FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13601, 22 May 1908, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

1 ESI EBD AY'S MATCH VIS. 'IV %nsix>m c«;mpctitfoiw itnckr the control ot tit- Kngby Union weie tinued yesterday. in tin'.* »t»tuer. J» the-' first-grade matches, I'tratv* i>,u>mned tfe? twd tn/ tfo? premiership, deEestting lemuk« at Victoria I'ark by « ♦•»>n*erted try to toil: and Star beat finwrit, on the At tile tic ii round.*, by 11 pomt* 6 joints', after u. fast game. Ihe vontwrtf are reported in detail below. SKNIOK. Star, II points; Tiniaru, 6 pot it to. Referee, Mr H. fl. Bennetts. Star kicked oS from the eastern goal a boot 3.30, and this week the* game was finished before' the light failed. Bober;son was penalised for off-side. ami Tiniaru were trailed upon few (Mend at the outset. Smith and *jrci»*it took {»by to near therr line, and the Btues hud a bu.-<y &*«• ntittutfco. Priest eventually getting them out of difficulties by a good kick from u mark. Auld fa'ikd tt» take advantage of a good t>pt*ntng: made by Budd. and t« fft+- kick tw limairtt went oat at half-way. A big Stall' rush was stopped in good style by Htu'die. and another penalty in tmr.nu kept Star buck; there Mnoiring tx.mt the bull out nicaliy, and Grant made » good I'UXJv transferring to Aufd. bat ;t witd {>,(.-* by the latfcsr spoilt the rush. Mayo »nd Smitb curried play buck to the 'line, a ■'VHiii following near the post*,, but Star ware- beaten buck. and on coming » Mxvnd time were- checked by Arscott nutrfchr,* under the bar; After some close plav outside the 25, Budd and Smith kit:ltd to- the Irnwru: lull b«ck. and Hrvtimrt muddled the butt &ttt at the corner. From a aenmt tin the fine the feather went out t» Star's batiks, and Scott narrow ty missed opening it rcorrDg account, a, pot S>hot tutting, of tjj« posts. An infringement brought temporary respite to Tiniaru, hut Star returned to- the attack, and Au'd ended a, passing rush by shooting for goat, a force resulting. A penalty again*; Priest kept Tiniaru inside the 25. und Clark wndmg f.he- bait oat smarttv to iirant, the latter streaked through" and scored » clever try. Smith converted. Star 5, Ttmaru 0. ISctrtt and Fraaer were prominent with good kicks, ;vnd strapped the Star forwards nicety. Rodgern failed tr» tak« «» high fei c k bv B,niu. and htar wfre forced to defend f»r the first tt> Ximara was titken by Bain, who bnded a good goal. 53. Some tigbt pby #t midfietd was succeeded by several exebauges, of kick.*, none hndtni; the. tine,'and &mith made* a good attempt at gof>t from a mark. Timarn were Iwvingj.rligbtly the bstter of the gjime at this stage, and esswyed three or four bits of pneaing from scrmn». 'lhe mast promise ing, between i'riest, Bi»tn, ilardte, and Aracott was mi. by Grant, and Bain being penalised for tying on the* baft Smith put the ball between the pouts'. B—s. the Star vanguard immediately had Hertnoa In trouble, and Clarke and Grant got another rush going; Scott mailed a pass, and od?'9id& ag«tin*t Autd Tiinarti to clear their line. A &mart screw by 3Jay» was welt followed by Harver, who beat Kertnon for the- ball, and "kicked hard over the line. He beat tlw." opposition in the ron in, and scored near the posts. Smith failed to convert, and hatf time waw calkd. Star 11, Timaru 3. Budd and Auld put S'tur in .<t goad position as j-oon as play was resumed, and a mark on the line-out by Manning left the Blues in an awkward position. A clean piece of passing by Clark, Auld, t»rant and Scott ended in the last-named bemg penalised for hanging on, and ultimately Arscott transferred o|>eMtt«n* to <£e> centre. An attempt at back ptay by Tunaru gave Star posceesion of the bail, •Bardie saving just in time. Aufd dropped a pa>» from f.rane, und Lister, Tavtor and Null swept to the- Star 25, where- a bad tfrtn oa fct to Timaru» territory. Grant and Mav*> were responsible- for a nice dash, i'anik bringing them up, and anotber attempt by Star's rearguard was blocked by Bain. Auld showed up witfi a. g«od run. but lost the ball, and imnwdiatelv tfi»' ground lie had gained by getting » Star wt-re doing their best to open up the game, * irunt doing (iom« pretty work, bun was not well supported, Hertnnrt t'n;iiiv dribbling to their 25, wberw Scott iwarked and sent play back t»> tlie centre. liantru rallied strtmgly nt this point, Ke«y staving oft one attack and Smith spoiling two otfaer attempts at passing by the Btues. Cook was next responsible for the neatest bit of footwork daring the game, taking uniuru to within striking distance, from where Hertnon had a fruitless attempt at goal. A ruinate later Fraser worked the opening on the line-out, and dashed through tfie Star backs, scoring Timarts's only try Motlison did nnt add to the ecf>re. 11—6. Ttmaru continued to Wp ot«r busy. I'rie&t making one line opening only tf> we Smith held a wild by Bam and kick to Timaru's 25. BatH wmottiiered a return by Scott ;md put tli»muea once more ori the offensive but Mayo relieved nicely, and tinh: w ilts ca ;f t ,[ with pt:iy in neutTid ground. ■ Pir»tes. 5 points: Temuk;t, nil. .Referee, 3ft- A. Shirtetitle. These teams met on Victoria Park, Temuka. - Pirates had by far the better of tine match and gave their opponents no opportunities to. score. On the whole the game - was a monotonous one, lines-out, scrums and scrambles being frequent and play waa jrezy.: tight, Temnkaapparently no<k caring. to open dot for fear of letting the strong T Pirat« - pack' through ; and

at kast balf of the second spell they were unable to open out. even if they had wished* Pirates kicked off from the south and Kirby and F. Wall at one© made themselves conspicuous by getting play into the Temuka 25 and attacking. A scrum in front of Temoka's goal posts was resultlees; and a free kick to Temuka sent the ball out to tho centre and gave them an opening. Kirby secured a mark and gave Bradley a chance for a kick, but ho did no good. A couple of marks by Pira>tc» were stopped by I). Scott and L. Grant, who were able to drift the game to the Pirate 25; but a free kick by Bradley shifted tho ball down again. A penalty to Temuka was well marked by Bradley and play became forward till later Bradley stnt the oval. Carlton followed with a" place kick which was unsuccessful. Pirates stuck to the attack and play was shifted to the Temuka 25, almost on the line at times, but a free kick relieved and still another sent the leather into Pirate ground. The Pirates made e rush forward , ably assisted by Maben, and a few tine-outs near the centre resulted. Temuka then livened up and ruebed the ball to Pirates 25, where some uninteresting ptay took place; then Pirates, especially Carlton and F. Wall, broke away and sent ji!»y forward, but I). Scott checked them a Little. A rush by a Tcnuika man who got the ball from D. Scott was stopped by Bradley in the Pirates 25. A hard tussle I occurred here. L. Grant made an endeav- | our to lead the battle, but Kirby was ready for him and some forward play followed. Pirates got going again, but a i/tee kick to Tennnfea checked ttmai. althoughDarcy, from a scrum, put in some good work lor Pirates. A good kick by a Pirate man was frustrated by JD. Scott and th© oval then went to he centre. A couple of long kicks by D. Scott and Kirby gave Pirates a lead up and the bail went oat in Ttmuka's 25. Soon after Bradley place-kicked, but his shot was well stopped and a closely-following free kick to Temuka made the game a forward one. Temuka then made a good effort to force the pace, but Pirates pressed them back. A few long kicks were exchanged and a line-out near the centre made the game tight. Bradley had a bad shot at goal and the ball came back to his side, making tin* game forward when half time sounded.

On resuming Temnka attacked strongly and might have scored bat for Kirhy, when ptay waj in the Pirates territory. Tben lor some time play was forward but oo the side line and the line : out& became monotonon.*. At liw* Mibaka got the ball and started a sprint but was felled by Coles and the game shifted to Teinuka ground, when a free kick to Kane gave him a chance to score but the ball fell short. For awhile Temnka attacked, after which Pirates got in a rush and smart play, by Kirby, Fitzgerald and O'Brien enabled (». Wall to score a try, which Kane converted. Pirates 5; Temuka nil. Darcy and Fitzgerald slopped an attempted rash by Tern ok a and another rush by the latter team resulted in a dead ball. A penalty against Temuka sent the ball to L. Grant and enabled Temnka to get 'up I to the Pirates 25, where a passing boat by Temnka sent the ball out. Then from a couple of scrams near the line Pirates forced tbeir opponents back, but might have lost their advantage but for Kpiltane's free kick doing no good. Sonic tight played was followed by Carlton getting the game fonvard again, then by Pirates attacking and getting near to the Temnka line, where two or three scrums occurred and a smart passing game by three or four Pirates sent the ball over the line where it was forced. Pirates stuck to the attack and made the play tight in the Temuka 25 and while here Bradley attempted a pot, the ball striking the bar. From this to the finish Pirates more than held their own, in spite of several efforts by Temuka to gain control. When the whistle sounded it was almost too dark to distinguish the players and the game could not have gone on much longer. :

JUSIORS.

Zingari, 6 {joints—Geraldine, 5 points (Referee, Air Glover). This match was played at Geraldiue and was very even throughout. In the first spell b'cott scored a try for Geraldine and E. Darroch kicked a penalty goal for Zingari. In the second spell, which "was very closely contested MrWhirter (Zingari) scored «t try which he failed to convert. Temuka, o—Celtic 0 (Referee, !Ir D. Rodgers).—This game was played on Victoria Park, Temuka. It was a good and exciting game, the evenly matched teams effectually prevented each* other from scoring. The Celtic backs were weak, but their forwards were a good lot and they, with the front rankers of the Temuka team, kept tho ball moving in all parts of the field and made the match a fast and interesting one. For Temuka L. Wood. McKellar and W. Spillane played well and Walters, Pike, Kirby, J. and W. Houlihan were conspicuous on the side of the Celtics. Temuka had several opportunities to score, bat failed to make the most of their position and four or five times the Celtic full back forced the ball. Pirates 11. v. Point I. (Referee. Mr Halsteadh—Point placed a very heavy team in the Held, and as the visitors, were playing live of their president's team. Point were expected to make a big score. From the kick-off Pirates played a hard game, keeping the ball near their opponents' line the "[greater pait of the first spell. The home team defended well, till they were penalised for off-side play,

which let Doyle get- points for his side. The homo team's heavier weight then began to tell, and working the ball from their own 25 right across their opponents' line, one of their pack was successful in scoring, and Adams placed a good goal. In the second spell Point kept the visitors busily detending the whole time, and placed two more tries to their credit. The game ended Point- 11, Pirates 3. Star II v. Timaru 11. (Referee, Mr H. R. Walker) —Timaru kicked off against the sun, Star returning well down the field. From a line out Star forwards carried the ball near the line, a 2'enalty for an infringement clearing the Timaru line. After a lot of give and take play Star continned to hold the upper hand, and after a dribbling rush McLean scored the first try, Tubb adding the major points. From the kick-out Star at once took the ball back to the twenty-live with a nice passing rush. Timaru livened" vp for a while but could not hold against the Star forwards who were too heavy for them. Passing ru.«hes on both sides made the gamemteresting and from a long kick Green following up scored, Houston kicking the goal. After the kick out Star forwards at once took the ball back again, but the defence was too &olid for them to score. The Timaru backs got on a passing rush which took them to Star's twenty-five, but they could not manage to break through, Star being forced. From the drop out Star forwards gaining possession started passing and after half a dozen had handled the ball Copp gained possesion and scored, Tubb kicking the goal, half time being called soon after. The second spell was of a more even nature, Timaru having the advantage but did not manage to score, passing rushes being the order on both Hides. Tli - play of ixijJi teams wa.s ahove the average which has been seen hero for sometime, and it was a pity some of the seniors were not present to see il. Another noticeable feature of tlvo game was the absence of talking, also the small number of infringements which is the main object to procure good football. Star, 15 I points; Timaru, nil. THIRD GRADE. Old Boys v. Zingari 11. (Referee, Mr T. Jordan). —Old Boys started with 11 men, a twelfth man taking the field ten minutes later. In spite of this handicap, they held their own fairly well, though Zingari were more often dangerous. In the first spt II each side scored three points, Broad obtaining a try-for Zingari and Dunsford notching a penalty goal for Old Boys. [ The only score after half-time was a potted goal by Targuve, who registered the winning points for Zingari. Final scores :—Zingari 7. Old Boy.-, 3. Geraldine 11. v. Pirates 111. I Referee, Mr H. H. Fraser). —Pirates could only muster tip 12 men, and like Old Boys played three short throughout the game. Geraldine were attacking the greater part of the time, and towards the end of the match kept Pi rates hard at work. Tries were scored for Geraldine by Stan. Harris and Syd. Harris, Bennington converting one try. Final scores:—Geraldine 8. Pirntss 0. FOURTH GRADK. Zingari 111. v. Celtic 111. (Referee, Mr A. Dunn).—This game was won by Celtic by 12 points to nil, tries being scored by Buckley (2). Allen, and Mulcahy. When the total stood at 9 points, two Ziugavi players were ordered off for disputing a decision by the referee, and several others went off with them. I'orty-one teams have entered in the four-grades of the seven-a-side tournament to be held on Monday next, and in consequence of this large entry the competitions will commence at 9 a.m., instead of 10 a.m. as previously announced.