FOOTBALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8672, 12 July 1906, Page 1

FOOTBALL.

' NOTES. (By QTHDNUNC.) t The want of .staying power in the Christchurch ,team was illustrated on Saturday when, after holding their own "throughout the first spell, they allowed 'Merivale to finish winners by a con- ., eiderable; margin. The Merivale forwards had none the best of the play in *he first half, the Reds holding up the ■orums well, while their loose work was S" uite equal to that of their, opponents, 'he heavy ground was not conducive to brilliant back play, but hardly justi(fied the actual weakness 6hown in that department of the game. Combined .action by the back 6 was extremely eearce, both sides true ing more to line 'kicking than anything else, so that the game was hardly an interesting one from the spectators' point; of view. There was the usual number of mistakes in fielding the ball, while a goodly percentage of the passes was of the Wildest description. A splendid chance '»f scoring: was thrown away by the Red >ack6 .in the second spell, when the scores were even, which; had it been taken advantage of, might have altered the aspect of the game, for the failure appeared to demoralise the Reds, ;>nd lor the rest of the game they played without any heart, and' the strong Merivale pack completely overran them. ' ; Fryer; unfortunately, got a nasty- knock .in the second half, which temporarily disabLd him, and kept him limping for the rest of the game, and this' materially affected the back play pi his sjde, although it probably did not affect the actual result of the game. The • winners' forwards, as indicated above, started rather quietly, but irajxroved both in combination and dash ais the game progressed, and they put in^ewne sterling aggressive work in, the later : > stages of the .game, the whole combination taking a share of prominence, though Smith, Henderson vnd Young were perhaps more noticeable than their colleagues. Amongst the rear division Wood did a lot of useful defensive work, his collaring being very ■bund. Ford and Menzies played very well! but Hardihgham and Read i aye played a lot better. Piki made uiany earnest endeavours to set his baoVs going, but they were rarely of .vuy benefit to the side, and through no fault of his own; Fryer was, as usual, th» mainstay of the Christoliurch backs?, His wings giving him litlle or no support, and it was unfortunate for cis pide that he should have: got disabled. O'Brien put in some useful kicking, bat ■■'■ his defence otherwise was anything but isbund.lT ;Forbes did a lot of work, con,Bidering his long absence from the playing field, and little fault can be found yithvJones's display at half. Of the ;f£ris}sU periham, Murray and Barrel! V!M%JBftOsif prominent, though Virtue . pu#s£^ lot of honest work in tha scrum; Denham played about his i&& game for the season, and; I. hope *Kat this. player /is regaining his form of a lew seasons back. , The return match between the Albion and Sydenham teams produced a fair all-round display of football. At times play was fast and interesting as tibe. result of good footwork by the forwards of both teams and some fair combined back play by the winners. From a spectator's point of view, however, the game was. spoiled to some* extent by the amount of appealing and oßstnictiom indulged in by botih teams. It is surely time our senior teams, at k 4jh^;Jea^ed-vthat,i-itv-is.,;qaite.-unflec€S- i . is&cy to adoif «Hy^ apfreaikig • »t •;■' ailj '^aa<£ any talking that has to be done should be left to tihe captains of the respeot^ir« sid«s! : In the first spell Sydenham, with: the help of .a strong breeze .and the sun behind them ? held- the upper hand/ almost throughout, but their attack was weak, and they were able to score only one try out of the opportunities which came way.' Their backs lacked refeource, and wien attempting l a passing °'VV^> : tl^'fi^e|«igMh6 or ceutre-three-quaTfeex was generally collared with the paQ in nas possession; The losers' forwards, however, played a keen game, more especially in the first spell, and had they reoeived' more support froia liheir backs the final result of the game Would have been considerably closer. In the second half the Albion team,- botlh forwards and backs, played ?(Wth more dash, and kept Sydenham almost wholly on the defensive. :, The teams were, about even in scrum work, both obtaining a fair share of the ball, •but the winners' backs made better use of their opportunities than the losers, a-nd by some good passing and kicking were enabled to turn .what at one time looked like a close game into »; comparatively easy victory. To this «nd they were ably assisted by the fast following up and effective tackling of their forwards, who, particularly in the aeoond spell, gave a really good display. Fox the winners Anthony, at full-back, who was promoted from the {junior team at the last moment, played well, bis handling of the ball and kicking being first-class. Henry, on the wing, had very little attacking work id do, but played a safe game; while Stevens, on the other wing, made jieveral strong runs and, kicked with judgment. Gray, in the centre, was prominent throughout, and his defensive work proved of great value to his side. 4 Weston. was better thaai Meadows at five-eighths, and made same eleven: openings, besides kicking well. He will, however, still persist in trying to beat too many men. Burns, at half, played well, both in attack and defence, and he is probably the most improved . player of the Albion backs. Of the forwards, who played well, Fearoe, Shannon, Webb "and Tyree were generally, in the front. J. Gray, the Sydenham full-back, had a busy afternoon's work, and on the whole acquitted himself well. The two wing threequarters,.H. Love and M'Phail, played well on the defence, but had little at* tacking work to do. Docherty, in the centre, was too well watched to be dangerous on the attack, and his kicking was not «$ accurate as usual. Neither Hutchens nor A. E. Love, at five-eighths, were prominent, and the latter is evidently out of form. Doel!, the half-back, played well, his linekicking being a feature of tlie game. Graham, Nelson and R. O'Brien were most noticeable among a hard working set of forwards. The Linwood-Old Boys game was no better than the scratchy performances of both would have led one to expect. The Old Boys were a back •hart, and Linwood had a general rearrangement of the back team at the last moment, a couple of juniors being taken in to fill vacancies. The Greens had ratfier the better of the play until about twenty minutes from the end, ifixen the Old Boyis' forwards got together a little amd made things merry,

but neither side showed any great soaring ability. On both sides the ball was handled exceptionally badly. The passing was very crude, and the result was incessant whistling for knocking on., .Teanpleton and Fraser, on the Liriwood side, were' able to take the bail, but the other eleven backs were inaccurate. The tackling was much better, Old Boys doing seme very good work, and some creditable line-kicking was seen at times. Generally speaking the Old Boys outplayed their opponents forward, Linwood, failing to dhow any desire to work together. There were one or two. hard graftens in the pack, and' they got the-' ball- now and again, but the Old Boys hung together rather better. Their play in the latter j>art of the game was attractive, and they, proved altogether too clever for Linwood in the loose. The backs were hampered by their handicap of. one, and though Byrne got the ball away well from the' scrums the passing was not good enough further back. The Linwood backs* had fewer opportunities, and though they appeared to handle the ball better, than the Old ' Boys their attack lacked method and resource. They were, pea-haps, unlucky in being robbed of a victory just on time, but their failure io make use of opportunities merited no better fate. There was really' little between^ the teaims on tine day's play, and neither can be congratulated on its performance. Anthony, the Albion Junior team's full-back, filled a vacancy in the senior team's, ranks on Saturday, playing fullback against Sydenham. His play was quite ui3 to senior form, his kicking and fielding being executed with' great coolness. He also showed his ability on several occasions to stop rushes and ' get in a clever line kick. A. E. Love played hie first game thjs season on Saturday against Albion. He was, however, out of form after his long speE, but no doubt with a little training " Bert " will vbe able to chow some of the dash which ms/dc him so useful both to his club and the province in past seasons. I hear on reliable authority that C. D. Butler will again don tne jersey for Albion next Saturdiay. B. Lawrence played a better game than usual on' Saturday, but the Old Boys'. centre always spoils his best work by his bad passing.: He made one exceptionally good run, but bowled the ball along the ground when he was tackled. . Two forwards who were very prominent in the Linwood ranks on Saturday were Borough and Harvey. They were hard at it all through, and they were more than useful in the loose work. :...■■-.,., F. Newton is not showing the form that the English tour credited 1 him with. He uses his weight occasionally nowadays, but as often jg| not his interest in the game is quijHpassive. Unless he can prove himseflrco be in form, the Canterbury selectors will find it difficult to place him in. their team. 6. Templeton, the Linwood full-back,/ continues to show good form, taking the ball cleanly end kicking well. If the playing full-backs are $o provide the goal-keeper' for the representative team, Templeton's chance will probably be considered. ' \ E. Byrne does a, wonderful lot of work behind the Old Boys' 6crum, and for ©» email a player, he takes a lot of knocking about. His work is always clean, and he .deserves much better sup- : ,pcrt than Ji©,^Q'eiaUj' ,getß. .. , „ - ;©. Drake played a dashing game for Old ' Boys on Saturday. He is evidently very fond of the loose work, and should develop, into a fine wing-forward. I understand that there is a strong probability of the Senior competition 'being closed after Saturday .next. There will then be only two Saturdays free for trial games, and the selectors are in favour of two games. The season's form has been so in-and-out that two trials will probably leave them still unsatisfied. Among the spectators at Lancaster Park on Saturday was C. Lewin, an old High School boy, who' was one of .the School's best forwards eight or nine years ago. Lewin has spent some -yearß in South Africa, and, like other patriotic New Zealanders, has kept up hia football there, having played for some seasons with the New .Zealanders' Club in Pretoria. ' . The Merivale- Albion fixture in the second Tound will probably be played on Saturday, and should attract the "biggest gate of the season, to Lancaster Park. At a meeting of the South Canterbury. Rugby Union on July 3 the case of Temuka Third players was considered:, and E. Hall (a month), P. Giliespie (till December 31, 1906), and N. Giliespie (till end of 1907 season) were disqualified. For disputing the decision of the referee W. Grant,. Temuka First, was disqualified for a month, and for taking _ his team oft the field he was disqualified for two months.