakari match. The referee blew his whistle for a foul againsi; Roslyn, which was as near as possible 12 yards from the goal line. On appeal by the Wakari captain for a penalty he was over-ruled owing to the fact that the referee gave his decision by the position of the 12-yard flags. A tape measure might have been useful. I am pleased to see Referee A^en donning the jersey again. He played against Northern last Saturday, and proved himself quite a Trojan. Wakari Park, which was in a "very soft and slippery condition, was the scene of a great struggle between the Roslyn and Wakari. Whenever these two teams meet a good game is expected, and the fail- number of spectators were not disappointed. For the first quarter of an hour from the kick-off Roslyn gave Wakari a lively time defending, and it was only after the per. ally kick was given against thorn, which Dobson made no mistake about, thai Wakari weie at all dangerous. The graaci defence of the Roslyn backs was more than equal lo any attempts of tne Wakari forwards lo break through in the second fepcll. Smallbones had very little to do. seldom touching the ball in the first spell, and only once being called upon to save in the second. G. Calder and Hiddlrston thoroughly understand each other, and gave great relief with their strong kicking. A. Dobson was aaain In bis bcsl foraa*

his dribbling and kicking being of a very high order. Clark played Ins best game this season, his plucky tackling and well-judged kicking fairly beating the "Wakari's left wing. Harlow, although handicapped from a kick received on the previous Saturday, played a hard game, and placed well to his forwards. , The combination of the Roslyn vanguard was superior to that of "Wakari, their accurate'passing often carrying them the whole length of the field. They all played well, Robertson's centring deserving special mention. Lothian played his usual safe game in goal for Wakari, and cleared well on more than one occasion. G. M'Millan gave a good exhibition of his kicking powers, particularly in the first spell, the Roslyn forwards giving him very little chance of relieving in the second half. Adams was the pick of the Wakari backs, and is fast developing into a first-class player, and will give some of the older players a " go " for interpro. honours. M'Dougall put in a lot of hard work, fed his forwards well, and was ably assisted by More.

The Wakari forwards were without the assistance of Pritchar.d, - but his position was fill eel with credit hy M'Lareii, wlio xises his head well, and is not slow in following lip any hard kicking that may be indulged in. Gillespie was undoubtedly the pick of the Wakari forward division, and was very near scoring more than once. • J. and D. M'Millan played well together, but their shooting was a bit wild in the first half of the game. Sligo was not up to old form, and was rarely dangerous.

The. Mornington ground was in a very greasy condition on Saturday, and tliis fact, together with the poor display of the Northern backs, enabled Mornington to effect another big surprise by putting down the North End team by 4- goals to 3.

Mornington played a hard game from start to finish', their backs especially being very safe and a pleasing contrast to Northern's backs. The latter, almost without exception, were very decidedly off colour. This is partly to be accounted for by the very slippery ground, and then, again, M'Lachlau'e absence made a great difference -to the half back division.

Northern forwards played well together, and had rather bad luck in not bagging another goal or two. They made the mistake of attempting to "pull up and steady the ball before shooting, an almost impossible feat in the state of the ground, instead of rocking them in on the run. The whole five played up to form, however, but their untiring efforts to get the leather between Mornington's posts were rendeied futile, partly owing to the sound defence of the opposing backs and partly to the meagre assistance received from their own rearguard. Mornington forwards went in for hard kicking, and the wisdom of this proceeding is apparent in the result of their exertions. After a couple of seasons' spell, Arthur Allen has stripped again, and played centre half for Mornington on Saturday. He is rathei out of condition, but gave ample proof of his nbi'ity as a half back. The Referees' Club's loss is Mornington's gain.

Mornington's backs deserve every credit for their exhibition, the two full backs, Sparrow and Faiquharson, being especially prominent by their fine kicking. On the whole, the game was pretlv fast : the last part of the second spell the ball kept travelling" from one end to the other, and until the whistle sounded "lime," t^.e game might have been av>ybody\s. The. state of the ground rendered a first-class disnlay out of the question, and cotvscquently there was a lot of luck connected with some of the goals scored. "•— — -

Cope is a decided acquisition to the back ranks of Roslyn A. He got his Bide out of difficulty a number of times, and his kicking: left nothing tc be desired. The Roslyn Bees gave the A tram a rather hot time, as may be judged by the score, which is the smallest they have had registered against them tins season. Burk up, Bees. If you keep on improving at the ratp you have dnrinc t'te first round, you might score a win before the end of the season.