FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 13 August 1910, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

TOUCHLINE TOPICS. (By C.E.H.) - Schools seven-a-side tournament today. South Canterbury team goes on tour on Thursday. The junior rep. match with North Otago is likely to be postponed for some time. Bradley is not included in the Wellington team to go north, but Moffctt has gained a place for the first time. The interprovincial cunir>aign begins in earnest to-day, when Taranaki meet Wanganui, and Hawkes Bay engage Auckland. In one respect the North Otago team was similar to last year's South Canterbury's fifteen, —the majority of the players being drawn from one club— Athletic. ' Alt'. Budd, the Star New Zealand rep., is playing for the Sydney Club, of which .11. Walker (a one-time member of the local Referees' Association) is 'skipper. Temuka's easy win over Geraldine makes them certain holders of the junior flag, and Star"s victory over High School makes their position as leaders in the trophy competition reasonably secure.

The Oamaru men returned home vdth increased respect for D. Scott. One of the North Otago five-eighths stated that he never seemed to be ible to pi aos a kick on any par of the held which Scott could not cover. A member of the North Otago team well qualified to express an opinion says that South Canterbury back play has improved TOO per cent, during the last three years, and that the pack on Thursday was the cleanest he has met from this district. Two members of the late New Zealand team have struck trouble since returning home. Ridland has been suspended till the end of 1911 for striking an opponent, and now Ranji Wilson is being proceeded against in the Magistrate's Court for breaking an opponent's jaw.

The goal-kicking on Thursday's rFp. game fell far short of the standard set at Oamaru last year, when Ross find Gus Spillane each placed three. Ross made a couple of good attempts this week, and Darroch just missed cne by inches, but Jones was the only one to put the ball between the >prights. The Star-High School third grade match aroused a great deal more enthusiasm than the big game which preceded it, and the play was always fast and exciting. As usual when two closely matched sides meet, showy football is not forthcoming, but taken right through the match was productive of better Rugby than the majority of senior games this year.

For the first time for a great many years the South Canterbury backs have appeared to better advantage than the forwards. The rush-stopping on Thursday was excellent, the fielding was good, and the attack was above the average. The vanguard will have to liven up if they nre'to swamp Canterbury in the same manner as they did last year. A bustler like Carlton or Seott would improve the team a. lot.

The last try of the rep. game was the gem of the day. Harley centred from near the side-line, and eventually G. Coles secured possession and made infield. At the right moment he passed out again, and backs and forwards joined in a clever bit of passing which gave Maze a. clear run in. Jones i notched two of the other tries, finishing off good work by the Fitzgeralds and Horcan.

For a few weeks following the disqualification of the Temuka ground there was & marked' improvement in the conduct of players in all grades. During the past month, however, there ,has been a mild epidemic of fisticuffs, and at last Saturday's meeting of the j Management Committee no fewer than s four cases of illegal tactics'were under | review. Apparently the only way to | keep the game clean is to deal out j heavy sentences - where an offence is j sheeted home.

Probably the most expensive blow j delivered on a football field for some ; time was that struck by a Soccer ! player in Dunedin last week. He: took it into his head to thrash the re- j feree with his fist instead of his- tongue, j and was. promptly ruled out for five i years. A Rugby man at Tauranga got the limit —a life sentence—for threatening behaviour to an opponent, i North Otago is one of the unfor-' Innately situated football districts of the Dominion. Attached as a subunion to Otago, few opportunities are vouchsafed it of meeting good teams, tho annual contest with South Canterbury and an occasional grudginglyconceded fixture with a mixed Otago fifteen being the only important engagements. Considering their disabilities, the form maintained by the men from Waitaki is distinctly creditable —it is certain that they are capable of defeating some of the districts which have been granted the status of a full-fledged Union. There appears to be an impression among a section of the Referees' Association that officials who are asked to

attend meetings of the Management j Committee in connection with ordering j off cases are being slighted, and that j .their statement is pitted against that j of the offending player. Referees who j have attended know that this is not i correct. Rightly or wrongly, it has to be accepted that the ordering off is sufficient proof of a man's guilt, and the presence of referees is desired only ] in cases where other players are im-,' pugned by evidence given, or to assist tho Committee in making tho punish-! incut lit the crime. The duty of order- i ing off is unpleasant enough, bub it is ' much less difficult than the task of the' Committee in dealing with tho cases j afterwards, and on more than one oc- j casion this year a, referee has proved oi very material assistance in connection with charges arising out of the original one. Officials who might attend in an antagonistic spirit, or refuse to attend at all, would merely make tho work of the Committee more difficult. Th railing of Rudyard Kipling at the tens of thousands-.who gather to see a score of men play has little application to local sport, nevertheless it has bcomo flie stoeK argument .of the spoilsport who refuses to see any good in any form of healthy exercise. The. point these fault-finders lose sight of is that in order to allow the thousands to play groiuid;.; would have to be provided, for it i:, obvious that the large numbers could not Ik; accommodated in the areas which serve for the few. Tlie need for breathing spaces is becoming a pressing one. even in New Zealand, Christehurch with its 400 acres of park) being the only centre, which is not feeling the pinch. In Timaru there is not sufficient room for tho football and hockey players offering, and as the town extends tho shoe will pinch the harder. This .should bo borne in mind j by those who are opposing the movement for the acquisition oT a. sports ground at Waiinat.iiil.iii. If the land is not secured now it may not be avail-

able later even at a prohibitive price. The gaol reserve is another open space which should be set apart for all time as a playground for the children of the four schools which surround it, and it might not be out of place to suggest that the teachers should make a united effort to secure control of this area for the boys and girls before the subdivider puts in his claim. The South Canterbury team won the first game of the representative programme in a comfortable and fairly convincing manner. Their play was streaky, some of the pack in the first half were obviously waiting for chances instead of getting i n ° and making them, and it was a pity that the visiting team did not manage to score in order to put the local teammore on their mettle. la tha *».

cond kali' the North Otago were only once dangerous, and the local men had a fairly easy time apart from stopping some decent forward rushes I'.v three or four of the Yellow pack. In view of the approaching tour the Greens wore kept strictly up to the mark by the referee. One. Yellow hooker was pretty smart with his foot, but a lot of his work was nullified by poolpacking behind, and when the ball did to the hall Uttley's passes were usually too erratic to give his other backs much chance. One of the noticeable points about the Otagans was the deterioration in their hack play of two years ago. Ongley is streets helow his old form, and once he bad done with the ball kick or run for touch was the order. W. Cumin fielded and kicked well at outside live-eighths, but Taylor was mediocre, at centre, and King on the wing was too severely handicapped by a bad leg to get any i chance. The forwards, on the other hand, were better than the usual North I Otago form, and got on some ] good rushes, hut none of the men displayed any great cleverness. The South Canterbury men could have done better, but a four-try win is fairly substantial, and probably on or two men were taking no undue risk of injury. The forwards put in some dashes which showed that they are likely to bo dangerous when wanted, though so far they have no shown the "ginger" of some previous packs. The scrum was fairly good, but favoured by the putting in the Otagaus were able to secure possession often in the first spell, though in the second Niall and O'Brien had a big advantage. Jones was the best forward on the ground, and anyone who saw him loafing must have a keen eye. His one fault lay in his tendency to occasionally ! kick too far, and not give his forI wards time to get up with the hall. G. Fitzgerald, M. Morgan, and Niall all played well, the first named particularly, though he was caught offside two or three times. The backs put in some good work, D. Scott being very safe and kicking finely. Harley effectually convinced the doubting ones of Ins fitness for the position of centre, and Wall, though on the dull side of the play, did all' that came his way. ilaze was not too impressive, but got in some good runs. Darroch played i his best game so far, his defence being splendid, and on attack ho put in a couple of slashing runs without displaying any of his usual selfishness. lie gives promise of developing into one of the best backs wo have had. G. Coles has not played a poor game this year, and his reputation did not suffer' yesterday. His brother was responsible tor some smart marks and good openings, though penalised more than once | for picking out of the scrum. If the j fifteen who • played (with Darcy and | Morgan added) can make the trip, the j prospects of a successful tour are deI cidedly good. Appended are next , THURSDAY'S FIXTURES.

Mackenzie Sub-Union v. South Canterbury B, Athletic No. 1, at 2 p.m. School rep. team v. High School 11., Athletic No. 1, at 3.30. Junior.-—Temuka v. Zingari, at Temuka, 3.15; Athletic v. Celtic, Athletic No. 2, 3.15.

Third Grade. —High School v. Zingari, Rectory, at 2.15; Pirates 'v. Star, Rectory, 3.15; Temuka v. Celtic, at Temuka, 2.15. • Fourth Grade.—Zingari v Star, Athletic No. 2, 2.15. REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES. Aug. 18 —South Canterbury v. Ashburton County, at Ashburton. Aug. 20—South Canterbury v. Canterbury, at Christehurch. "Aug. 24—South Canterbury v< Southland, at Invercargill. Aug. 27—South Canterbury ?< Otago, at Dunedin. Aug. 18—B team w Mackenzie, at Timaru. Sept. I—B team vv Waimate,- at Timaru. : Aug. 20—Schools match, South Canterterbury v. Canterbury, at Christchurch.