FOOTBALL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5566, 15 May 1896, Page 3

FOOTBALL NOTES.

[By Quidnunc ' in " Canterbury Timeh."] The result of the Merivale — Linwooc match on Saturday came as a great swv prise to almost everyone interested in local I senior football. I had, in common with . most others, anticipated a victory for Lin- . wood, but Ido not think the most ardent and enthusiastic supporter of the green flag was prepared in the least for the 1 complete and thorough thrashing that its champions inflicted upon Merivale. There can be no mistake about the severity of the defeat, and no excuse can possibly be offered for the losers, who were completely outplayed at all points of the game. Menzies' enforced retirement in the second spell undoubtedly allowed the Linwood men more scope for raising the total of their score; but anyone who witnessed the first spell with an unprpjudiced vision will freely admit that the- Blues were beaten — and badly beaten, too — almost from the kick - off.. In fact, I ; do not know if I have* ever witnessed in senior football a more thoroughly disorganised and . unskilful . performance than was afforded by the erstwhile redoubtable Bluea on 1 the occasion under notice. The forwards could never get the ball, were working all through under difficulties, without the least symptoms of combination, and a batch of the veriest tyros at footballcould have hardly afforded a worse exhibition in the latter direction. The backs seemed all " out of hinge," most of them absolutely declined any resolute tackling, the kicking .was atrocious, and there was never a trace of the old combination or mutual reliance shown. When to this may be added that the Linwood mcii were working with machine-like precision all round, quite iip to their form, of last year, and early recognised the fact that a soft thing- was on the i tapis, it can be easily imagined how the Blues went from bad to worse, and were most of them heartily glad when the. affair was over. The Linwood men quite deserved their decisive victor y, as even granting that they had a poor opposition placed against them, they gave a brilliant exhibition of football — one, too, that betokened a careful and systematic' attention to practice and unity that was all too absent in the ranks of their opponents. Merivale's display wasj I take it, in a great measure due to' a careless, haphazard style of play into which the team has fallen, and in a minor degree to the appointment of men to positions in the field they were unaccustomed to. I hardly expect to see the club fall into this latter error again, and expect to notice a "setting of the house in order." After Saturday's game such a step is very much required. That is self-evident, and must.be taken if the senior fifteen is expected to make a respectable show for the remainder of= theseason. . Linwood's play, as I have hinted above, was a treat to witness. Every man of the team, knew his duty and his- place, and, above everything, obliterated all traces of selfishness, and set upinsteada high standard of confidence and mutual help. The result justified the means, and I can safely congratulate the sturdy " wearers of the green " ugonr a really first-class exhibition. Now for a word or two upon the individual players, although it can be easily inferred from the foregoing that the .Linwood men all "went well" and that their opponents, even individually, were far below what was required of them. Orchard, of course, played a. fine full-back game for the winners, kicking -splendidly. He had practically no tackling or stopping to do, and was able to devote, his sole energies in "finding the line." Cox made an excellent centre three-quarter, but was very feebly opposed by his vis-a-vis. O'Brien is just as 'smart as ever, and Stringer put in some useful play. Glennie played a sound game at five-eighths, and ted the men behind him very consistently and well, and Price, with his forwards beating their opponents continually, had quite a happy time of it. The forwards all played excellently, and I am only going to single out Kerr and Fanning as being perhaps a little ahead of their comrades, although King, playing on the wing, pleased the critics very much. For Merivale, Lawrence was at his worst at fullback. Fitzgerald, in the centre, was out of place, and should be at once relegated back ■to the forwards. White kicked well at times, especially in the second spell, but was ■ clean off in other matters of defence. Dansey showed some dash and good tackling, and so did Menzies, but Whitley was quite overpowered. Fraser and Phillips did best forward, Fawcett not seeming to understand the duties of a wing player. With the much more popular match between Linwood and Merivale in progress on the eastern side of Lancaster Park, very few spectators assembled on the opposite side to witness the game between East Christchurch and N'tu Ahuriri. The match had been anticipated with some curiosity in Christchurch, and there were many who watched it closely from start to finish. A hard, though very friendly tussle eventuated, and the play, which was absolutely free from roughness, proved fast and interesting ripht throughout. East Chvistclmrch won in the end by sixteen points, made up of three penalty goals, a potted goal and a try, to four points, a potted goal. The scores,, though, do not by any means represeut the difference between the two teams, and even the heartiest supporters of the East Christchurch Club will, I think, agree with me that, taking the play all through, the Natives had a little the best of it. East Christchurch were not so quick in getting together as the Natives ; but the defence of the backs held good until the forwards picked up their combination, which they did af tor the firsthalf -hour's play. Then they secured the ball more frequently than their opponents, and the backs were given plenty of work. All round the play of the back division was an immense improvement on recent displays. It was very evident, though, that several members of the team were incapable of playing a hard and fast game to the end. This,- from' a clubman's point of view is much to be regretted, for the team as a whole is very strong, and if. properly trained would win most of the forthcoming matches. N'tu Ahuriri played a pretty sound game, working well together until the last quarter of an hour, when want of condition told its tale on mest of the men. The backs showed good form, all running well, and with less effective tackling than they encountered on Saturday would have scored several tries. The forwards played well, but some of them still have a tendency to kick too hard in the scrummages. Bailey filled the position of full back for East Christchurch, and did his work really well. The three-quarters Burns, Lorimer and Dacre are a fine trio. They tackle splendidly, and on Saturday it was a rarity to see an opponent pass them-. Burns, on the right wing, showed great dash and speed, and is evidently working his way into the ranks of our best three-quarters. Dacre also showed plenty of dash. Lorimer played up to his reputation all through. M'Kendry and Bird at half-back and fiveeighths respectively played well, but thelatter should try to pass the ball with better judgment and not throw it out of ' reach of those beiaind him. Among the forwards I singled out Chambers, Rich, Moviarty and Samuels as tl\e four who did the best all-vound work. Crosbie's placekicking was .a feature of the match. Whitau, the N'tu Ahuriri full-back, again played well throughout, and is at present very little behind Orchard (Linwood). W. Uru, centre three-quarter, did an immense amount of work. He was worked by his team for all he was worth, and before the .close of the game showed signs of the heavy task put upon him. Wakefield was not up to the form he showed a fortnight ago, but W. Reeves, right wing three-quarter, played a fine • game, arid is the smartest junior player > seen on the fields this season. Harry Uru • played cleverly behind the scrummages. The forwards all worked hard, but Hape ' Uru, Kelly and Reubin seemed to do the best work.