Door Sports

Observer, Volume XVI, Issue 920, 29 August 1896, Page 5

Door Sports

By 'Harrier.'

COMING EVENTS

FOOTBALL FIXTUKES.

Aug. 29— Northern Wairoa v. Auckland 'B Team at Wairoa.

There really seems to be a kind of fatality attaching to the matches played by tha Auckland representatives against those of the Empire City. .Since 1880 seven matches in all have been played ; of the3e,"Wellington has won five, Auckland one, and one has been drawn. The indifferent nature of this record, viewed through Auckland eyes, doubtless explains the reason why local players and public alike attach more importance to the results of contests with Wellington than with any other province. Whatever the cause, however, the big attendance at Potter's Paddock is sufficient evidence that an unusual amount of interest was centred in last Saturday's game, and this despite the fact that the majority of people had but small hopes of the home team making even a respectable fight with their doughty opponents. Contrary to general expectation, the match, as everybody knows by this time, resulted in a remarkably even and most stubbornly fought game; and although Wellington ultimately secured a victory by the narrow margin of three points, it must, I think, be conceded that in no sense of the word was their all-round display superior to that of the local contingent Indeed, taking the game as a whole, Auckland had rather the better of the play, and their failure to score on several occasions may, I think with justice, be attributed more to ill luck than to anything else.

G. Smith played an excellent game at three-quarter, in every department. Roache (Wellington) fumbled a number of ' takes ' rather badly, bat otherwise acquitted himself well. Absolum had no opportunities of displaying his sprinting ability in attack, but surprised everybody by the excellence of his tackling. Clayton, as usual, got through an immense amount of defensive work at centre three-quarter, his kicking, tackling, and stoppicg of rushes beirg alike ad mirable. Sutherland, at full-bac'», was certainly the weakest spot in the Auckland team. He was evidently suffering from nervousness, and did not, in consequence, do himself justice. McKenzie and Kelly both did excellent service for Wellington on the wing. The former appears to have dropped a lot of the ' bustliDg ' which once characterised his play, but is just as effective and clever as ever. The Wellington pack forwards are a fine, heavy lot, whose great power in the scrum enabled them to get possession of the ball in the majority of cases. As a body, however, they were somewhat slow in the open, and were not so clever in this respect as their lighter and more active opponents. Wynyarcl, 1 thought, displayed bad judgment in changing from Absolum to Clayton for place kicking, on the occasion of the free kick given in front of Wellington's goal in the second term. Absolum had been kicking really well prior to this. Oat of three shots from difficult angles, one had hit the cross-bar and the other two were also very near indeed. The Auckland players suffered at times on Saturday through their failure to appeal for breaches of the rules by their opponents. It has been the custom in Auckland, for several seasons past, for the referee to assume sole control of the game, ond in this way players have got out of the habit of appealing. In many cases, when they did appeal, it was simply ' How's that ?' instead of 'knock on,' 'off side,' etc., naming the particular breach they claimed, which is the only form of appeal the referee could allow.

Crawford, behind the Wellington scram, pat in a lot of good work, bat is not a wonder nevertheless. Mr W. G. Garrard, of Christchurch, who officiated as referee on Saturday, gave the utmost satisfaction to all concerned. Laws, the Wellington full-back, played a very safe game. His taking was good, and he kicked throughout with excellent judgment. H. Kelly was suffering from a bad leg and did not show out to much advantage. Like Koache, he frequently failed to take the ball cleanly. Swindley, McKenzie and McMillan were the best of the Auckland forwards, but all played so well that it is almost invidious to particularise. W. Roberts did not play up to his reputation. After being tackled two or three times (not very lightly) in the first spell by Laing, he appeared to loae a great portion of his dash. Neither of the Auckland Avings played sufficienty close to the scrnm to afford the half any shelter, but both put a lot of good work in the open, and Laing tackled exceeding well also. Bennett to my mind was the best of the Wellington backs. He played threequarters in the first spell and five- eighths in the second, and in both positions his work was neatly and cleanly accomplished. Carlton Hay did not receive the '. ball from the scrum very frequently, and ' was, moreover, considerably hampered by the opposing wings. He, however, passed i out fairly well and, accomplished a good deal of effective tackling. After witnessing the game on Saturday, I am strongly of opinion that the Wellington team is not as strong a combination as the fifteen which visited us in 1894, the opinion of Wellington writers to the •antrary, notwithstanding. "Wynyazd, at five-eighths, was not an absolute success ; he kicked exceedingly well, and displayed sound defence at times, but iost several fine openings by attempting to get too far before passing. A fiveeighths should as a rule, I reckon, be content to beat the man immediately opposite him. A puncture proof band has just been patented in England. Its weight is said to be only two ounces, it can be fitted to any existing tube, is composed of imperishable fabric, which it is claimed rather increases the resistiveness of the tyre than otherwise, and is perfectly selfclosing. An ordinary tube fitted with a band is said to have withstood upwards of 1000 punctures without collapsing. Many people are under the impression that the gate at Potter's Paddock on Saturday last was a record one. This is not so. The largest amount taken at afootball match in Auckland or, tor that matter, in the Colony, was upon the occasion of the second meeting of the Auckland and English teams, on 24th May, 18S8. At this match the total receipts amounted to £585 6s Od ; of this suni £423 15s was paid for admission to the ground and £101 11s for the grand stand, the charges being Is to ground and 2s extra for grand stand. It is a generally accepted axiom in football that, provided other things are fairly equal, the team which obtains pos session of the Dall in the scrum most frequently holds a tremendous advantage. But it was not so with the Wellington team on Saturday ; they gained possession all right, but even then were compelled to play a defensive game almost throughout. And this, thanks chiefly to the fine play in the open and the splendid tackling of the Auckland front-rankers, who, considering that they had never even had an opportunity of packing a scrum together prior to the match, acquitted themselves in a wonderful manner. Thus a Wellington correspondent of the Canterbury Times: — 'The Wellington team this year is the most smashing lot I have ever seen on a football ground. When their forwards get fair on a run no one can stop them, and I think it was lucky for Canterbury after all, the ground was wet, and not dry. The Queenslanders were like a lot of straws scattered by a bull rushing through them, and were so knocked out of time that in the last half hour, at the finish of a passing run, they would all be left in the rear, and none put Wellington men near the ball. I think they could easily beat the rest of New Zealand. The men, however, are not clever at the game, not so tricky and capable of scoring as the Wellington teams of eignt or ten years ago, when Jack King, Ellison, Williams and others were hard at it. I expect they will have learned a good deal before they return from their northern trip,- and woe betide the teams they meet then.' The record of the Wellington team, so far, indicates pretty clearly that the writer of the above was a bit ' previous ' in dubbing them the Champions of the Colony.

There is some talk in Wapganui of sending a xep. team to Wellington this season. At Manchester, on June 29th, G. B. Shaw won the 440 yards Northern Hurdle Championship, easily, by 15 yards. Time, 59 2-sth 9ece. A Melbourne paper reports that Parsons has joined Johnson, the American flyer, and that bcth will be riding in ! Australia next season. A Southern paper says there is a likelihood of W. Robertson, the Southland professional, accepting an engagement in Auckland for the coming season. The Auckland Rugby Union, purpose sending a second team to Northern Wairoa on Friday next, playing there on Saturday and returning on Monday morning. In a recent letter to the New South Wales Rugby Union, Mr De Costa, secretary of the New Zealand Union, stated that it was almost certain that a New Zealand team would visit New South Wales next season. The Melbourne Cricket Club has donated fifty guineas to a fund now being raised for Blackham. Owing to the accident to his hand last season, it is thought improbable that the famous wicket-keeper will ever again be found behind the sticks. A tax on bicycles is urged by the Waimea (Nelson) Primrose League, because (1) they are getting so numerous aB to become a nuisance ; (2) are injurious to | farmers, horse-breeders, saddlers, black- ( smiths, etc. ; and (3) are purely a luxury, ' and one likely to become general. A leading London doctor is reported to have answered the question, ' Who snould ride the bycicle?' thus briefly: — 'The active, for rest ; the sedentary, for exercise ; the well, to keep so ; the invalid, to regain health.' So that if any person should be disposed to ask ' Who should not ride a bicycle? 1 the obvious answer will be ' nobody,' and we have the matter pro and con in a, nutshell. Strong pressure is being brought to boar upon the New South Wales members of the Australian cricket eleven, which will probably have the effect of quashing the intended New Zealand tour. Irrespective of the action of the Cricket Association, it is stated that several members of the team have received cables from their employers warning them that if they are not at work by November 30th their situations will be filled.