FOOTBALL

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11994, 22 July 1907, Page 2

FOOTBALL

SATURDAY'S • MATCHES. GOLDEN BAY V. NELSON. Although rain ihreaiened and a strong cold southerly breeze prevailed, there wag a fairly large attendance of spectators at the Park on Saturday afternoon to witness the return match Nelson v. Golden Bay, which was, after a well contested game, won.by the former by the narrow margin of three points (one try) to nil. On taking the field it was seen that the sides evenly matched io far as weight was concereiid, but towards the niidydie of the second spell the Neleon ; forwards showed want of condition i and the superior stamina of the visiting vanguard enabled them to i push the local pack in the scrum, and to |smother them in the loose. , In the first spell Nelson, playing . against the strong wind made d, good ■ showing. The front rankers were i cleverer than their opponents in ; bob-king arid the ball came out to the hacks time after time, while la the loose rushes Clark, Taylor and , Whiting repeatedly'showed up pro- , minently. Good passing WJrk was [ done by Stapp, Smith and Gilbert, . but the wing three-quarters, Jones ; arid Chapman were uncertain,, the I former fumbling badly several times} i which, no doubt was due totbe fact [ that he had a poisoned hand Short- • ly after opening, Feary had a shot at • goal from a penalty kick for off-side play by Gilbert, but the ball went , wide. From the kick out the Nelk son backs got work and good passing between Stapp. Smith and Gilbert j transferred play to the centre. Taylor, Clark and McCabe headed a rush to the Golden Bay 25, and Jones 1 niade y a gdod attempt at gGjal froma ■ free -kick, the ball falling short. 1 Aided by the wind the ball was 1 kioked,to Nelson's quartejs, where " the visitors were awarded a free 3 kick, and J. ilaase made a splendid 3 attempt, the ball just going outside > the post. Good work by the Nelson ■ vanguard, Taylor, Clark and. Whit--3 ing showing up prominently;|ttSok • play again to the Bay 25, the rush • ending in Clark touching down. ? Jones was entiusted with the kick, ? and made a good attempt, the ball | striking the post and rebounding • into the field of play. Nelson 3, t Golden Bay 0. The visitor's were 9 then kept busily defending, the Nel- " son backs doing good wprkj but the - Bay backs were Very safe.their tackI ling being sound, and their line ■ kicking well timed. Just before half time sounded good passing by r Reilly, Fauchelle and Byrne carried 1 play into the Nels an 25 and Delaney averted an almost certain score, .by *■ finding touch. The whidtle 3 sounded half time shortly after and the performance of the Nelson side playing against the wind left the : impression in the minds of many that T when ends were changed they would put up a good soore. Soon after the , second half opened this impression was removed, for the Bay forwards playing with great dashj broke up . the scruihß, awejst the field time \ fter time with iheir loose rushes, ana : generally gave the Nelson side a ' very anxious time, so much so that ' towards the end of the game it was only the individual efforts of some of the local backs that prevented » the Bay from scoring. On the win- ; ning side. t)eldney at full . back • shaped well, and saved his side on ' several occasions by timely kicks. I His fielding, too, was good. Of the • three-quarters Gilbert was the best, Jones and Chapman not showing .up • so well as -they have done in Cup l matches. Shnith (captain) at tivei eighth , showed up well in the first 1 spell, passing and running being his - strong points.* At half Stapp did > splendidly, getting the ball out in • the first half, with well judged clear passes, while in tbe second spell he i played a very solid defensive game. ! The wing forwards (Taylor and i Whiting) showed up prominently in the loose work, especially » former. The fo rwards, who were ' without the services of Galbraith i and Trewavas, did^good work early in the game, but* fell to pieces itt i the second half. Clark played consistently all through, and Treweek and McGlashen were the best of the others. H. Haase played a very cool game at full-back for the Bay side, and the try was not scored through any fault of his. Byrne was the best of the- three-quarters, and Haase played solidly in the centre. Page on the left did Aot have much to do, but he put in some good work when called upon. Reilly at five eighth and Crooks at half did moderately well. A feature of the game was the vim and vigor of the forwards, all of whom did well, but Walker, E. Moore, Bartlett, and Fauchelle were especially prominent. Mr Oldershaw gave satisfaction as referee, and Messrs Moore and |Logan [carried out the duties of touch judges. After the match the teams dined together at 'the Commercial Hotel, Dr. Andrew (President of the Nelson Rugby Union) presiding. After ample justice had .been done to the good things provided by Host Saunders, a short toast list was gone through, when the .toasts honored were "The Golden Bay Rugby Union," proposed by the Chairman and responded to by Mr J. Moore (manager of the v isting team)., 'The Visiting Team," proposed by Mr W. Smith and responded to by Mr J. Haase; "The Nelson. Rugby Union, "proposed by MrE. Moore, and to by Mr F. P. Kitching ; and "The Referee, " proposed by Mr J. Moore. During the course of his remarks the chairman congratulated the Bay team on the way tbey had played and said that their forwards would be a credit to any team in New Zealand. Regarding the Seddon Shield, he said the Marlborough - Buller match, played that day, had resulted in a draw. This gave Westland a chance, but as the latter, he understood, had a weak team, Marlborough would probably win the match. In this case Nelson would challenge tbe holders, and with the assistance, of some of Golden Bay players, bring the Shield back to its right home. (Applause.) Dr Andrew Idefended the action of [the Rugby " Union in punishing two players lightly for minor offences It had been stated that their attitude in dealing with