FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 56

FOOTBALL.

NOTES BY FULL BACK.

The following table shows the positions of the various teams engaged in the First Grade contest : -

What can be done to check spectators from encroaching on the North Ground during the progress of a football match? This js a question which has exercised the minds of tho Union authorities for many years, but there seems to be no solution of the difficulty. I am moved to arrive at this conclusion by observing that last Saturday the encroaching person was a particularly big nuisance. The game was stopped nearly half a dozen times while the spectators were put behind the chain. The length of ironmongery stretched round che ground is not an effective barrier to the person who wishes (o see more than his neighbour. In the old days, when three or four thousand people used to congregate on the North Ground, the eneroas-^ing spectator was more easily dealt with than he appears to be to-day. Possibly it is that he was a more tolerable person. Something more than the chain is required to keep spectators within bounds. The services- of a couple of men representing law and order might be experimented with. Most people, even the average football barracker, respects the cloth, especially when that cloth is blue.

In a couple of weeks' time, or thereabouts — just as long as it takes a man to get into form — Ernie Nees intends turning out again for Union. Nees has been Home and worn the jersey of a team which plays Rugby on the " Beg-your-pardon " principle. Should he succeed in getting into form he will be a very useful man behind the Maroon park. There is some talk of Tansey playing again for 'Varsity First Fifteen thi-> year. Owing to indisposition. Tansey has up to the present been unable to turn out, but as he is now recovering he is expected to be available any time. One of the best forwards in the team last year, Tansey should strengthen the present 'Varsity pack. University is experimenting with its team with a view of sorting out the best fifteen to uphold the hononr of the Royal Blues. Saturday week found Macpherson playing five-eighths with Dansey, but the position did not suit him, and he is better placed in tho three-quarter line. "Howard" play-cd five-eighths with Dansey on Saturday against Pirate 1 -.

Coming in from a senior match on Saturday a prominent referee was asked for an opinion on the following point. — The ball is thrown on the lino out; a player catches it and places it down in front of him. Before he can break away, the opposing forwards and those also of his own side have closed round the ball. Can a player pick up the ball and pass, run 'with it, or kick it? My referee friend say 3 no. In his opinion the fact of the players on both sides having closed round the ball constitutes a scrum, and the penalty should be a free kick. I disagree with this view, and contend that the ball can be played. The reference in the law« of the game to players closing

round the ball constituting- a scrum is intended to show that* a scrum may be so formed when the scrum penalty is inflicted 1 In the shuffling of the "Varsity players ' for places. O'Kane was relegated 1.0 ihe ' Second on Saturday last. With a team ' which boa=rs a three-quarter line of repreJ sentative strength, a man has to be much ' above the average to win a place. ! '" Snorky" was a youth who talked foot- ! ball all cay and dreamt of it at night. His I admiration for Alhambra was touching in j its sincerity. "Snorky" was on the ISorth I Ground on Saturday, expounding the virtues j of Rugby football in ger.e'-al and that of ' Alhambra in particular. Hn> audience was unsympathetic. Alhambra was doing a lot of across-the-fickl passing within striking distance of the Union line — nothing more. I '" Snorky's" -vocabulary wa-s not equal to the ' latest development in his heroes. ' Wait until the eecond spell!" he ejaculated; 1 "then you'll ?e? some football." At half- ! time "' Snorky'" admonished one of his I friends not to go away ; he would be back : j was only going to lay two to one about i Alhambra. Half-way through th<s eecond spell Union scored a try and kicked a goal, followed up later by another try. "Where's 1 ' Snorky"/" There was a derishe laugh. ' It was bitterly cold. In order to solidify the Vaisity pack, ', which, .by the way, wants solidifying br.dly, there is a prospect of Wi Repa I being pky«d in the Koyal Bue forward [ ranks next Saturday. If VVi Repa puts the I same da=h into his work in the vanguard ! as he does in the back division there should bs no question as to his usefulness in the new position. The North Ground waE the scene of a • debacle on Saturday; moreover it was I the scene of some poor football and a i lot of wild excitement. Usually sobarj minded citizens parted with their dignity, ! and extended the' glad hand to Union on their victory over Albambi-a. It was a, victory as we'll earned as it was deserved. By virtue of weight and experience Alhambra should havo romped over the Maroons— beaten them back and forward, fore and ait. But A'hambra. iike some other teams, have always found Unioz^ a tough proposition on the historic northend turf. Union's most ardent admirers never gave them the proverbial ghost_ of j a chance against Alhambra's strong side. Then there was "Snorky." but he is dealt with elsewhere. The game is easily told. Alhambra did , little right, and some things badly; Union '. did some things right, and nothing very badly. On the occasions Union got to ] within striking distance of Alhambra's , line they struck. Had Alhambra followed ! this excellent example the Red-and-b)acks, and not the Maroons, would have been i the victors J In the "Ir»t spell opportunities were j plentiful for Alhambra. and the Rinl-and- | blacks should have placed the game beyond ' any shadow of doubt. As a matter of fact, 1 Alhambra should have won on firs- spell j chances alone. It was not so much that t the Union's defence was effective, as that ' the Alhambra's attack was ineffective. | Alhambra players them-e'.ves will b2 the | first to admit the weaikne-s of their game. 1 What was wrong with Alhambra is past . understanding. Individually it appeared , the men wearing red-and-black jerseys j were superior to these wearing marcon, ', but collectively the reverse was the case, j Primarily, what Alhambra lacked was com- j bination! forwards and backs were alike at sea. The machinery, wa? out of gear, . and the parts were working badly. Having ' said this much, it will be understood that j mistakes were numerous throughout the game. Sometimes it was faulty passing, and, again, it was wretch-ed fielding. This wag characteristic of the play of both j teams. Union turned Alhambra's mistakes J to account, and seized on the chances 1 which came their way. On the run of ' the play — that is Durely on the principle 4 of defence and attack — Alhambra should | 1 have won, but football matches are not i decided in that manner. For this we owe I n uch thanks. Dispensing with generalities, and coming down to the game itself, Union's light forwards were better in the open than Alhambra's. Moreover, they went all the , way, and theie was not a player in the j pack who did not exercise himself to the j limit. In the tight work Alhambra were j better than their opponents, whom they I had no difficulty in rolling back in a | closely-packed scrum. Possession of the j ball appeared to be about equally divided, 1 but possc*=ion so far as th-f backs were | concerned counted for little, for the rear j division on both sides did not -how to j any brilliancy when they did get the i leather. Alhambra's passing went straight | across the field. As a spectacle it was good to look upon, but as a means of scoring it was not effective. This was due, in a couple of instances to the faulty fi^ldine of M'Leod. who had but to take the ball for a olean run in. Harrhy, + ,hfe Alhambra full back, did not play un to form. A badly-judged kick by this player gave Union their first try. The threequarter line did not show to advantaee. Slattcrv did not get much of the ball, and when it did reach him the ex-Wel-lington player was surrounded by opponents whose tackling was too strenuous to throw off. Benn?t, in the centre, was right off his game, while M'Leod failed in almost e\ ?rv instance to field th^ ball. In justice to this player it should be said that lie was out of his olac-3, having been 1 laced in the three-quarter line to irive Sutherland a chance at five-eighth*. The j ex-Southern man did not fliow up in the rrew company. King was the best of the Alhambra backs on the day. The Alhambra forwards put in one or two good rushes, but there was a lack of combination about their movements. On the line-out, where their height gave them the advantage. Alfiambra were superior to their opponents, but even this must not be accepted as any great comp'iment. i for the line-out work on the whole was j ragged. One 01 two of the Alhambra forwards appeared to lack the form neces-s-arv for a fast game. The Union backs got f»w opportunities of showing their Rugby abilities en attack. Mostly they were on defence They were clever at picking up the hall in a melee, and punting- it into touch down field. They pained stretches of ground by this means, in addition to keepiner the enemy off their lines. The Union full back had many an antious moment, especially in the first spelL Albeit he let Slattery beat him, the Union custodian thereafter showed plucky defence. Of tlie three-quarters, Littlejohn was undoubtedly the pick. He was not always successful in taking the ball, but this was more often the fault of the River than the taker. In the second 6pell Littlejohn put in some particularly fine work, running and kicking in rare style. More directly be-

1 hind the scrum Kellan and M'Lcnnan were , prominent, both playing a plucky game. These were the try-getters of the side. That scored by Kellan was the result of fast foi- , lowing up, while M'Lennan's try was a good I individual effort. Too much praise cannot be given Ihe Union forwards for the gani« they put up against the formidable pack I opposed to them. The Maroons were quick to see that in the tight they could not hope to hold their own. so made the play fast and open. This style suited them, and as ] they were well trained, they were going as ; hare' at the finish as at the start. In such a game it was impossible to single out any player above his fellows. A correspondent writes: — "'Can a player , wilfully psrmit the ball to go over his own I goal line and force down? Why I tronblo I you is that in a football match, Gore -\ . I Mat-aura, the Mataura full back permitted ' the ball to roll ever his 'me, and forced j down, when, to his surprise, the referee penalised them, saying, " Scrum five yards out," for wilfully Jetting the ball go over the line." The referee, questioned during the spell, still holds to the penalty. 1 I have played football fcr some years, as well as taking a keen interest in it, and it is the first time that I learnt of this rule. Does j it not constitute a force down? — [The referte was 111 error in inflicting the scrum I penalty. It was a force down. — Full Back.] At a meeting of the executive of the Sout-h Otago Rugby Union it was decided to ask the O.R.F.U. that the match South Otago v. North Otago be played at Oamaru this year. An Auckland telegram states that the district fcotball matches were commenced on Saturday in fine weather. City beat North Shore by 14 points to 5, Ponsonby [ beat Parnell by 13 points to 6. and Newton beat Grafton by 9 points to n>l. A Christchurch message states that the football matches were continued on Satur- | day in glorious weather. The following I are the results in the £cnior competition: — j Albion (14 points) boat Merivale (9). Christchurch (11) beat Canterbury College (5), Kaiapoi (17) beat Old Boys (3), and Linwcod and Sydonham nlayed a drawn game, there being- no score. The match between the University and Pirates was very interesting at times, but the standard of play was by no means high, and, though some of the individual efforts made were exceedingly good, there 1 was generally a lack of the combination ' that might be expected to characterise senior football. The superiority of the 1 University was beyond question, but, ccn1 sidering- the opportunities presented to ' them, the winners should have compiled a larger score. The Blues succeeded in getI ting the ball from the scrum in the majority i of cases, but the machinery of the back I division was often faulty, good opportuI nities being lost in consequence. Some of 1 tho passing was very gocd, however, and, as I the B'ues' backs threw the ball about I freely, the interest of <he spectators was , maintained pretty well. The Pirates' backs ' were hampered by lack of opportunities, I and they made the best of the few chances [ that presented themselves. The forwards < on both sides played with plenty of dash, s but it was very noticcbale that the Uni- ■ versity showed a lack of combination, and ; frequently, when one or two players overi ran the leather there was no one at hand to ! take up the running., The tackling on • j both sides was very good, and the kicking generally of a fairly high standard. All the University backs pfayed well, with tho exception that their passing was at times exceedinalv fa-uky. Of the forwards on the winning side, Thomson, Focte, and Bartrum were probably the best. Wyinks, the Pirates' full back, did not show his best form, but at times he did some really good work. Go-\an was probably the pick of the three -quarters, and r)e Lautour was the most prominent of tho half-back division. In the forward ranks Donniston and Fenwick were consp'cuous in a lot of good footwork. Mr Prcctor controlled the game satisfactorily. University 14 points. Pirates .. Nil. Probably three-fourths of the large number of spectators at the Union-Alhambra match expected to see tha last-named victorious, but they were reckoning without their ho:t. On the whole of the play Alhambra had rather the best of it, but they failed lamentably to take advantage of , their opportunities, which were many. The Maroons, on the other hand, had few chances, but they made the most of them, and suceopded, aft^r c ome years of waiting, in defeating th-en oTd rivals. And the Union richly deserved their win, for their forwards, though much sma'ier and lighter than those of the Alhambra, worked so hard and with such da?h as to beat their more burly opponents. The scrum work of the | Alhambra was much at fault, and rarely did -tho leather came out in anything like proper form, while tha Union, on the con- 1 trary. heeled out very smartly on occasions. In the loose the Maroon forwards also showed to advantage, and their tackling was of the effective order. The Alhambra backs, with the exception of M'Lsod. handled the leather well, but the ' pa sing was not of ground-gaining quality, j being too much of the acros'j-the-field order. Notwithstanding this. M'Leod on two ocea- ' sions threw away gocd chances by failing 1 to take Ben net's pa : s, and he is clearly not ' at home at wing three-quarter. Of the Alhambra forwards M'Kenzi' an^ Harridge were probably the best, and King was {he best of the backs. Bennet had an off day, and did not play up to anything like his . ' form. It would bo mod invidious to sinzle ' out any one of the Maroon forwards for mention, as th<> list should include eight , names. Littlejohn did excellent work ; throughout the game, and gained much gro'Md for hit side by his running and kicking, wlif.e Bond. M'Lennan. and Kellan ( put in some fine play. more particularly on , the defence. Mr .T. Williams controlled the , game in hi» usual manner. , Union . 8 points. Alhambra ... 3 points. The Zingari Rxhrnond-PoH Chalmer? e.ame was fast and interesting, the ball flitting back- j ward and forward across the field in a man- j i ncr which delighted the enthusiasts. The . 1 spells afforded a remarkable contrast to I each other. In the first the game was j ! free and open, and the visitors smothered . ] the local men, keeping them defending their j line. The tackling of the home team's ' | backs was much commented xrpon, and | without a doubt the score against them f ] would have been very large but for this. ' _, Stewart, for the -visitors, broke away from « the throe-quarter line aerain and again, but j j although he actual'v crossed iJhe-> line on J one occasion all attempts to score were frustrated. Marett's try was an easy one. ] W. Docherty was the hero of his side, and 1 played a splendid game throughout. For J the greater part oi the second spell thfi j

Port Chalmers x^racticallv Lad things all their own way, but nevertheless — more from lack of combination than anything «Ise — they failed to soare. The visitors wero more successful in the cpen play in the backs, but the loose play of the local forwards was superior to that displayed by their opponents, and whilo Zingari were successful in get ling the ball in rh-p scrums thoir half back was too slow in getting it away. Reddington played a good game for tho winner?, as did Stcvart and Collie of the backs. For Port the Docherty brothers p!ajvd well, and Corcoran was also prominent, and Hunter and Connor were conspicuous amongst the forwards. Perhaps the stsongost feature of tho play by the 'ooal team was th"ir excellent taekKng. Mr J. Duncan controlled the game in an impartial manner. Zir.gari-Richmorjd 6 pts. Pt Chalmers 3 pts. In the Dunedin-Southern match both sides attempted to play the back game, but, in most instances, the ball just travelled across th«» field. The forwards on both sides played a hard, keen game, and some good interesting play was given by them. Tho STftme. though not scientific, was interesting. In the back play of both teams therewas plenty of room for improvement, as there was a lot of fumbling, and chance after chance was lost by players failing to take the ball. For Dunedin Kelly played a very safe game at full back, always finding touch with his kicks. Teesdale, on thtr win?, played very well. Watson, at centre, fumbled a good deal, but -also did plenty of gocd work. Clarke, behind the scrum, played well, and got the ball away much quicker than on the previous Saturday. Cooke and M'Phail also played well, though at times they fumbled the ball. The forwards all played a good game, and ifc would be hardly fair to individualise. Fu'larton, the Southern full back, played well, as also did Harley on the winjr. Eckhold out in a lot of good work at five-eighth, but was inclined to go too much on his o*.vn. The Southern forwards, ono and all, worked hn-rd. but were apt to kick too hard, and thereby lost several jrood chances. Mr S. Ballantyno controlled the game. Dunedin 8 points. Southern ... Nil. SECOND GRADE. Dunedin defeated Port Chalmers (who played with only 14 men) at Forbury by 26 points to 3. Mr J. R. Wilson was referee. Taieri Rovers defeated Southern at Mossriel by 8 points to nil. Tries were scored by G. Turnbull 'and J. Smith, one of them being converted by the former. THIRD GRADE. Southern defeated Zinpari-Richmond by 29 points to nil. 'Edwards. Smart. Collie, S'eiirh. and Himburgh (3) scored tries. Lcckic converted four of them. Port Chalmers defeated Ravensbourne by 16 Doints to 6. The Union defeated Kaikorai by 6 points to 3. For the winners tries were scored by J. Jones and W. Urchuart. Mr C. O'Sullivan made an efficient referee. FOURTH GRADE. Southern defeated Kaikorai by 28 points to nil. Union defeated Dunedin B by 8 points to nil. Tries were scored by Simpson and M'Laren, the former converting one. OTAGO RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION. The regular meeting of the Otago Rugby Football Union was held at tho secretary's offic on Monday night, Mr A. C. Hanlon presiding. Estimate for repairs to Taieri Rovers' Football Cub i-,avilion — £W) — was submitted. — olrant of £15 approved, conditionally on accounts and vouohers bamff submitted on approval of work. It was intimated tha.fc the club would subscribe £5. and £20 would be given by the local authority.Inc appeal regarding a " try" disallowed ao Ravc'-sbourne-Taieri Rovers match was disrnhj-od Copy of re'eroo's report to be forwarded to the Tairri Rotors' Club.

Permission was granted to the St. Bathan's Club to hold a seven-a-side tournament on May 22.

The newly-appointed Palraerston Flag: Committ"^ fr r tlv> O.R.F.U. barmc 1 was approved, and conditions as submitted _were referred to the Flag Committee of the union. The Palmerston committee to find referee's expends. Rules submitted by Maniototo Footiball Club werp referred to the FKgj Committee. The O.R.F.U. to intimate that it cannot undertake resDT sibilitv for any referee's expenses. General matter a3 to referees re-fo-rod to tho Rcforeos' Asisoc:ation.

Permission was p-i-j-en to (to? Pirate* Football Club to travel to Christchurch^ for an annual fixture on June 2. "Bye" to bo arranged.

Permission was Granted to the Alexandra Club to hold a seven-a-side tournament on July 4. A letter was received from fc'v? Taranaki Rupbv Footbali Union, asking tha.t a match misrht l-o fixed in Dunedin fo.- July 28.— A&Toetl that tho match bp fixed as ipquf^'od. the flag matches to be stopped for thnt Saturdiy mly Application from the Taieri Rovers to enter nnotb-*r team for tt 1"*1 "* Fourth Grade was ref"riv\] i-o tho FJar Committee.

Pfrijiinalo' 1 wi>- in a »■>•.-»'? fo r tb-e ■ip'iiors of the Union Football Club to play Oamaru on the bth Juno.

Club. Alliainbva .. tlunedin Kaikorai .. University Union Southern ZingariRichmond . . Pirates Port Chalmers .. •73 a CM 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 S3 *2 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 I 1 1 0 o i l 2 2 3 d 5 P 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 .2 o Ol 12 19 16 20 17 8 6 6 6 CO cS |g '3 fM 11 12 3 3 14 8 14 23 22 "5 '3 jf P4 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 0