COUNTRY WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 62

COUNTRY WEEK.

COUNTRY WEEK. Vincent v. Nobth Otago. The second round of tha country week Ararnament was played at 'JJ*huna Park yesterday afternoon in the presence oif a limited number of spectators. ■Weather conditions vere ail against good football. The No. 2 ground, where Vincent and North Otago fought out & hard «me, was- quite dry underfoot, but the pane -was played for the most oi tlie time jjp. dming sheets of rain. North Otago opened play Against & •bong, piercing wind. Vincent swa-rmed Into their opponents' territory from the •twet. and from ft scrvun and a scramble ©n tn« Mn» Denniston scored within «• few minutes of starting:. Dwy«r did not improTe the score. Vtnoein.t - 3 point*. North Otago Nil. Cashing work by the North Otago forwards brought them into Vincent quarters. JoUy kicked well down the fi>ld, but TayioT retarnod with interest. King effected * timely cl*arscoe. and a f?c« kick to the

Greens wen-t for naught, a man being in front of i?he ball. The Northern vanguard, who were beating the opposition in the scrum and in the ruck/ pushed play past Vincent's twenty-five, but Dwyer brought relief by kicking hard down the field. The forwards pushed the advantage well past half-way. The Vincent backs then took a hand in. the game, but Dwyer's passing v,-as at fault. Hard kicking saw North Otago forced. Serviceable footwork by Uttley and Toohey allowed North Otago to attack, but Jolly effected- a complete change, and the Vincent backs attempted passing, but •their handling of the ball was too erratic to be effective. Further, infringements were very frequent, and in this respect Vincent . were the chief offenders. Tlie Greens maintained a tagged attack, and eventually the ball was kicked hard and low to Taylor, the North Otago full back, who missed it Badly, and Crawford, who followed up smartly had a clear run in, touching- down between the posts. Vaicoe converted. Vincent 8 points. „ North Otago Nil. Vincent again aeserted themselves, but the Colours' forwards cleared to half-way. A long kick brought play back to North Otago's line again, and Vincent had a fruitless shot at goal, North Otago forcing. The next incident was another rush by th* Green vanguard,, but offside play occurred, and. the. ball was returned. Half-time ended with play in midfield. North Otsago opened the second spell on attack. Ufctley punted straight down JJie fieid, and- the Vincent full back was bustled'^ Dwyer just saving by kicking into touch. The Northern team had an unsuccessful shot at goal. Their forwards again rose to the occasion, but their kicking- was injudicious, and. Vincent- were enabled to force. Tho a-ttack was- renewed, but Denniston and Dwyer cleared well down the field. North Otago were pressed, but a free kick relieved the tension, and they followed up their advantage by rushing the ball into Vincent's twetfty-fWe. the Greens finding relief m forcing. Vareoe and Cahill next stood out m a brief bit of passing, and Ute forwards followed with some sound . dribbling work The Colours were placed on the defensive. King, however raced ! to half-way with the ball. »«t Denniston i r-oturned. almost immediately. A free h^eV to North Ofcago saved the situation and a few minutes later Vincent were forced Morgan broke away from a throw-out, and carried play right to the Colours' line. A scrum ensued, and the bail wen* io Jolly wh Q potted a goad from in front of the goal-posts. . J ln^ n * 12 points. ' • j North Otago . . . Kht • Vmcent again invaded the Northern reams quarters, but the forwards 2S^J'/ e *srT d - clea ™™*> and the , game ended with play m neutral territory, i Xne strong, piercing wind and the heavy I driving rain militated considerably against Unrt^ l^ ° f i 9i 9° thail - thf first spell North Otago, with the wind" against them, mad© a. very good snowing, and at times prov-ad themselves more than a' match ior the Vincent combination. In the second spell.- however, they failed to come ' up to expectations,' and although they ! came very it on a few occasions, they were unable to penetrate Vincent's defence. The game was to some extent marred by the frequent infringements of the rules, and in this respect Vincent were ttio greater offenders. The display given by Vincent backs in the opening stages of the game and at other times later on was considerably below their play on Saturday last, even allowing for a wet leather. Their passing was often forward, and they lost many chances thereby, while their handling of the ball in the matter of accepting passes was often erratic. Their kicking, however, was a pleasant feature ' of the game. Among the members of the losing team, Uttley was of great serviceA to his side-. His rush-stopping and bia : judicious kicking and running were at. times too much for the opposition. Hia play in tile first spell entitled him to be : clasfed as the best back on the ground. The play of the Vincent team as a whole, ; • was, however, too finished and too fast for the Northern team. Among tlie winning , team's vanguard, Morgan, Crawford. Den- j niston, and Tizard were always conspicuous. On the. losing side. Min-fcy. Clarke, Patterson, and Scott played sterling forward , games Mr W. M'Donald was a most I" efficient referee. , j Tpapeka v. Waihemo-Waikotiaiti. ! ; I Thia game was played at Tahuna Park r in the presence of a few spectators, the < execrable weather militating against a good attendance and also against good football. The ground was very heavy, and in most [ parts- entirely^ submerged, and the players, as was to be expected, provided more amusement by their endeavours to dodge the water in the numerous pools than enthusiasm by their efforts with the greasy ball. Notwithstanding this, however, both . teams made a creditable effort to win, tlie game finishing without either team regis- ; tering a score. ' Tua-peka kicked off against a rather ' , strong wind, and their opponents quickly I returned the bail. Tuapeka were placed upon the defensive, and had to force down twice. The sound defensive work of the . Tuapeka backs stood <ihem in good stead, and Orr effected a good save, after which the Blacks' forwards took the game in hand and for a few minutes looked dangerous. The alippjtty leather, however, was againet ' good pat"ring, aW desultory play concluded the sp&H. On *esuzning, Waihemo-Waikouaiti attacked atrongly, and quickly carried tho leather into Tuapeka's territory, where tho backs obtained it and found the line about ht-if-wa-y. Diaek got in a good kick for .'■ the Reds, buz ' Orr saved well. Tadpeka ' j .had a busy five minutes defending the * swamp which surrounded their po3ts, until Kirkwood got- in a gcod run and, supported i by hig forwards, compelled the Waihemo 1I fo force. Tuapeka then attacked strongly, ' ! compelling their opponents to force down i on more than one occasion. Desultory play ' ! <x>nelude<J the game, which ended without a. '■ ' score on either side. Good football on such a ground was, of j- . course, impossible, but the respective full { 1 | backs (Orr and Pagan) proved their merit, > I aa did Paterson (three-quarsers) and Diack s (half) for Wa-Lhemo-Waikouaifci and Perrow r | and Marshall for Tuapeka. Ta-ken all , round, the game, such as it was, was very j ev*Q. The teams woukl seem to be eingru- j larly unfortunate as regards the weather, ! as last year the game was played under ftomaW'hat similar circumstances to those of ye-aterda-y, " METROPOLITAN v. COUNTRY. i The Metropolitan v. Country fixture

eventuated on the Caledonian Ground on Saturday afternoon in the presence of a very large number of people. The Country won the toss, and Metropolitan kicked off against a fairly stronge breeze. The Country representatives were in local territory within a few minutes of starting, partly owing to faulty fielding by the Blues' backs and the quick following upof the visitors. Play hovered in the Blues' quarters until a speculator cleared-, and the ball went into touch at the twenty-five flag. Vareoe put in some good work, and the Green forwards attacked vigorously. Cahill attempted a pot at goal, but it proved fruitless,, and Dougherty found touch past his own twenty -five. O' Sullivan shifted play to half-way, and the ball went out to the Blues' backs from the ruck, but the handling- was erratic and the movement went for naught. Working in determined fashion, the' Blues, by hugging the line,, forced their way into the enemy's quartersj and the Greens were rushed over their own line- The ball was brought back, and Otago secured it'from the scrum, but their passing was .once more execrable and fruitless. King effected a change to midfield by judicious, kicking, and the same player made a worthy attempt to open up the game, but the handling of the ball by the visiting backs was almost as imperfect as that of their opponents, and but a few yards- were gained. Bckhold marked, and play went close to the Greens' twenty-five. King, however, continued to set- in useful kicks. Dwyer had a shot at, goal from long range, and nothing came of it. The ball was returned, but King again stood out prominently for his kicking. A brief passing bout between the local backs- ensued, but a paas was cut off. Jolly, however, knocked 1 on, and the same centred round the half-way flag. King found the line at the twenty-five flag, but the Blues' rear division came away with a passing rush which terminated at the visitors' twenty-five. The town foi-wards attacked vigorously, and Falconer made a good bid for the visitors' goal line, but the tackling was too sure. At this stage a force kick was awarded to the local team, and EckhoJd succeeded in placing the ball over the cross-bar. Metropolitan ; 3 points. Country ..., 7. " Nil. The Greens responded with a vigorous forward effort, and they made the pace warm. They were soon down on Otago' s line, but the local vanguard shifted them, by desperate play. Play hovered round neutral territory, but the Greens again assumed the aggressive. King centred nicely, v and the Country forwards swarmed down on the local team with the ball at their feet. The opposition wiae for the time nonplussed, 'and the ball was quickly sent to the Green backs. Dwyer missed the ball right on the line, but' Reid,- rushed in and scored. Dwyer failed with the kick, and the score stood: Metropolitan 3 points. Country 3 points. Immediately following the kick off. Kindley failed to get in his return, and O'Sullivan centred with a speculator. The ball fell into the hands of Dwyer, who promptly potted a goal. Country 7 points. Metropolitan 3 points. An interchange of kicks took place between King and O'Sullivan. but the kicking of the Greens gained them the ascendancy, and the ball went into touch a few yards from the local twenty-five. The visitors maintained a fairly warm, attack, but the Blues met it with a ragg-ed, thoug-h effective defence. Marks by Bckhold and Eullarton enabled Metropolitan to push play to half-way. Don put in a fine run, and, after evading some of the opposition passed to Chambers, who succeeded in crossing the line near the corner. Paton did not improve the score, and the first spell terminated with the scoring: Country 7 points. Metropolitan 6 points. With the opening of the second spell theBlues had a much stronger wind favouring them. The local men immediately made the pace hot. They followed up a lori'g kick in a determined manner, and in a trice were over the enemy's line. M'Donald, well in the lead, grounded the ball first, and gave the town representatives a lead. Eckhokl converted easily. Metropolitan ' 11 points. Country 7 points. Xhe Blues continued to axlopt tustlint? tactics, and Eckhold put in a fine dodgy run. The Country representatives swept into local territory, but the Blues very soon effected a change, and Paton had an unsuccessful shot at goal from a free kick. The local back division made several attempts to penetrate their opponents' defence, but tiheir passing was so bad that on each occasion it availed them nothing. Jolly just effected a save on one occasion by kicking- into touch. Play was removed to half-way, but the Blues brought about an almost immediate change with a sterling rush, but unfortunately nothing but a touch-in-goal resulted. A little later the Metropolitan combination attacked, but King saved by finding touch. The attack was continued for some time, the Greens saving their line by promiscuous, though profitable, kicking. The home team forced the game vigorously, and Chambers got very «los© to the line on two or three occasions. Play was about "midfield when the unexpected happened. King suddenly Ki-asped a.n opportunity, and started a fine passing bout, which resulted in Jolly scoring. Dwyer did not improve the score, the angle being too acute. Metropolitan 11 points. Country 10 points. Tight work followed close to the BlueV line. Dougherty effected a big change with long kick, and "the same player marked in a good position, but nothing eventuated from the shot at goal. The Greens made several efforts to break away, but met with no success. The ball went .out to the local backs, but Don foolishly punted at an opportune moment, and the Greens forced down. The Blues were awarded a free kick a few minutes later, and Eckhold secured a goal without trouble. Metropolitan 14- points. ! Country 10 points. | The looal vanguard a'sain beat their ot>ponents badly in a loose, sweeping- rush, but tho backs failed miserably. The forwards continued at their work, and M'Donald grassed the ball over the line. Eckhold 1 jusr failed with i.he kick at goal. ! Metropolitan 17 points. | Country 10 points. A chance to the visitors on the kick-off was lost owing to Cahill hanging on to the hall too long, and Falconer transferred play to Ih-p enemy's territory. From a scrum O'Sullivan sent the ball on to Don, who lost it on tho line; but Eckhold was hand?, a-ud scored at the corner. Paton failed to

[ convert, and no-time sounded with the I scores : Metropolitan ... ..". —20 points. Country 10 points. The ground was in surprisingly good condition after the recent heavy rains. Takingthe game right through, it, was not an uninteresting one, but at times the system, of attack and defence of tlie Metropolitan team | was wretched*. In the first spell the- Country team were for the most part attacking; and whenever the local combination attempted an attacking movement the tackling of the visitors was very sure. With an increasing wind in their favour, it was apparent, however, that the Blues would turn the tables in the 6econd spell, and this they succeeded in doing. The town forwards were responsible for most' of the aggressive moves. The backs on several occasions played badly and handled the ball in a manner that -was dishearteningThe passing was slow and at fault, andi their play generally lacked dash. The good kicking of the visitors was of incalculable service to them. Tho Country forwards were a hard-working pack, but they lacked the knowledge of the local- men, and at times the Blue- vanguard broke through them. Two or three of these rushes were particularly fine. Taking the individual players of bhe Metropolitan team, Kindley was often times in trouble. Don, at centre, frequently showed faulty olay, but still at times put in very serviceable work. O'Sullivan. on the wing, was not called upon to do a very 1 great amount ; while Chambers, on the opposite wing, did not prove himself to be -what could be termed a good scoring man. Eckhold and Dougherty were fairly sound on attack, but erratic on defence ; while Fullarton, behind^ the scrum, though far from brilliant, was responsible for a respectable amount of work. Among the forwards there were several who showed no disposition to work. M'Donald was easily the best forward on the grouad and was always in the van. while Fitznatrick and Johnston put in solid work. Falconer shone out occasiqnally in the loose. The visitors' full back. O"ri\ was generally reliable. Dwyer and Jolly carried off some speedy movements, and Cahill and Vareoe were exceedingly useful members. King-, behind the scrivm. played -a fine same, his lciokinar in particular being decidedly good. Among the forwards Morgan and Haia: * played sterling srames. Mr J. Duncan was a most efficient referee. -