FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13673, 15 August 1908, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

A meeting of the committee of the S;0. K.i'.U. was held lust evening. MrF. C Watson presided. The Maimate sub-union wrote asking t'ie (?nk>u to scud their junior representatives to Waimale on August 2Vtli. After discussion it was decided to reply that the juniors cannot- be sent down til! early in September, but the Union will endeavour to 'iiraiigs a date as 1 soon as possible. All application for the use of the Athletic Ground by the Rawhiti Hockey Club was gianlcd (I\ T o. 2 Ground) for August 22nd. and as to olst inst, the* club were referred to the Sport's Ground Company. Mr G. T. Palimr reported ordering off the field a player in the Zingarr team for | attempting to* throw an opposing player after the whistle had sounded. It. was not a- tvL-rious offence. Player to. be' cautioned and warned that if he' offends ill the future he will be severely dealt with. The case of the Celtic player who had been disqualified till the end of the season for deliberately, tripping ,and which had been referred" back to the committee by tho Union delegates, Was considered at length. Eventually a. motion that tile previous resolution bo rescinded' was' lost ,by 3 to 3, and tile previous disqualification was, therefore, adhered to. Mr O'Leary did not vote. ,

It was decided' to -withdraw several teams from the junior and presidents competions, and the following teams now, remain—Juniors—Star, Temuka, ■'.■'• Zingaai, Celtic and Point ;■ Presidents—Celtic, Zihgari, Temuka and High School. The. senior competition was declared closed and it was decided to wire to tli-a Southland Union, asking if their representatives could play South Canterbury in Timaru on the return of tho Southland team from their northern tour. ■

Mr liassall, manager of the South Canterbury representatives on tour, stated that everything had gone on very smoothly. The conduct of the team had been splendid, and the various unions had treated the men with courtesy and hospitality, lie presented accoiui'is ni connection with the tour, which were considered very satisfactory. Members spoke in an appreciative manner of the way in ivliich Mr Ba-ssall had carried out his 'duties,''and he was cordially thanked by the chairman.

The Temuka "club are giving a welcome home to the representatives at Temuka on Monday night. The medals won by the Tetmikn teams iii the recent tournament would be presented to the respective players by the president'of the/ union during the evening also. It was decided to provide a drag'for the Timaru men, to leave Mr Watson's shop at 6.30 p.pi. :. any"one; unable to go to let the secretary ;knqw. ■ at once. . • ':-..••■• . .

TOUC'TUKK TOPICS. ;., , (By C:E.H:). The South Canterbury louring, tenm is to be entertained on Monday at a smoke concert organised by the -Temuka. Football Club. ' ■ •

One result of the northern trip of "the local rep. team may be looked for in return visits - from North Island Unions within the next two, years.- . ' ' The Ashbmton County Union will hold a feven-a-sirle tournament on the 27tli jnst. Entries for three grade?—los, 7s 6d. and' ss, respectively—close on the 22nd. The trains for the'south are, to be delayed on the d'ay of the tournament. ' There are no ■ more representative fixtures arranged for the South' Canterbury men this season, but as the public would like to seethe weai-ens of the Green and Blacks in'action, perhaps a. successful effort could bo made to secure a game with Southland.

The big match for Fleet Week at Auckland, with the Kanfurly Shield at stake, takes place between Wellington arid Auckland this afternoon. The Wellingtpuians are strong in their faith- in their rearguard, but lj shall be surprised if the faking 3{onvarsi of Uie home- t/.am do-not prove too much for the vi:itorw.

Two items from Iha "Taranaki Herald" : —"The .South -Canterbury team is one of , the quietest and most gentlemanly teanis I have ever seen on tour. The men ■were in New Plymouth for three clays, and not a. word of 'complaint tail be- 'brought against them for' their behaviour during that time.'' "Tho South Canterbury .men had hard 1 luck in not . scoring once or twice, especially during the last few .niin-uk-s. Indeed many aver that' O'Brien, when ho crossed Taranuki's lino just before the call of time, touched the bail down before it rolled away from him." Wanganui has earned a place among the half-dozen strongest football-provinces, and a, defeat by its representatives might, have been expected by a team from South Canterbury. The Wcbbanni fifteen last Saturday was about. the strongest put in' the field" this season, and was reputed to be a better side than;'.the-one which just failed .to'beat the British team. In spite of this, :I feel, justified in Baying that under more equal conditions tho. Green and Blacks would haye\ proved capable/of winning' the match last, week; The tourists were in a jaded .condition- when they took the .field, haying had no time lo recover from the strenuous contest with Ihe Taranaki/pack and,":,the wearisome train journey froni New Plymouth.' The dash exhibited cm the Thursday'..was noticeably absent on Saturday, and many times meu were not up in time-for lino-outs. The loosei- rushes were not (6' bo compared to previous . games, individual-" rather than combined - dashes being the', order of the day, and generally, the" team' lacked the fire of earlier efforts. ;Wiih- ; aiiother day's rest a vici ory would. probably have been recorded in; : place:, of a" defeat.' Even as it was the game might":easily have' ended in a, draw, one of : Wanga'nui's converted tries, being gained through' the South Canterbury full-back falling; -and Pitzgcr.Jd missing an : easy score through indecision on the goal-line., Wiih reference to the actual play, it must be admitted that the game was not a nice one, a. great deal too much "boot" being introduced, and unnecessary vigour shown. Wanganui football is decidely, on the hard side, and offences , which in (he. South Island ..would entail an enforced holiday are regarded as -"all m the game." . Rugby is 'by. no means a ladies' pastime, but if the "style of the river (own; becomes general, T do/not hesi-. tate to "say that public taste will turn to. some other form of '-sport.: It not be inferred that'all the roughness; >«*» on one side, for after a. few minutes bo h sides ""mixed it;" but the indiscriminate lashing of feet ■■•by the home team was not pleasing to 'see, and the amount and the nature of the talk was "in decided con'vast to other game's of the tour. Altogether, as footballers, the Wanganui men appeared in a. le<:,s favourable light than any team met during the Irip,, and I am sorry to say that at least two South Canterbury men descended to their Wei. . The visiting backs were given "practically no opportunities of attacking from scrums ; intact, the heeling":of each.: pack, was" too -jdow' to allow the halves'to cope with the wing forwards. . The .work: of the rear division was • almost' wholly confined (o fielding, ■ kicking; and'tackling, and with the exception of ..Mayo, who played -very poorly, they gave a'creditable display,' taking an immense amount of knocking about in a plucky manner.' Their one error appeared to be unnecessary marking of Abbott, but despite his All Black reputa ion the latter did not-appear to.such advantage as. Mitv cheD and Dow, and was apparently only too pleased to get rid of the ball without undue pressure : fram opponents. The Green" forwards suffered by comparison with tlie Blues in point'of v : .m, biifc tho .maimer in which' ii. portion of the losing' vanguard held their adversaries at times, convinced me that'in their "best form they would have proved-too good for them. Budd, Scott, : Carlton and Roddick, were perhaps the most-useful. men in the ■ front - division.

Futilei'.' who was prominent on the \VahSanui side, .Is "■ lnu-d-«orkiiig little H-inccr, but. hiis methods would exasperate any uiau; dud should HUt be tolerated trrt-in. MiUUs and' Pdtbll were about ilie--b-i=t of the Wangaulii ficrumnie 'S; The Wellington B team which played -against Sou li Canterbury on Wednesday's chie/lv composed of young players, several of * whom surprised the public of the Empire City by their good, loriu. Thoueh the victors. registered a, win, ana gave "one tho iinpriwsion thai they were holding something in reserve for the-sea trip at night and the game at Ashburlon next dav, it wuiild have been more saus-faotol-y "if the tourists could" have -teen allowed lu Uke their.chances .against » el'linglons best team. A B-.kam is never quKO a. second lilteen, .especially when an "A team id away from home, as two or three men are usually included who could not travel, and two* or threa more who arc'quite tip to the form of lire average A man, 'lbis would have been the case ill TiniarU this year, material' for a very good side being left- ltd home, and in a ■large centre like Wellington the number of class players is much larger. But in the popular vieW a victory over a B team often curries less Weight'thaui a worse performance and a severe defeat by the A teani- v Tile worst feature of Wednesday's contest was ihe scrum work, which was poor on both sides, clean heeling., being the exception; and with each side playing two wingers the backs were not given many decent chances.- The home team were more successful in their efforts 10 start passing rushes, but the handling was not .good and seldom gained much ground. In the matters of fielding, and kicking the South Canterbury rearguard' were ahead of their opponents, and the work in these departments by Spillane, Scott, Horgan, and Bradley was splendid, l'riesfc improved'on'his previous'-displays, though playing in a new position, and Barcy did a •lot ; of useful work, in the second half showing fine defensive ability- The Green pack were-Rot as successful, in'scrum, work as in previous matches, Houlihan and .Murphy securing possession '.oftenter than the South Canterbury l pair, but few of the. .scrums were properly formed, and a lot of time was wasted in reforming and getling- back to'the correct places. In the loose the winners were the ' belter side, ..'Melville, Buddj «nd Scott, being very good. Husband played lor the, first time in this match, and. showed more than a glimpse of his old form, his footwork- and headiness standing him in good stead: Rod; dicK to my mind gave Jiis best'exhi,->..ion on the tour, the one fault in his display being want of judgment in kicking from penalties. In- the first spell he madte no ■u."»o of the line, vnd by. kicking too far took'a lot out of his forwards. This was remedied in the iseeoud spell, and a noticeable .improvement, was shown-in the play of the vanguard. The victory -of the Greens Was only obtained by two points,, bub the home team were for.unato in being :awarded theiri. .try, and in view of the task still }\a, front of, the South Canterbury men their performance was, not. unsatisiaetoiy. : It, was asking a good- deal of. the team -to,set the Ashburton County fixture- down for the , day after the 'Wellington game, with a. sea trip sandwiched!' in between, even though the form of the mid-Canter." bury-., men was known to be very poor. Tho'limited number of players .included in the team accentuated (he position, several men liot being ; fi.t for'serious football, and another rearrangement; (of places" being' necessary. A splendid run to Ly Helton, and ihe absence of.three or four of the best players home team,- however,: made the match a soft thing Xo r the visitors! Horgan played- full-back, and though in a crippled condition, did cverv- • thing- he was asked to .dp;.--' D Scott went up to wing'-three-quarter, and appeared to be quite as much at home as- ill his accustomed place at full. Bradley aiid Spillane . maintained their previous- good form, and it may.be said that the quartette mentioned above" 'made tho ; gam.e easy for their forwards by their clever fielding and kicking. Roddick played- at five-eighths, and made some strong runs which gave the Asbburipn men a lot; of trouble. / His ,joassea, wej-jb not'air that could ,b B desired, but' Ids two' penalty goals we're beauties. "Husband was good at wing forward and it is a, pity (hat he did not start playing earlier in the season. ItVas not-to" be expected'-that (he forward division, would show their.accustomed dash, \but nevertheless,some nice rushes ; were forthcoming, • Scotb,'and Melville getting, in some -fine, dashes and O'Brien bc- ; mg responsible for some decent footwork.,

r Lave-devoted, so mucli space'(o notes on the three games played since last Saturday that-some general'remarks'on the vjsio'to 'the-.north- must/ be deferred liJl nest week. . : ■ •■.-'. '

The match pld v..Celtic which ;»*s, played .on the."Caledonian Grounds-on Thursday afternoon ended in a win.-for tho;latter by il2 to 0. played a keen game, the.-.tries,', none of ..which were converted, being scored by Wade, O'Kane, Mulcahy- and, Schaab. /Mr Thompson was. ijur «ffioicnt referee. ' ;' .',•■: