FOOTBALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6468, 24 April 1899, Page 4

FOOTBALL.

NEW ZEALAND RUGBY UNION, [Pkh Press Association.] WELLINGTON, April 23. At the annual meeting of : the' New Zea-

land Rugby Union Mr Campbell,, who presided, said that the most important, matter was in reference to the proposed new laws 'of tho game. This was a new departyie ' for tha New Zealand Union, but he -thought that it might prove to be the turning-point in making the game more popular not only in New Zealand, hut in other, parts of the world. The election of officers resulted , as follows: — Patron, Lord Ranfurly; president, Mr Littlejohn (Nelson) ; vice-presi-dents, Messrs Devore ('Auckland), -Cooper (Bush district), Rhodes (Canterbury), Han-i-ins (Manawatu), Wliateman (Wairhrapa). Gallaway (Otago), Empson (Wanganui) and .Campbell (Wellington) ; horiotary. secretary, Mr De Costa ; treasurer Mr Hyams ; management committee, Messrs Hume ■ (Otago). Marter (Manawatu), Morrison (Hawke's Bay), Wesney (Southland), Laurenson (Poverty Bay), Gibbons (Auckland) and "Ward (Canterbury). The location of the Appeal Committee was fixed at Dunedin. The proposal to send a Now Zealand team to England was referred to the Management Committee. It was decided that the North v. South match should not be played this year. Tho'tfew South Wales Union "Wrote regretting tlie decision of the various affiliated Unions with reference to the proposals in regard to New Zealand sending a team of players to Sydney to meet the Englishmen, and hoping that the decision would be reversed. It agked that a contradiction should bo given* to the statement that New South Wales could have forced the Englishmen to visit New Zealand. The matter was referred to the Management Committee. A motion that, the remainder of the sentence of disqualification on Col-; nnn, Harris and Roberts, members of the lastNew "Zealand team, should be remitted, was lost by twenty-five to ten. A motion that Cnlnan's sentence should be remitted was lost by twenty-four to eleven, and one with regard to Harris was lost by twenty-six to nine. It was decided, by twenty-five to ten, . to submit the proposals for an alteration of the laws of the game to the English Union.. A proposal with reference to the formation i ■ of the Australasian Union was brought tip' hy Mr' Firth, but the matter was so im-. . portant that it was decided to refer it to, the affiliated Unions. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr De Costa, honorary secretary, and the Management Committee was instructed to award him a bonus at the end of the year if the funds permitted.

MERIVALE v. SYDENHAM. This game was played on the west side of Lancaster Park. The ground was in splendid order, but the rain that fell in the morning made the ball greasy, and being anew one, it was difficult to handle. There was no wind ■to assist kicks, and Sydenham defended the' ' north goal. From the start the Merivale forwards played up with plenty of dash,, and kept the Sydenham backs busy. ■ Orr'' and D. Reese did good defensive work. A' mistake by Love, however, was taken full advantage of, and Forbes easily scored, but the place-kick , by Voyce did not increase the score. Sydenham had a busy time defending, but D. Reose, by a, serviceable kick, relieved the danger, and Burrell futfibling, the Sydenham forwards, .with O'Brien and Watt in tlie lead, looked like- scoring. Voyce cleverly saved by kicking into touch. Play was stationary near the Merivale twenty-five until M'Cree and Low, by good kicking, centred, and then the Blue forwards broke, right away, and a mistake by Orr let King over. Voyce easily con-: verted. Immediately after the 'kick-out some neat passing, in which Dansey, Low, M'Cree and Voyce, took part, ended in Forbes scoring and Burrell, by a fine kick, converted. At the start of the second spell, Chambers easily scored behind the posts, but Voyce missed the kick. Some neat kicking "by the Reeses centred the play, and O'Brien , Thomas, and Black were prominent, but. Burrell and Voyco did good work in saving' what' looked like a score. With the play at the Merivale twenty-five flag, the best; piece of play in the game — a passing rush started by Voyce— was taken part in by' P. Menzies, Voyce, iviCree, and Marriner,. Bush finally scored without opposition,! Dansey easily converting. A series of fast' forward dashes followed, together with an interchange' of kicks by the , backs, play finally settling at the Merivale twenty-five, where D. Reese kicked a poster from a> penalty, and soon after Dansey made a fine kick at goal. Some fast play by M'Cree, Low, and Marriner followed, and Sydenham were forced, and just before time Drake placed a' goal from a penalty kick. Merivale thus won by 24 points to" nil. Mr W. G. Garrard was referee.

LINWOOD v. ALBION. Albion won tho toss, and Linwood kickfi.l off against the wind. The game was fairly fast, and the ball travelled up and down and from side to side without either side securing any great advantage. Albion were forced a couple of times, but they soon made up tin _r gn.und. At last a good k_k by Phillips sent tlie ball well down the field ; the forward, followed, up, secured the ball, carried it to the Blacks' line and in the general scramble L. Panning picked up and scored. The kick was difficult, and E. O'Brien failed to convert. After the kickout the Black forwards made a determined charge down the field. Butler secured the ball, and passed to Burson, who, after a splendid run, was thrown out at the ■■corner flag by O'Brien. Ormandy relieved, and. the Greens attacked in turn. Near the Albion twenty-five, Byrne got the ball from Campbell, sent it oh to Phillips, who passed to M'Gillicuddy, who scored. Campbell's kick went wide. Good line-out play by B. Fanning, Ker, and Plunkett and a forward rush brought the play to the Albion line, and Pegg touched down. O'Brien again, failed with the kick. Albion's chances were now dismal, but dashing forward piay and good passing among tho backs brought the ball near the Linwood twenty-five. A mark was got within fairly easy range, j but nothing resulted. Albion continued the attack ,and play became veiy exciting. < A scries of serums resulted right under the I Lmwood goal, but an over-eager Black forward at last spoiled his' team's chances by kicking the ball over the line. From the kick-out, the ball rebounded from an Albion lorwaid, and the Blacks swooped down again. Ormandy und Phillips at last relieved, and the ball went out oi .touch as tye bell sounded for half-time. After Albion's kick-off tiie play was of a give -and take d'_ jjcription. Phillips, M'Gillicuddy, and Byrno did some good running aud kiclnng foi 1 Lmwood, ana Butler, Burson, and Machin for Albion. A hurried kick by the Albion lull hack struck Oniiundy, who was follow-, ing up well, and the fast wing-forward scored. B. Fumiing failed with the kick. .The Albion forwards now made great efforts, Louis and -Kenwood being noticeable for their dash, but they were over matched. Linwood made several good passing rushes, in which Phillips, Byrne, and M'Gillicuddy were prominent, but Albion s strong defence staved oil' any further score till near tlie call of time. The Lmwood forwards heeled out to Campbell, who sent the bail to Phillips,. and then- it travelled t_ Byrne and M'Uillicuddy. . \Vith a neat acd.-y run the latter scored. 0 Bnen ccm-vei-w. and . lew mimltes later no-side was iiuig, tho final score being— Lmwood .17, Albion 0.

CHRISTCHURCH v. KAIAPOI. •Tho first meeting batwceu the Chriatchurch and Kaiapoi teams took- place at Lancaster Park ou Saturday, when a veiy evenly contested game resulted in a win tor the town club. Ohristcliur.li kicked off, the Kaiapoi full-back returning to the centra ilug. The play was very even for some time, numerous frea kicks being awarded to both tennis for breaches of rules. A loose rush by tho Yellow forwards) placed the Clinscchurchline in danger, but. -a chance of scoring was lost by off-side play, the penalty kick to the Reds relieving the pressure. Another strong attack by Kaiapoi wns repulsed by Raphael with a useful kick into touch. 7 .ai.poi, however, attacked again, but Ir-rrl __i_ki"g threw away another chance of scor •

ing, and the Reds forced down. A good passing rush, in which Green, Barrett and- Duncan took part, nearly let the last-named player in. The Reds now relieved the pressure. A good kick by Pyne being mulled by D. M'Gregor,theßed forwards forced Kaiapoi. Tho spell ended without any score. On resuming, it soon became evident that the home team were in better form than their opponents. Good loose play by the Red forwards gave Kaiapoi some trouble, and a nice bit of passing between Lawrence, Cardale and Pyne nearly resulted in a try. Cardale soon after got a mark, and a good kick by Raphael put the ball between the posts, giving Christchurch a lead -of four points. Good play by Martin placed the R-ds on the defensive, but a strong rash took the ball to the Kaiapoi end. From a scrum Lawrence got possession and passed lo Weston, who transferred to Cardale,' from whom Vangioni received the ball, and a smart dash resulted in his scoring. Raphael's kick was again successful. After, some give-and-take play, Martin failed with two attempts at goals from free kicks. After a good run hy A. M'Gregor his brother got' tho ball and scored a try. Duncan's attempt at goal was a failure, and tho game was nine to three. For the rest of the spell Christohurch kept the Kaiapoi men busy, the gamo ending, without further, score, with' play near the Yellows' goal line. Mr F. T. Evans was referee. Scores : ' Christchurch nine points,- Kaiapoi three points. -JUNIOR FLAG. The match between Albion and Kaiapoi took place on the Kaiapoi Park, and, after a good game, resulted in a win for the visitors by six points to nil. For the winners, Tillysiiort and Lewis scored tries. Mr W. Irvine was reffcree. MerivaleSecorid defeated Linwood Second somewhat easily by thirteen points to nii. For the winners, Rodcrers and Matheson each score 'd a try ; Matheson kicked a nenalty goal, and converted one try, and Neate was also successful with a kick at goal from a try. Mr A. Lawrence was referee. The match between Christchurch and Sydenham ended in a draw, eaoh side scoring three points. For Sydenham, Johnston kicked a penalty goal, and for Christchurch'Ayers scored a try. Mr T. Pike was referee.'' ; Richmond and Lyttelton met at Richmond, the home team winning by six points to nil. The winners' score consisted of two tries, gained by Pentecost. Mr J. Nixon .- was referee.

, PRESIDENT'S CUP. The match between Linwood and Christchurch resulted in a draw, each team scor-; ing three points. Hands scored a try for Linwood, and Robertson for Christchurch. Mr W. E. Simes was referee. Sydenham B. and Sumner played a drawn j .fime, the scores being three points each. ' A. M'Phail scored a try for Sydenham, andR. Heaton one for Sumner. Mr R. Barry was referee. A really prood game was the outcome of tlie contrst between the Boys' High School .nd Albion B. President's "Cup teams, the School players winning by eleven points to three. Bain and Maude scored tries for the winners, Gibbs kicking a goal from one of the tries, and also placing a penalty goal. Falear scored a try for Albion. Mr H. E. Hiddlestone was referee. The Albion A team ran over the same club's C team to the extent of forty-nine points to three. The winning team's score was made up of thirteen tries, five of which were.converted. W. Sykes scored four tries, Hunter three, Waiters two, and Grayi Gardiner, Schwartz, and Button one each. Tin *till placed three goals from tries, and Wilson and Gray one 'each. Williamson "cored for the losers. Mr S. Wilson was referee. "* • . Merivale A defeated Sydenham A by •wonty point, to three. For the winners, Fraser .secured two tries, and Dunn and Chisnall one each. Fraser and Woods each converted a try, and J. Saunders potted a goal. Anderson kicked a penalty goal for Sydenham. Mr G. Simpson was referee. OTHER MATCHES. A match played on Saturday between Imperial and Cambridge resulted in a win for the former by six points to three.