FOOTBALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8678, 19 July 1906, Page 1

FOOTBALL.

NOTES. ' (By QUIDNUNC.) ' For the' third time in' its history, jand 'the third time in four years, Albion libs .won the championship. From the club's ptointot view the team's peri^mance -iec'tevbin^i^^^i^fit^xj-,^^'-this is the first occasion on which Albion has. gone' through the season's cup fixtures without a defeat. There is another cause for satisfaction also in. .that the. club shows itself able to maintain the standard of efficiency which it reached in 1903 only after tremendous struggles to make itself a Senior club and much of the bitter experience of defeat in the making. Those wfib havebeen responsible mainly for the success j>f the club have been but a few of its member-, and they are to be congratulated on the distinguished position occupied by the wearers of the black' i'ersey. The team has not won through ts fight without training, and it is due £o the players to say that they have generally endeavoured to keep them--elves in form. They saw the necessity early in the season, for they had very little to spare iv the lirst round matches against Merivale and Sydenham. The forwards were not nearly co good then as the forwards of two seasons earlier, but the pack played itself into form and finished ite work on Saturday as well as any -team in the competition. The back portion of the combination was subjected to many alterations and variations during the progress of tbe matches, but it had always a very solid basis in the Burns- WestonGray combination, ' and the forwards •had little cause to grumble at the work of those behind them. The general combination of the team was undoubtedly better than that of any other team in the competition, and to that is, I think, attributable much of Albion's success. Another main factor ■was the general soundness of the defence. One or two of the Albion, players have earned a reputation for getting out of trouble luckily, but only twenty-eight point® were scored against the team in its nine matches,, and an average of only a small fraction more than three points per match. Merivale are better, placed than in recent years as runnere-up for the championship. The two defeats against them were inflicted by Albion, and there was really little to give and take in cither game. Merivale owe their position solely to the . forwards. •In loose aggressive work they have been .better tb,an anything else in the com- ; petition. , It has been their misfortune that they have played too much to the backs, a thoroughly uncertain combination. At times the back play was .worthy of the forwards, but it was not reliable and Merivale suffered accordingly. Christchurch hold what must be to them a satisfactory place. On the whole, their forwards were better than usual, but the backs were never reliable, and the whole team was somewhat inconsistent. Linwood follow them on the list, and they are distinctly lucky to have got mo high. They have been an in-and-out combination, shockingly bad at times, a,nd had they been drawn against other teams than those they met in the second rounds they would, probably have been lower in the list. Sydenham is a better team than, its .position would indicate, and put up good games against Merivale and Albion, but the forwards were a long way below .the form of the sturdy combination that won last year's championship, and the backs were no better. Old Boys began the season with somewhat of a flourish of trumpets, and treat things were predicted for them, ut they have nob sustained the reputation that their friends sought to make