NOTES ON SATURDAY'S PLAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 57

NOTES ON SATURDAY'S PLAY.

The side which chainges its stylo of play to suit the conditions has always a better chance of victory than the one which adheres to a particular system under all^circumstances. Therein lay the secret of Pirates' 61100893 and Zingari's downfall on Saturday. Time was when, Zingari were perfectly at home on a treacherous ground, and eve<n. now they can play a dtoeait game on a slippery turf, but against Pirates they attempted to play a passing game with the Tracts- instead of keepiag the bail at the foefe of the forwards. Pii-ates, on the other liand, played th« game for the day, rarely attempting passing, and never in front of their own goal, but confined themselves to loose dribbling rushes, fast following up, and hig-k jyamting. Zingari, it is true, dicl not have the best of fortune in opening up against a driving rain, with the slope of the •ground against them, but this, whilo probably taking a deal of dash out of their play, does not explain away the fact that they did not adapt themselves to the conditions. Pirates were the heavier pack, and secured the baJl from, the majority of the scrums, the backs kicking high and tho forward* ■following up hard and fast. George, tho Zingari full back, played a safe game, frequency getting his side out of difficulties with his kicking. Marshall was the pick of the three-quarter line, his fielding of the •greasy ball, especially in the first spell, Being de-cidedly good. Collie and Bolt bore the brunt of the work, but they weie asked to do tco much. All the forwards worked (hard, Caradus, Stewart, Abbott, and Low being most conspicuous. On the Pirates' side Wyinks. the full back, pl«»yed a splendid game, 1m high kicking to touch being a feature of his play. Fairclough was easily the best of the three-quarters, runnimg and kicking in splendid style. This player has the honour of scoring- the trv — tho result of_ a well-jud-gied and particularly fine run — • ■which won the match. Hi-slop wp<3 the mainstay of the Blacks' back division, hi 3 work all round beins; of a high order. Time and again when his side was pressed his j useful punts of 25 and 30 yards removed the d*ng>er. The heavy going suited the Pirates' forwards, who played their best game this season. Where all worked so hard for the common good it is -scarcely fair to individualise, but special mention must be made of Wilson, who was to be seen wherever the ball wa.s. Logan was prominent in tho loose, but he was also prominent in a deal of off-side play — a habit of his which, | if not checked, will ccs^ his side a match ; one of these days. Mr W. Beadle was referee, and one noted with satisfaction that | his dcelsicinis were accented without demur, ' mid that the players gave him no occasion nennJi^e them for lying" on the ball. I The garac between the Southern and Kai- ]

f kcrai was more interesting than might have boe>n expeoted, considering the state of the weather and the condition of the ground, and some very exciting play was witnessed at times when one or other of the teams looked like scoring. The Southern probably had a little, the- best of the game, but at' the same time the Kaikorai made a really good s(and against thsir formidable opponents. The Southern were infinitelybetter than the Knikorai in scrum work, getting the ball on almost every occasion, and in the loose they also appeared to advantage, their combination being at times exceptionally good, while on the other hand ihe Kaikorai showed little or no combination at all, though individually some of the l>lajers did well. On such a day as Saturday brilliancy was not to be expected from tli3 backs, who had extreme difficulty in handling ihe heavy and greasy ball, and under the circumstances the exhibition of back play was highly creditable. Kindley, tL«» .Southern full back, was quite safe, and his line-kicking was v-ery ■effective. The thiee-quarters were a useful trio, who made the most of their opportunities, and the same remarks apply to the halves, while of a good lofc of forwards Ca^e-y, Leyden, Goodman, and Taylor were the best. Strang, the Kaikorai full back, was also safe, and he generally found the line well, but he made a mistake onoe or twice in not putting* his men on-sido afie-r he kicked. The three-quarters played well, and po did tho halves, the good defence of the backs generally leaving very little to be desired. Dobson was conspicuous for his excellence in dribbling, and the only weak po>int in his play was his fondness for speculating. The most prominent forwards were M'Donakl, Torrance, and Ferguson. Mr J. Williams con! rolled the game in an eminently satisfactory manner. After having played a drawn game with the Zingari in their last match the University could not possibly be expected to do anything else than go down before the Dunedin. on Saturday, and they wero true to their reputation, although there certainly was not much to choose between the two teams. In the loose the 'Varsity pack were far superior to the Dunedin, but at hooking the ball in the scrum they were completely outclassed. The Dunedin backs made one or two successful attempts at pacing," which is more than can be said of the 'Varsity, though perhaps they were wise in not trying to do so. But there is no doubt that the 'Varsity backs are very weak, and their whole trouble lies in the fact that they play with absolutely no combination. Individually, with the exception of their centre three-quarter and their full back, they are good — at times even brilliant; — but they will nevor ?ucceed in their matches unless fchey manage to get some idea of combination. Of the Dunedin forwards, Whelan and Churchill were the pick. Morrison, behind the serum, got | the- ball away very smartly, and Sullivan and Watson both put in good work, the { latter's defence being particularly good. Paton was not an unqualified success at centre, his passing being very erratic. Reid was the better of the two wings, at times showing .a good turn of speed. Ross, as full back., played a splendid, game, hi.3 kicking and fielding being equally good. Of the 'Yansity forwards, Thomson, was far th*> best — in fact there is no dout>t that ha played tho h-osb forward game on the ground. Scannell, at scrum half, was the mainstay of tho backs, his attack and defence being equally sound. Lomas put in seme good" work at five-eighths, but was not ! well supported by Fairelougli. Crawford, at centre, was weak. He stands too far I 7>aek, and is never up in time to get his I pass. Gilray .was the best of the wings, j and had he been fed more by his centre he would certainly have given the Duned-m backs considerable trouble. Wi Rcpa did gome good work, but is rather slow, and 1 seems out of his element on the wing. One cannot help thinking what a boon ho would be to the forwards of his team. Shaw, at full back, was the weak spot of the team. Allowing that hi 3 position was a very trying one — the ball being wet and the ground slippery — his exhibition was not up to First Grade standard. Mv W. Hobbs controlled the game to the satisfaction of both teams. With the Opoho Ground in the condition in which it was in on Saturday anything like good football was out of the question in the Alhambra-Union match. Tho first spell of the game was evenly contested, but undoubtedly Alhambra showed themselves ihe superior team in the second spell, so that Union may h& coividered to have had a rather lucky win. Kilgaur, who scored Union's try, has b'.en pl-iyinsr the Association game, but this appeared lather to assist him than otherwise under the condi= tions of tho game, and ho put in some smart work. Munro ard tho m.fc of the Union backs all put in pome capital defensive play in the second sps'l. Union forwards played particularly- well in the loose. Ot the Alhambra backs Bonnet and King were particularly prominent, snd tha forwards ail played a hard game. The lower cornor of the ground was a veritable quagmiie of mud, and unfortunate indeed was the player whom circum -.lances here, rendered urostrate. Mr S. Ballantyne's decisions as referee gave every satisfaction.