FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13891, 30 April 1909, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

OPENING OF COMPETITIONS. The Rugby Union competitions were commenced yesterday in beautiful weather. In the. senior grade, Celtic defeated Timaru on the Athletic Ground by 4 to 3, and Pirates beat Tennika on the latter's • ground by 16 to 4." Details will be found below. SENIOR. Timaru v. Celtic (referee, Mr A. Shirtcliife). —Timaru kicked off facing the sun, and quickly invaded Celtic's L'o, several line-outs taking place. A smart mark by Darcy relieved. Bain found toucli again at the 25, and Priest increased the advantage by another liner, but a misunderstanding between Bain and Hardy let Celtic away, and Hardy just retrieved in time. i'riest once more got back to Celtic's 25, ir6m where Hertnon headed a rush into the Blues' territory, and Sullivan had a pot but failed 'to lift the ball. From a penalty immediately after he just missed the posts. Keating was prominent in penning Timaru in, and some passing by Celtic backs terminated in Darcy being held up in the corner. Another opening m&dc by Darcy was spoilt by a bad transfer by Sullivan, ancl loose play saw Timaru dash well into Celtic's 25. Bain had a fruitless shot at goal from a free, and the Green pack swept back to the centre. Good marks to Priest' and Darcy gained little ground, but a Celtic charge went right to the goal posts, and a sucession of scrums took place on Timaru's line. Good hooking and quick passes by the half gave the Celtic rearguard two or three good chances which were not availed of, Lynch bringing up the first score by a neatly potted goal. Timaru livened up after this, and Culpin and Sinclair covered a lot of ground with the ball, but Celts soon worked out to safe ground, a couple of penalties proving useful. Timaru continued to have the better of play till half time, making several attempts to open up passing, without result, and the spell ended Celtic 4, Timaru 0. On resuming the Celtic backs showed ft, flash of decent passing, and the forwards made several attempts to drive the attack home, but each time off-side play stopped their progress. A good screw by Houlman placed Timaru in an awkward position, till an attempt at passing from the line out was swamped by the Blue iorwards • and play went to midfield. J. Fitzgerald headed a dangerous rush which Hardy checked splendidly, and Houlihan and Niall were going strongly when a penalty was awarded to Celtic for obstruction. Sullivan's kick fell short, and Hardy's return was followed into Celtic's territory. O'Leary failed to find the uprights from a free kick, but Culpin and Brodrick drove their opponents back to the line, only to see Hertnon and y. Fitzgerald head a rush back to the centre. An interval of scrambling play ended in Brodrick breaking through, and fumbling by Celtic backs enabled Maben to score near the flag. O'Leary did not convert. From the drop-out Celtic dashed to and Darcy and Kirby worked the blind side to advantage, the ground being lost immediately through an infringement. Celtic soon set up another attack, a force being • the result, and a Timaru sortie was repulsed by Lynch, who brought lip the flag in the corner. Robertson came to the rescue, leading a rush to the other end, then G. Fitzgerald came back again and Bain had to kick out to save. The Blues rallied once more. Lynch being called upon to clear his line, but Kirby quickly placed them on the defensive again, and for a long time play see-sawed between half-way and the Timaru line. Dalton just failed to ■ score on one occasion, and the Celts held the upper hand to close on time, when Timaru made a final but, resultless attempt to win the game. Final scoie —Celtic 4, Timaru 3. Pirates v. Temuka. —(Referee —Mr D. M. Rodgers).—This match was played on Victoria Park, Temuka, in the presence of a fair crowd of spectators. Pirates won the toss and decided to defend the northern goal, playing the 'first spell with the sun at their backs, i Three of the team had already played in a junior match immediately beforehand and it speaks well for the manner in. -which these men have trained that they lasted out the game with something in hand. J. Burns, an old South Canterbury rep., formed one of the home team's pack and did good work during the play. Right from the whistle Pirates had the best of the play, and all through the game they dominated the scrums, getting the ball nearly every time. Their combination, also, was considerably better than the home team's and the game was played ' right from the start, with a vigor and 1 thoroughness that made it interesting to watch. Within the first ten min-

utes of play, Smith got over for the Blacks and taking the kick himself dropped a neat goal. The Temnka men then gradually worked the ball up the field and instituted a dangerous rush that was finely averted by a good kick by Davey. A free kick being granted to Temuka they elected to take a shot at goal, but though the intention was good, the execution was not quite good enough and the shot went wide. The play here got rather rough, and several men could bo seen limping badly ; one Pirate was minus the greater portion of his jersey, and the sleeve of a Temuka player had parted company with the rest of the costume. Line out work followed and a fine passing rush by the Blacks was stopped in.the nick of time by D. Scott, who time after time was the means of averting scores by his good tackling. Pirates forced the pace all along and another time Temuka was forced. From the kick out the home team started a fine rush and but for it being spoilt by off-side play might easily have scored as they had a fine open chance; Pirates relieved and took the ball down the field when Temuka again forced. From a scramble in front of the Temuka goal a score was awarded to the Pirates for obstruction and Smith took the kick and scored. In the melee that took place Davey got a bad kick on the head and retired for a time. The first spell then ended and on changing ends a fine rush by Coles, Moffat and Smith ended m the Temuka corner and they were lucky to force. Another scramble ensued and Coles got away again passing to Bradley and Davey who was grassed by Scott just in time. Pirates had iemuka rather demoralised, but all ot a sudden they seemed to wake up and Davey just managed to'break up a rush and save a score against the Pirates. From an open bit of work m the Pirates twenty-five A Spillane neatly potted a goal. The best bit ot play seen during the afternoon then took place, Temuka attacked very strongly and time after time seemed to be within an ace of scoring, but in everv case Pirates' defence was equal to the occasion and the home team .. efforts were frustrated. The 1 iraes added another fire points through the

efforts of Williams and Smith, the former getting smartly across, and the later converting, and within a few minutes of the whistle Bradley brought the score up to 16 points, Campbell failing to convert. The game ended Pirates ]G, Temuka 4 after a well-contested match. JUNIORS. Celtic 11. v. Zingari I (referee, Mr J. Deans). —A period of close play followed the kick-off, Celtic claiming a slight advantage. Superior scrumming took them to the 25, and Zingari were held up for some minutes. Shields raised the siege momentarily, but Shanahan sent the leather back, and Zinf;ari were kept hard at it until Hagerty slipped through to the other 25. Darroch made a dash for the line, but Brce failed to take his pass and a force resulted. After some give and take play Zingari attacked, and Darroch made a good attempt at goal from a mark. Nothing exciting took place for a while, then Zingari lost their advantage through weak passing, but Hagerty changed the aspect of the game with a fine run which landed him over the line. Darroch did not increase the. score. Hagerty and Moore made another onslaugnt on Celtic's line just before half-time. ' Immediately on resuming D. Doyle put in a line run, and when a score seemed certain lost it by a wild pass, and another Celtic i onslaught was checked by oil side. The ! Greens kept up the pressure, Zmgari being tied up tor quite a spell. Latimer and Mcllrov eventually broke away and Zingari secured a mark within easy range. The kick was disallowed foi "deliberately wasting time," and Celtic bv the aid of several marks cleared the line Kirbv invaded Zingari s territory and Lynch had a. shot from a quick mark by Houlihan. A Zingari rush was countered by Lynch going right to the full back, Bennetts proving equal to the occasion, and Zingari took charge till the end, He id just tailing Ito score on one occasion. Zingari o>

Celtic 0. _ , , . J J irates v. Temuka. —(Referee, Mr A. Cuthbert.) —The junior teams of the Pirates and Temuka Clubs tried conelusions on Victoria Park grounds, ieinuka, yesterday afternoon. lemuka won the toss, and elected to defend the northern goal. From the sound oi the whistle the game was made willing. Ilie visitors had decidedly the best of first quarter of an hour's play, and had the ball in Temuka's territory most <f the time, but it was not long before the home team reversed the order of things, and very soon had the Pirates in difficulties, Woods crossing the v isittors' line after a fine folio.v up and scrum in Pirates' 25. Fisher took the kick but failed to add the extra points. Pirates then woke up, and a score was only averted by a tine saving kick by Larcombe. From the line-out, I-.odgois (Temuka) got possession, and after a splendid run, all unsupported, gained another try for the home team. T. Horgan failed to convert. A shot at goal by Pirates missed its mark, and the half-time whistle sounded with the score —Temuka 6., Pirates 0. Both teams were tiring as the second spell proceeded, but the visitors were ob-

viously the better trained men, although the. losers. Nearly 011 time Jackson scrambled across again lor Temuka, after a. neat bit of work, but Storey, who took the kick, failed to add to the score, and the game ended —Temuka 9 points (three tries), Pirates 0. For the home team, Fisher, Horgan and Surridge showed good form, while Hall and Cole shone amongst the visitors' combination. PRESIDENTS. In the third grade matches, Zingari heat Pirates by 26 to nil, Pirates playing with only seven men. In the match, Celtic v. Geraldine, the former came off Victorious by 35 to nil.

The Review of Reviews for April is remarkable for the number of special articles it contains. The place of honour, the Character Sketch, is devoted to Father John of Cronstadt, and is entitled "Modern Healers." "The New Ottoman Parliament and its Members" is an illuminating article upon the nationalities, religion and politics of the Ottoman Parliament. "The Nightmare of the German Army" refers to the Kaiser's New Year's message to his generals, which created so great a sensation the wide-world over. Olive Schreiner writes on "The Najtive Problem in South Africa" in a i thoroughly characteristic manner. The ! section devoted to the Leading Articles in the Reviews, is as usual most comprehensive. Included in it is an account of a remarkable article on "Surgery Extraordinary " in which it is told how Dr Alexis Carrel has successfully transplanted various parts of the human body to other bodies. It reads like a romance when it tells how he can make the leg of one' dog grow upon the leg of another, how he can transplant sections of arteries of dogs and cats with 'ease, of how he has taken the aorta of one dog and sewed it into the aorta of another. Perhaps the most interesting part is that which tells of how tissue lives after death, and of how he has taken organs from dead animals and joined them on to the arterial machinery of a living person, when they immediately begin to work. The article is like a tale from the Arabian Nights. .