OUT DOOR Sports.

Observer, Volume XVIII, Issue 1016, 18 June 1898, Page 18

OUT DOOR Sports.

By ' Harrier.'

CUP MATCHES. - First and Second Fifteens. June 18— Suburbs v. City, Parnell v. Newton, Graf ton v. North Shore, Ponsonby a bye. Thibd Fifteens. June 18— North Shore B. v. Parnell 8., Ponsonby B. v. North Shore A., Suburbs A. v. Newton 8., Parnell A. v. Oity 8., Suburbs B. v. Newton A., City A. v. Ponsonby A., Grafton out.

PUBLIC SCHOOL FIXTURES,

June 18— A Section— Wellesley-street v. Ponsonby, Napier-street v. Newton East, Beres-ford-street v. Grafton, Devonport v. Mount Eden, Parnell a bye. INTEEPROVINCIAL MATCHES. August 6 — Canterbury v. Auckland, at Epsom,

Football players and football enthusiasts were again fortunate in the matter of weather on Saturday. The day was clear and calm and the turf firm, in fact almost too firm from' the point of view of those who ware tumbled upon it ' many a time and oft' during the afternoon. Three senior fixtures were set down for decision, viz : — Parnell v. North Shore, Ponsonby v. City, and Newton v.. Suburbs. Of these, . the last mentioned was by common consent^ voted as likely to provide an. exceedingly close and interesting contest, a surmise the correctness of^ which was amply demonstrated when the match' came to be played. From kick-off to call of time play was of the fastest "possible description, indeed, so fast and so even was the ' go ' that, as time wore on withont either side being, able to obtain any substantial advantage, the excitement amongst the onlookers rose to fever heat. Whea but 15 minutes remained before 'no side' would be called, neither team, had scored, but at this stage the Suburban players began to weaken — the pace was beginning to tell — and Newton, pntting on an extra spurt, managed to break the ice. A pretty passing run Between Freeman andßoberts carried play well into their opponents' 25 From the succeeding pcrum the ball came out at the side, and Freeman, dashing at it attempted to pick it up, but instead kicked the ball over the line and was after it, like a shot, thus scoring first blood. Many people thought it was a case of handball, but the referee decided otherwise. Elated by their success, Newton kept up the pressure, and managed to add seven more points before the bell rang. Roberts potted a neat goal as a sequel to a nice tout of passing, and Clarke secured a second try, the result of a clever bit of foot-work by Lewis. The game therefore ended Newton 10 points, Suburbs nil.

On No. 2 ground, Ponsonby and City fought oat an interesting game, which rcsnlted in favonr of the first named by 10 points (2 tries and a goal from a mark) to nil. Taken as a whole the contest was of a more even nature than would appear from the scores. City played up remarkably well, and had hard lack in hot scoring on'more than one occasion.

Parnell's recent acquisitions, Asher, Laing. and Phelan, have strengthened the team just where it was previously weak, viz., in attack. No better proof of this could be found than in the big total piled up by them against North Shore last Saturday. To score 34 points to 4 in a contest with almost any kind of a team is a big performance, and, when made against a fifteen such as the Shore possess, I adduce at once either exceptional luck or exceptional merit on the part of the victors. In this case the Shoreites appear to have played equally as well as in any of their previous fixtures, and were fairly and squarely beaten by a stronger, cleverer, and much better conditioned team.

I have to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of a copy of the Wellington Rugby Union Annnal, which is compiled by Mr W. 0. Marter, the honorary secretary of the Wellington Rugby Union. The book contains nearly 200 pages of interesting matter, and is the largest, and I think the most complete, work of its kind published in the colony.

Hobson,. at centre-half, played a sonnd, reliable game, and made few, if any, mistakes. • ' / . McPike was a. bit off colour, and in no respect did he play np to his previous form. Di Gage was in liis proper place as centre-half, and put in an. immense amount of solid, serviceable work. . Otway, Suburbs' new fallback,, impressed me very favourably. He is cool, plucky, / and an. excellent kick with either foot. Mynott, .. at five-eighths, was not seen to particular advantage, nor will he until he realises that one man cannot play a whole team. Pat Sutherland played a great, game at three-quarter daring the first half, but'jwas not seen to nearly ao much advantage when tried at five-eighths. Newton forwards all played hard .games, and it is difficult to single any out for special mention. None pleased me better, however, than Lewis and Otway.

Surmanleft for Sydney last week, with the intention of, it is. said, playing for the Eandwick Club. Harry, Reynolds, the Irish cyclist, in writing -to a Home paper, complains of the handicaps meted out to English riders in Australia. He says they were never given a chance to get out, although they always tried their best when competing. Thames Rugby Union have invited the Wellington representatives to play a match at Thames upon the occasion of their visit to Auckland. The Wellington Union have promised to. consider the matter when arranging the programme of their Northern tour.

C. Freeman was patchy m the first half, but after ends were changed, waa frequently prominent, he taking part with Jtoberts in a number of pretty passing ..r&ni.' : r " Absolum played five-eighths during the first spell, bat was not a success in that position. When moved back to his proper place at wing three quarter, however, he performed well, -and at times brilliantly. Roberts was the best of the Newton three- quarters, and displayed much better all round form than on any previous occasion this season. He made several clever, dodgy runs, handled the ball cleanly and kicked really well, but was, as usual, somewhat weak in defence, especially when opposed to a forward rush.

Newton owe their supcess against Suburbs mainly to superior" condition, which enabled them to stay a remarkably fast game right out to the bitter end. So far as my judgment goes, there was practically nothing between the two teams in actual play until the moment arrived when the Suburbanites' condition failed them.

Appleby, the ex-Canterbury representative footballer, has been doing some Bensatiocal' place-kicking in Sydney. Playing for Pirates in a recent match against Paddington, he converted six out of seven tries into goals, and also kicked a penalty goal. And they were from all sorts of angles. Speaking of the adoption by the Pirates (Sydney) Football Club of the three half-back game, ' Cynic ' in the Referee Btates that Otago, Auckland, and Taranaki all play it- He is scarcely correct in sostating, however. Otago is the only New Zealand province which consistently plays without wing forwards. So far as I know, Taranaki has not yet adopted the system, and certainly Auckland haa not. Last year the Auckland selector tried the experiment of playing four three-quarters in a couple of small matches, but did not continue it, and wings were employed in all the important fixtures.

-Canterbury Kugby Union hkve notified. their intention of sending a team to Auckland to play on Saturday, 6th August. . ■ ■ ' Jimmy ' Duncan is still playing ootball in .Dunedin, notwithstanding' bia avowed intention of retiring at the end of last season. ." Armit, the Dunedin three-quarter, and a member of last year's New Zealand earn, is reported to be playing in great form this season I understand that the proposed Dacre Henning match is completely; off. It would almost appear as though neither was ever really anxious to race. The first round of Senior Cup matches will be conclnded on Satnrday, when the most important fixture will be Farnell v. Newton. This match, by reason of the important bearing which its result will have upon the ultimate isaua of the contest, is exciting considerable interest, and will doubtless attract a large attendance.

The Melbourne Cricket Club intends presenting £25 to each player for the purpose of purchasing a souvenir for the Australians who helped to defeat England in the recent test matches. Newfcon's victory over Suburbs was their fifth consecutive win, and, in the event of their being successful against Parnell on Saturday, they will commence the second round of matches with a clear lead of two wins. Should they be defeated, however, they will share pride of position with Parnell Some time ago it was annonnced that W. Warbrick had definitely retired from football, and had taken to refereeing. From my Sydney exchanges I gather, however, that he has again donned the jersey for his club, the Piratea. Another instance of the fascination exercised by the good old game. Suburbs' forwards did not pack at all well, and generally speaking were weak in the scrum tactics as compared with their opponents. In the loose, however, they more than held their own, bat their good work in thiß respect was frequently neutralized by hard kicking. Gillett was the pick of a good lot, and Williams and Waterman were also prominent throughout. . : .v •;.?,, A . M. Beaie . evidently does not believe in hiding hi? light under a- bushel. I notice that he has written to ' Dark Blue,' of the Weekly Press, pointing out that in a list of scores of 80 and over in all matches compiled by that scribe, he was j not given credit for scores of 86 and 85 compiled against teams representing HM.S. Torch and the Prisoner of Zenda Company respectively. A strange omission, truly.

In these days. of keen competition the public require from their tradesmen a combination of cheapness and quality. This can best be obtained by adopting the system of cash trading, as has been done with great success by Morgan and Son?, the well-known h'gh-class tailors, of Karangahape Eoad. This enterprising firm carry a large and varied stock, and are in a positian to cater successfully for all classes of the community. Their advertisement appears elsewhere.