FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13904, 15 May 1909, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

T<)I*CMI,IM<: TOPICS. <Uy C.E.H.) The dividend from tlic . British tour, is in M«;iit at- last. ; ri'vir.i»-i>iii|j * i<i...its:- —Pirates 0. .'lVmuKa li-i.ii- _'', ,iia'r D. -'I imam ().

J near tin' ■ illnai u" v. Hid mis present; it "its lo delu-nt.rre to tin- i ii.nii. \. no !i ii,- Hie next.' •

A Hub in Ttie'.-ikarii.i district rejoices in tile name in 'I rKotanetoiiga. ' \v hat a toiigu«.-tu isier tor harracu. is !

Celtic have a line set of forwards, and some decent backs, none of whom .-t-c-m to have ti(>v>lii|Kil tne uuliip i.f

scoring. The Sow Zealand I'nion rejected the insurance scheme.'brought up at its annual meeting. South Canterbury had better move mi its own now. A. Biitlti played J'or .Star on Thursday, but as he had hardly seen a ball before this season, he was not recognisable as the Hudd of last year. Play in the senior game at 'JVmiika was very gentle—in marked contrast to the contest in town. A little more energy would have pleased the spectators and improved the football. The "\\ annate Sub-Lnion are desirous of securing games with the senior clubs which have byes during the season, and intend to hring the matter before the Union. Mr Rodgcrs, the referee in the StarTeninka match, overruled a very unfair decision by the local line umpire, who erred to the extent of 15 yards in Temuka'*- favour. T). Clark siid E. Williams must surely be two of the unluckiest footballers in the district. .Something miglit be done for them by their club-mates, as players here are not covered- by insurance. E. Husband has joined the Linwood Club, perhaps because their colours are green and black. Husband is not unknown to Canterbury players, as he represented the northern half of the province in 1903. The fact that an age and a weight limit have been .imposed on players in the fourth grade does not necessarily imply that a lad of more than average merit cannot be classified because he is not barred by these restrictions. Tli« Taieri Rovers apparently found compensations for their heavy defeat in Timaru at Easter, as a motion was carried at a general meeting of the club placing on record their appreciation of their treatment at the hands of the Pirates Club. The usual seven-a-side tournament will he held on Empire Day on the Caledonian Grounds. Four grades are catered for. the first game being set down for 9.30 a.m. Entries, accompanied by. a fee of 10s 6d per team, must be made by Monday next. 1 was unable to follow one of the referees in some of his interpretations of the passing off the ground rule on Thursday.- On two or three occasions he penalised a man who fell with the ball, but was not tackled, and in one instance what looked like a probable score was lost. Athletic made their first appearance in Timaru on Thursday, but were not good enougn for Celtic juniors. The Temuka team contains some stoutlybuilt player©, tnough some are *,uvioiisly lien- men &l the game. Tort arus the end of the season tiiey may inaKe tiniigs more interesting, out at present (Jeiuc look like possible winners in tne junior section. The ."atar-Pirates junior match was a tame anair, and 1 tlnnk that one ol me president's teams 1 nave in my eye would defeat either of the sides out wii inuisday. Tne play was mostly.ot the push, kick aud cnase it order, and iaitoo much kicking lor touch indulgeo in. .Star were the better fifteen in cvi-ry detail but scoring power, and the points against them oid not represent Liie run ui the play. Lochore, win, notched two tries lor I'lr'atcs, has a hue dash for the line, and his second sc.re was a beauty. Apart from hotel unci travelling expenses, the largest item of expenditure in connection with the Anglo-Welsh tour was Uir rent of .grounds. 1 have collected some figures from the stateuuuis of accounts in the annual report of the Sew Zealand Union, in the nope that the moral -which they point may not be lost on the local authorities when next a big fixture is allotted to Timaru. At Nelson and Gisborne the grounds were apparently given free, of charge; Wairarapa collected £lO, and South Canterbury £"2 O. The amounts levied at other places were:—Wellington £2OB, and £215, Auckland £ll9 and £llO, Otago £l4l and £273, Canterbury £266', Taraneki £B7, Southland £66, West Coast £74, Wanganui £BO, Hawkes Bay £45, Manawattt £9l. In some cases the money was taken by private companies, but in others the Unions were the landlords, Otago receiving the snug sum of £425, and other Unions smaller amounts. as these Unions come in for a share of the surplus on the tour in addition to their rents. South Canterbury should endeavour to secure a decent meal also.when loaves and fishes are about in future. The Star-Temuka senior game appears to have provided a poor exhibition of Rugby. A good judge tells me that it was a case of two secondclass teams playing a scrambling game. Tenuika had a slight advantage, though Star livened up considerably in the last few minutes. The only score, a try by Gus Spillane, was obtained because he took advantage of bad play by the opposing backs. The forwards were not worth particularising—no man showing any particular skill. Serums were frequent, but neither side packed well, and any heeling out was done by Teinuka. Of the backs, Dave Scott was the only one to do his work really well, and his general all-round play was sound, but he never was in any tight corner. Gus Spillane kicked well, hut the passing of the Temuka backs was extremely poor: The whole team had no system of play, and the game went on in a most haphazard way. My informant says that Star wore worse, than Temuka—condemnation enough. The forwards (like Temuka) were a tired lot, and play went on in patches, the intervals beiiig employed in getting the ball in from touch. Of the hacks, .Mayo in the second half was a long way the best, but his form was only fair. The annual report and balance sheet issued by the New Zealand Union is a remarkable production, in so far as its treatment of the financial aspect of the British team's tour is concerned. About two lints in the report are devoted to the matter, a bald statement being made that the matches in New Zealand and Australia resulted in a prolit of £<j7o Is lid, but no information is vouchsafed as to the success or otherwise of the New Zealand portion of the trip. It might have been expected that a statement of accounts in connection with the undertaking would have been published, but although a balance-sheet for each of the seventeen games in the two islands is given, nothing appears covering the tour as a whole. By the system of book-keep-ing adopted each match is charged with an equal share of the total travelling expenses and of the entertainment bill, and is credited with an equal portion of the profits on the Australian fixtures. These figures are the only ones which furnish any guide to the curious person, and evon the totals of receipts and expenditure are not given. The amount charged against each game for entertainment is £43 5> 4d, which for 17 matches runs into £740, hut the averaging method which has been followed gives no opening for criticism of parti-

cr.hir instances of alleged extravagance. It is more, than likely, too. that a'ppr-| tion of . the . travelling expenses might properly have been included in the entertainment hill. The sum credited to each district frum ihe Australian surplus is £54 9s, .so that .the prolit from over the water was about £925. .The net return being •£670, a loss of £255 must have been incurred . in Xciv Zealand. • • ' •

The •Celtic-Pirates senior fixture attracted a large attendance, and onlookers were "rewarded by . a fast and keenlv contested game between two well 'trained teams. - Celtic, were represented by their full strength, but their opponents were deprived of the services of the brothers Coles, and the absence of the half and hist iive-eightiis had a marked effect on their back play. Anticipations of some good footoail from the Pirate rearguard were largely mifullilled. and the Iviv Hashes of smart work ivnich wore given -made the disappointment tin- keener. The game was a great deal quieter than any previous one this season, though it was marked by too much vigour in the closing stages. The play went up and down the field rapidly, and was as often in one 25 as in ihe other; Celtic, how ever, hardly ever looked like scoring, whilst Pirates just missed the line a dozen times. The two paeus wefe prettilv evenly matched, except in the matter of hooking, Hagerty ami ker appearing to better advantage than tun Celtic pair, except to\vnms the. end of the. game, though owing to the weakness of the halt the winners derived small benefit from the smartness in the trout row. The line-out work was about even m merit, Pirates wasting too much time m attempts to work tiie cut-in, and there was not a great deal to choose in the loose. . V here Pirates, were greatly superior was 11 the three-quarter, line, iixadley playing one of his Sunday games anu uaiinng rounds or applause ror clever deience and all-rotuiu work. His one fault was a tendency to interlere witu : .i:* full back, Mall, who wnen lett ''alone gave a creditaUie display. Davey wall fielded and kicked aceiuutei\, tm former making some good runs as well. Williams was not as good as the threeonarters, being inclined to hold on too long and never getting properly going. He was just getting into his stride when he- had the ill-luck. -to injure Ins shoulder. The halt was out of place in a seniiii" team. On the other hand Celtic had a good half in Darcy, but the backs made next to no use of the ball, and in fielding and kicking were a good deal inferior to tne opposition. Uarcy and Houlihan excepted. Tin weakest joint in' their armour, how ever, was their rush-stopping, Clark, Darcy aud Hertnon being the only who appeared to relish the dasnes ol the Pirate vanguard. Many timet good work by. the Green pack was at once undone by the slackness of twe or three of the backs. Kane made hi: appearance at full, but Appeared uneasy at times, and JG)'-Mauey at fiyeeiguths did nothing to warrant his inclusion. The two -forward divisions, did not contain more than, one pooi player each, and from', these teams alone a'rep. pack could be selected.. Ol Pirates, Moffat, KodgeisUnd rlagert\ were busy all day, and Campbell ano Ker were* not farbehind them. .Smith, at wing, except tor an on-side tendency, luit little room tor fault-finding, and" in the ru»h which ended in .uavvy> try put. in a "particularly smart bit 01 play. Niall, iveating and the brotneii j.<'itzgerakl were always doing good service for the Celts, tlie younger I'itz. promising to develop into a line forward. Courtney was fair, but ohanahan discounts ins play considerably o> too much of the windmill business, am. is courting disaster. ■ O'Brien was om at wing again, and improved on hit previous essay a good deal; he is s. better scrunimer than winger, however, .-summed up, the game was a good one, but bordered on roughness at times. FIXTURES FO.li THURSDAY.

Seniors. —>Star v. 1 iriiaru, -Caledonian Ground, 3.15 p.m.;'. Celtic v. Teinuka, Athletic No. L, 3.15 p.m. Juniors. —Celtic v, Temuka'. at Temuka, 2.15 p.m.; Zingari v. Athletic, at Temuka, 3.15 p.m.; Geraldine v.Timaru, Rectory Ground; Pirates V. Point, at. Point. • President's. — Pirates v. Temuka, Athletic No. 2, 3.15 p.m.: Zingari v. Celtic, Athletic No.' 1, 2 p.m. Fourth Grade.—Zingari v. Celtic. Athletic No. 2, ii p.m.; Timaru v. Star, Caledonian Ground, 2 p.m.

The rugby competitions in Waimate on Thursday resulted as follows: — Hiwiroa 12, Morven nil; Taniwha 6, Zealandia 6: possibly a protest will be entered by Zealandia on the grounds of obstruction. The scores in the first named game are not a criterion as to the play, which was very even. The points now :>re Hiwiroa 4, Morven. 2, Taniwha and Zealandia 1 each.