FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1924, Page 13

FOOTBALL.

TARANAKI REPRESENTATIVES. THE SEASON - REVIEWED. PROMISES NOT FITDFHJLED. The football season has now closed as far as Taranaki representative matches are concerned, and looking back on the results one must confess to a certain amount of disappointment. Early in the season, especially after the Wellington match it looked as though Taranaki had a representative team that would worthily uphold the honour of the province and maintain the traditions of the past. The forwards, as always, have shown good form right throughout the season, and with the exception of the last match against Auckland, have been consistent. There are, of course, excuses for a falling off late in September, as Taranaki, being essentially a dairying district, and the forwards being practically all from country clubs, they have no time to devote to their training. Against Wellington the backs showed initiative in attack and surprisingly good combination, considering that players drawn from various districts spread over a large area and have little chance of 'getting together for practice. It looked hopeful, and it appeared as though Taranaki had found what it had lacked since the days of Hunter and the late Simon Mynott—good inside backs. BACKS WEAKENED.

The mishap to Alexander, however, made a difference, and the lack of a brilliant first five-eighths made all the difference. Oliver, though solid, is too slow to combine effectively with speedy men. Further back the team seemed reasonably sound, and with a little more finish would have developed into a dangerous combination. The three-quarter line was a good one, young and likely to improve, while in D. Johnston the province has a useful back that should give great service for the next few years, and if he would improve in his passing he would be brilliant. At fullback, also, the position seems sound.. It must not be forgotten, of course, that the province lost the services of several men, viz., Brown, Hart, West (All Blacks), and Sinclair, Alexander, Court's and others through injury. The outlook for the future is bright. There are plenty of good young forwards coming on. Those lined oat this year, notably Walter, 'Baldwin, O’Rorke, etc., proved great successes, whilst Kissick, a great leader (though talking of retiring now), Kivell, Robinson, and Paterson among others shou still prove valuable to the province. Among the backs the majority of those in the team are young and will improve, whilst there are a number of promising young 'backs coming on in the various clubs, especially in the .country districts. A number of Taranaki boys now at university will shortly be returning. The outlook for Taranaki, therefore, is very promising. VALUE OF COMBINATION. One reason why the forwards particularly showed up so well was probably because they were able to get combination, owing to the selectors not finding it necessary to make such frequent changes as has been the case in the past few years. No less than four of the forwards played right through the season. In all thirty-four players donned representative jerseys during the season, but as thirteen of this number did not play in more than one match, the number cannot be considered as too great, when one recognises that eight matches vere played. Of the backs Ennis was the only one to play in all eight matches, Johnston, Ross and Jeffries playing in seven, Oliver five, Priar four, Meuli three and part of a fourth, McGregor and Loveridge three each, Sinclair two, R. Courts one and part of another, B. Roberts, Crowe, Alexander, Penniall, L. Ross, Julian on© each, and Cameron and Sheehan part of a game each. Of th© forwards, Robinson, Paterson, Walters and Kivell played in ail eight matches, Kiasick and Fryday in six each, Hunt five, O’Rorke four, Baldwin three, Evans and G. Taylor two, West, Chadwick, Matene, Brewster one each. RECORD OF THE SEASON.

Taranaki’s record for the season was: Matches played eight, won three, drawn one and lost four. Pointe scored, for 93 and against 109. Last year the record was four wins, four losses and a draw, the points being 78 for and 110 against. An anlysis of the scores show that Taranaki scored 24 tries, three of which were converted, and kicked five penalty goals, whilst they had 26 tries and 7 penalty goals scored against them, five of the tries being converted. The individual scorers for Taranaki were headed by Ennis with ?0 .points, Ross wiui 15 points being next. The detailed scores were ' — Ennis (4 tries, 4 penalty and 3 converted goals) 30 points Ross (5 tries) I's j Walter (3 tries) 9 I Johnson (2 tries, 1 penalty) 9 Kivell (2 tries) <> Loveridge (2 tries) 6 Oliver, Paterson, Hunt, O’Rorke, Fryday and Meuli (one try each), 3 points. The record of matches is:— Versus Wanganui.—Lost by 17 points to 3. Versus Wellington.—Won by 14 points to 9. Versus Manawatu—Won by 18 points to 16. Versus Wanganui.—Won by 18 points to 9. Versus North Auckland. —'Drawn, 9 all. Versus Wellington.—Lost 12 points

to 11. Versus Wairarapa.—Lost by 20 points to 8. Versus Auckland. —Lost by 17 points to 12. 1 Summary: Played 8, won 3j lost 4,

drawn 1. Points for 1)3, against 109. HIGH SCHOOL MATCHES. RESULTS TO DATE. - Versus Wanganui Technical College (Moascar Cup). —'Won, 9 to 6. Versus Wanganui College.—Won, 17 to 6. Versus Te Aute College (Moascar Cup).—Draw, 3 all. Versus Auckland Grammar School. — Lost, 9 to 6. Versus Nelson College.—Won, 11 to 0. ARRANGED. September 27.—Mt. Albert Grammar School (Moascar Cup match).