FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14482, 1 July 1911, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

30CCHLINE TOPICS. (By C.E.H.) Srsatiersliip points:—Celtic IU, "XsJKjka 8, Star-Pirates 5, Zingari 5. Yv'aimate and Temuka schools are to maet at tiie Athletic Grounds to-day. Athletic third-grade team, having forfeited .two successive according to tho rules -drop out of the Competition, and ' previous mutches played by them becomo void. Star-Pirates put up a record for South Canterbury on Thursday byplacing five teams in the field, albeit two'of them played but a quarter of mi hour owing to lack qf_a ball. Tho Wellington Referees' Association has thought better of its foolisii resolve to refrain from ordering olf rough players, and has expunged the Resolution containing this threat from Us minutes.

Oeli-ic have hitherto been regarded as the poorest and Temuka the best scoring team, but in their latest engagement- Temuka piled up force after torpe without registering any points, while Celtic scored as many tries as forces.

Two men with claims for inclusion in the rep. team jeopardised their stances this week, getting marching Orders from a referee for engaging in «t fough and tumble; and another prominent- player was cautioned for his share in a- mix-up in another game. G. Bradley was after all included .in the, Wellington team against Marlborough, two vacancies occurring through F. Roberts and J. Ryan beine unable to play. The champion half 1 Etood down owing to nn injured hand which it is said may keep him out of the" game for the rest of the season. Considerable interest is being taken j : in the Mackenzie County in the meet- ] ing to-day of Cricklewood and Fairlie. The Mackenzie competition is proving a very good one. Cricklewood at present have a.leg in. but both'Fairlie and Albury are trying hard to alter matters by recruiting and practice. Owing, to one cause or another not great progress has been made yith the third-grade competition. AVith intervals for the tournament and Coronation, and a bye, each team has lost ' four Thursdays, and one or two which have won a game by default have lost five. TJnle3s bad weather intervenes, however, the games sfaonld be kept going regularly from now on. A spectator who trespassed on tiie field and joined in a passage-at-arros between two players (one of them his trother) was disqualified "during pleasure" by the North Otago Sub Union. When this eamo before the Otago Union for confirmation it was referred back to Oamsini in order that a definite term might be lixed. The Sub-Uuion thereupon altered the sentence to disqualification for 21 year*. . and warned the offender off all grounds during that period, but the Otago Union considered this nnneeessarilv severe, and reduced tho time to live years.

The leading third-grade team, StarPirates, had an easv task in disposing of the Celtic XI. For the short' spells played the score appeals large, but good place-kicking swelled the total, mid the losers made a deoent stand against odds. Feo'y and P:t;;gcrald doing good defensive work, and McGrath kicking, well. The winners threw the ball about freely (though cot always accurately), and Rollit and Duncan did some "smart running. The Ashburton lad also shono as a placefcick, one of his goals haing a beauty.

The no-ball trouble was in evidence at the Athletic Grounds again this Treak. Star Pirates had three teams engaged ■ in_ the 2 o'clock games, but Only the third-grade fifteen had a hall, end Celtic likewise were short of an oval as well as four players. "While Celtic were waiting for reinforcements ■which did not arrive, the S.P. A and B fourths played for a quarter of an fcour. but the thirds then took possession of the leather, and the lower grade game was discontinued. Ono would have thought that the Zingari-

Athletic incident of a few weeks back wodld have pouiteU ;t moral. Zingari tins week registered their second wiu, and drew level with StarPirates in the premiership score, The iirsi spell on Tnursday was favourable to tin combined team, and half way through the second a druw seemed prnbaoie, but condition told its tiiic. and Zin;J;ari won by a good margin. Then: i.io not many " stars" in the fifteen, but on tlie other hand there are few passengers. In view of their defeat or Temuka on Coronation Thursday their third meeting with the country t-oa-m is awaited with considerable interest, and though Tomuka are .extremaly hard to beat on Victoria Park, their opponents are determined | to. do their utmost to :,vonge their [thirty points beating .in tho first 'found.

It. is a risky proceeding; to write a footballer down as " retired," but it seems fairly safe now to reckon Ralph Rodgers, the skipper of the old Pirates Club, as a spectator for the future. The well-known wing forward, who by the way first scraped into the rep. team as a hooker for the 1903 tour, and was not '* discovered " as a. winger till a couple of years later, was nrig- i inaliy a member of tho Star Club. | which he left on tho formation of the ! Pirates. Ho represented South Can- ': torbury in most seasons between 1903 and 1909; though ho was unfortunate enough to miss each of tho two last tours through accidents. was also a member of tho South Island team which created a sensation a counle of years back by defeating one of the most" formidable teams ever put in the field by the North. ■ Players and football acquaintances generally will unite in wishing him a successful term of captaincy in tho team which he joined on Wednesday last. At almost every meeting' for some weeks past the Otagn Union has had i to deal with cases of"players reported for-rough play, and the evidence' taken has. usually shown that offence's have been committed which have either .been not detected nr ignored by the referee. This led to some strong remarks being made at last week's meeting of the committee, and amongst other things the chairman (Mr F. H. Campbell) is reported to have said ''That if they could not feel that the referees. were taking a firm enough Stand in the matter- the committee wonld have to consider the question of talcing over the appointment of referees. . . If. they thought it best to take control, it would -save them a lot of work in future.-"- Another member said that a good deal of tho trouble was due to referees trying to gain popularity, and ! that there was a certain amount -of j lealonsv in the issoeiation. It'was : ! decided to ask _th« executive of the j Referees' Association to confer, with i the committee, and the executive »t----j the TJnxm meeting this week. In reply to a question, the chairman'. I vsid_ : To be perfectly plain, there is a j feeling _tbat- the Association has some r men refc-reeing who are not- competent, j This applied to the lower grades. The | referees' representatives explained the - difficulty of obtaining sufficient good | men. and it was stated that when grading had been previously tried'

many members left the Association.. "Ultimately it was decided to invite r-lulis to support referees in putting down rough nlay, and to call a meetins of captains to he addressed hv i members of the Union. " '. Last season Celtic were decidedlv unfortunate in the manner of losing two games, and though it would beoorhaos going too far to sey that ill lucl: lost them the premiership they •rertaiiiiy had nothing to thank Fortune for. . This year they are looking .011 other side of the shield, for thcr had previously won one game inwhieh they bad nothing the better of the play, and on Thursday they got home with six points to spare afterbeing called upon to defend for three-, ■fourths of the game. It must not ."be concluded, though, there there was anything lucky about either of their tries—the first was the-outcome of a dashing piece of play by Lynch, and the second came from n smart opening by O'Brien. Th» country forwards played with more dash than in their previous game, bat do not put the

vigour 'into thoir play Unit iised to bo characteristic 01 Temuka. packs. Eveu so they fairly belli their own iu all respects except iu line-out work, at which Celtic are more adopt than j any of the other seniors. In tho loo&e they wcro faster tlmu their opponents, but- niiin.v times spoiled a I tine, rush liv kicking too hard within j the 2.V This fault al.so brought some !of the rearguard's best, work to naught, Thi. Celt pack were slower all mum! than Temuka. but occasionally flashed out with a fine rush, and their line-play got them nut of difficulties several times. The Celt backs, except .Kirby, phiywl safely, but exhibited no combination, McGregor almost invariably kicking for touch when given possession by Darcy. The Tomuka rear division wen. much more in evidence than Celtic's, but none of their passing was carried to fruition, Keono more than once missing a pass through attempting to gather with one hand, and many of his transfers being poorly direoted. Each of tho full backs played pood football; Scott is displaying nearly his best form just now, though Lynch heat him badly, and Houlihan ranks next to him of the other goalkeepers. W. Spillano is improving' every game at half, a position which was allotted him bocatis? no one else was available to fill it. Two or thro? of his efforts on Thursday were extremely good. Bon Fitzgerald, though once or twice inclined to wait, on opportunity, played one of his best games, hut his brother was not so prominent as usual. Niall showed some tricks on the line which 'few of the other teams attempt, T. Oldfield. Jackson and ~S\: Horgnn were about, the host of the Temuka forwards, the front-row man showing tin of toner at. tho head of a rush than is customtirv. Appended are the fixtures for Thursday NEXT. Senior. Celtic v. Star-Pirates, Xo. 1, 3.15. Tennika. v. Zingari, at Temuka, 3.15. Junior. Athletic v. Zingari, at Temuka, 2 p.m. Celtic v. Star-Pirates, Xo. 1, 2 p.m. Third Grade. Zingari v.' Celtic. Athletic Xo. 2, 3.15. High School v. Geraldine, at Geraldine, 8.15. Fourth Grade. .Star-Pirates A v.' Zuigari, Xo. 2, 2.0. Star-Pirates B v. High School, Rectory. 3.15. _ .% The fourth-grade match 'between Zingari and High School was played on .the Rectory Grounds on Thursday, , and resulted in a win for the former by IS points to nil. Herdman scored three' tries, Smaill, "Wilson, and 1 "Wheeler oye each. Simmers and Bennetts played well for the losers. - ■ Saturday members of the Associa- [ tion Club are requested to fnoet at ; tho Park for practice at 2.30 to-day.