THE ASSOCIATION GAME.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 58

THE ASSOCIATION GAME.

By Left WinGj

TEs following team has been ssleefced t© represent Otago in the Association match, against Canterbury at Christchurch on Thursday next: — Macdonald, Young, M^ish, Ashton (captain), M'lntyre, Gilroy, Olliver, Robertson, Bailey. Lambert, Clarke. Emergency— Sinclair. The following is the Canterbury team:— Russell, Cornish (captain). Forrest. Newell, M'Creanor,

Ramsay, Ward, Hill, Harvey, Raeburn, an Marshall. , The Otago team seems representative a much of fine enthusiasm as of real footbaJ strength. Circumstances render unnece c sary the sending of an especial combina tion of "stars." whose meteoric brillianc; might defeat the very object sought for i; a venture such as this. It is pleasing therefore, to note that a. team of even meri has been selected, which should find m difficulty in making a creditable show am leaving behind a good impression. Sine some of the players are only known i little, and the otheivs a little unknown, s brief commentary may bo of interest. M'DonaM (Southern). — An active, cage player, who, conscious of his defects honestly seeks to lose sight of them, thu qualifying as a lad who is to be rcliei upon to be a tolerably serviceable goal keeper. M'Nish (Wakari).— A sturdy, canny kin< of player, but a real reliable full back Particularly clever with his head; he i only a little less so with his feet. Young (Mornington). — A robust player slocked with inexhaustible energy and re soureefulness. As left full back singularl; strong in tackling, and sure in kicking. 4 certain rawness, rashness, and a gip«y-uk< liking for wandering, though, weaken hi worth. M'lntyre (Rangers). — A player whon "Left Wing" knows little about. Said ix be a sturdy back with Horns experience. Asliton (Southern*).-— A veteran oantr< half, and the G.O.M. of • Otago soccer Weighed in - the .ordinary way as regard; ability he would perhaps be light weight Weighed by th© standard of encouraging enthusiasm and earnest effort he is as fine gold. Gilroy.— A bright, bustling defender whose rashness, although strangling thi best of hia value, is never sufficient t< make him other than a useful player. Clarke (Roslyn).— An unpretentious typ( of right winger, who, like Quisanto, haj his "mojnenfcs." Never a luminous star there are occasions, if given support, room. and time, when he twinkles brightly. Lambert (Rangers).— A forward of som< skill, who oaii generally be depended upoi to trick his opposing back. Has a ten dency to rely rather much upon his owr efforts, instead of feeding his colleagues. Bailey (Mornington).— A youth in years but a. full-grown man in tactics. One o; the cleverest forwards in Duniedin, and un selfish to a fault. Robertson (Kaitangata).— Inside left win' forward, -and a real football player. Show: a consistent versatility which, in eolonia soccer, is as rare as a white blackbird. Ar exponent of finished, gentlemanly fcotbal tihat distributes advantages and pleasure U friend and. foe. * Oliver (Kaitangata).— Extreme left winj forward, who seems to bring a waft o: country air with his play, which makes Ii fresh and bright. Aggressive. ;ir,rious, auc a natural, poacher of goals, he bristles witl danger to the opposing defence. Sinclair accompanies the 1 " learn as cn;er gency. If called upon to play wl.l i>rcv< a useful- man to his side. Congratulations to the Wakari upor adding -fcheiv names .once more to the Charity Banner. The effect of their wir, against Kaitangata on Saturday is on the whole beneficial, the two plums whicl; many had decided -were going to Kaitan gatathis" season being divided between the two teams which; came out even before the final test. .The- altered disposition oi Wakari's team proved wise, and was, no doubt, to some extent responsible for the result. D. M'Millan was more valuable in the half back position than he has beer amongst the forwards; while Morrison, although somewhat surprisingly forgetful of the offside rule, repeatedly worked the line to good purpose. A closer watch upon this player by the opposing half (George Middlemas), would have been salutary, and was, indeed, to have been expected. 'Allan, again, full back on the left, did not pro vide a strong opposition, his kicking being frequently undecided and misdirected. Pilling, in goal, played a particularly sounc game, some of his saves being at once vigorous and timely. A two-handed "fister" by this player at a critical moment left three players — friend and* foe mingled — ir a heap upon the goal line. A. Middlemas was the" only other visiting back whe played consistently well — a tribute which is his due at the close of most of his games. A player who has put in a good season's work is M'Nish, and his play or Saturday was up to bis best standard, Farquharson kept a good grip upon Oliver. and crippled many formidable attacks! TJie Wakari forwards worked -well tog-ether. their combined rushes being at times ffooc to see. Until the last quarter of an houi Kaitangata were scarcely dangerous. Thai closing 15 minutes, however, witnessed s revival that was astonishing. Robertsor seemed to grasp the whole game in the hollow of his' hand and to set out to wresi victory in his own strength. His goal was essentially his own, for he brought the ball from the outline through devious way; to the centre, and found — or, rather, made — the desired opening. Two shots by Olivei at this time got very close. The goa which was not a goal was deservedly so ruled A well-directed charge might have seer the goalkeeper through with the ball, in stead of which Findlay threw his arm; round Litolf's neck, in approved Rugbj style, to the disgust of his own team anc the spectators. The O.F.A. have perpetrated somewha of a curiosity in the w?^ of administering their by-laws by theiv recent action in re ference to the matter of unregistered players. In a nutshell, tho matter seemi to be this: The O.F.A.'s by-laws provid( that in the event of a club being foum guilty of playing an unregistered man tha team forfeits the match in which such niai has competed. On their own initiative th< O.F.A. investigated and proved that sucl offence had been committed. The nex step was the curious part of the affair Instead of the offending team being debitet with the match ifc was decided that th( law would be enforced in future ! Ii coming 1 to such a decision the O.F.A. wer< no doubt actuated by the bosfc intentions but laws "are useless if they are not evei regarded by the body which framed them TJie Northern Club has protested agains the decision, but will no doubt rest con tent with having raised their voices agains the inconsistency of the O.F.A. in th< matter.