FOOTBALL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19348, 1 July 1925, Page 6

FOOTBALL

LAST SATURDAY’S GAMES NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By n The Observer.”) Wellington v. Taranaki at Hawcra this afternoon. Now Zealand’s last match to-day—-versus N.S.W. fifteen at Manly. Wanganui Collegiate School v. To A.ute College at Pukehou on Friday. N(*x t; Sa tnrday's f ‘ star ” game for the. Rec.—Old Boys v. Tech. Old Boys. Nelson College and Now Plymouth High School are to meet at New Plymouth on Saturday. There was more than a little ” rough stuff’’ seen in the two senior games on the Rec. last Saturday. Referees, please note! On Monday met two or three friends of a certain player in one of the important championship matches on Saturday. They were waiting to tell the player what they thought about some of the things he had put across. A bad principle and a. state of affairs which the Referees’ /association should stamp out —a referee surrounded by a party of partisans of one club whose team was engaged, with the referee loquaciously pointing out to the partisans any mistakes a fellow’ referee was making. Thu second round of thi* senior championships concludes next Saturday week. On the ,18th inst. there are no senior games, and the following two Saturdays the Sub-Union play Taihape and Rangitikei. There will be at least three games in the third round, and these will be required to be got off on August 8, 15, and 22. On August 29 there is the Manawatu game, and, with September 12 race day, that leaves but September 5 for Charity Cup, president’s trophy, and other special matches. The reps, go on tour on September 14. A really fine contest was that provided by Old Boys ami Pirates, and it was only a sligh superiority on the part of Old Boys' backs which gave them the winning points. It was good to see Baddeley in action again; for a first appearance he played a remarkably tine game, with a weakness in adopting running tactics to excess. Marsden was always safe, and Cox at five-eighth the usual dashing opportunist. Darby was good, but not up to his usual standard, and Udy was splendid on attack and weak on defence. Murie was the best, forward on the ground, and it is good to learn that his absence from AVauganui is only temporary. Adams was the best of the other light blue forwards.

Once again Pirates found their weakness in the inside backs, and until they bridge the gap there they cannot hope to win the championship. AVakeling, at centre three-quarter, was the best back ion the Pirate side; he is developing the ' right way. The full-back did his job fairly well, and Head and Robson were the pick of the other backs. Healey battled hard in the pack, and although he is not the sort of player to be /»ver(•onspicuous, he relishes the hard wyrk, which is where so many AVanganui forwards fail. Ross was always on the ball, and Smith, Persson and Ennis did their share. The Pirate pack appear to j be quite all right, and when they receive the support from their rearguard there will be little to pick and choose between the blacks and either of the leading teams. Marist owed their win over Ratana to their forwards, who controlled the scrummages and were superior to their rivals in the open. O’Sullivan, Kruse, Dobbs and AVilson were perhaps the more prominent of a good forward section. T. Crotty, who played in the unaccustomed role of half-back, was seen to advantage. Willacy, Sloan also revealed initiative. Kerr, at full-back, joined in the aggressive display with credit, and replied with interest to the few efforts- made by his rivals. In direct contrast. Ratana lacked resource and the determination to tackle efTectivt'ly. There was certainly concentration on the man with the ball, but only a partial check was administered, and five times out of six they failed to bring down their opponents. Ratana by their feeble methods of defence yielded in the manner of a team unfamiliar with determined opposition. In this respect they missed George Hartley, who is one of Wanganui’s best all-rounders. Wiremu, Hiroti, and S. Paki were the pick of the Ratana backs, while Hctit, Rowe and Tate caught the eye most in their forward division. Kaierau demonstrated in no uncer- | tain mtanner that they are still to be seriously contended with as likely winners of the senior championship as a result of their game against Tech. Old Boys. After being decidedly off colour for three consecutive Saturdays, they displayed their old form when they defeated the ex-students by 14 points to 5, in the game that was rightly featured as the star attraction. The I clash produced the cream of Rugby: 'fortunes fluctuated repeatedly, the for- | wards and backs of both tennis put plenty of dash and energy into their Iwork, and the tackling, more especi|ally that of Tech. 0.8., was a pleasing feature of an altogether brilliant ox■hibition. At times “electric” football I was provided and the crowd were reIpcatedly on their feet as first one i side and then the other made strenuous I endeavours to penetrate the opponents* I defence. The quality of the work of jboth sides on defence might bo gauged | from the fact that the respective chalk 1 lines wore crossed on only one occasion during the entire game. # ♦ • • i The scores slightly exaggerate the j margin of difference between the two complements, but no matter how dcjserving the m'aroons’ victory was, they .have to attribute their win largely to I the efforts of “.Toe” McAuliffe, who jdropped-kicked two beautiful goals— Ji is third successful pot in succession. lAVhen Kaierau met the magpies in the 'first round there was no question that .they under-estimated the ability of [their opponents, and las a consequence ;they suffered their first defeat of the I season and allowed the ex-students to ipave the way for their further defeat I by Ohl Boys on the following Saturday. This time, however, they took the field determined to win. And win they did, but they have every occasion to re-

member what ta tough proposition Tech. 0.8. are, more particularly once the play was opened up. The first spell was very evenly contested, but at half-time Tech. 0.8. led 5 —3, having scored a brilliant try, which emanated from a pretty concerted movement in which. Reid, (who made the opening), Irwin and Ash were associated, as against an unconverted try notched by Lockett from a melee on the magpies’ last lino. To h.ll appearances Stiver also scored for the exstudents, coming on the blind side after receiving a pass from Grubb, and going over the line with the. ball in his possession. However, the referee, who was following the play with scrupulous c'are, thought otherwise, ami ruled a Jive-yards’ serum, and Kaierau were enabled to direct operations away from their citadel. In the earlier stages of the garni' both sides came dost' to scoring, but in tin* majority of cases almost certain tries were spoilt by over eagerness. * • • • The second spell was a different tate, and Kaierau. although they could not succeed in crippling the defence of the opposition to such an extent that they <• ...hi cross the line to score..got withliii shooting distance .and well directed I ki< ks pro ed '.he undoi i< r of >to meg pies. In the last ten minutes of play, vhen the fading light made the players barely discernible, the maroons were continually on tin' offensive, and it was only the splendid low tackling of the Tech. 0.8. that prevented their for wards, who dominated the play to a certain degree, from further augmenting the score. The Knierau forwards played with their characteristic dash, excelling nt the line-outs and light work, and combining well in dribbling rushes. Lockett shone out above th* rest, but selfishness on his part upset calculations on one or two occasions. He was well supported by the remain dor of the pack, of whom A\ . Ross. J. Johnston and Brookie were probably I most conspicuous. $ * ❖ * | The backs were seen out to advan- | tage occasionally, but not very many scoring opportunities were presented them, for the tackling of the opposition right through the piece was of the deadliest. McAuliffe was the pick of the vanguard. being sound on defence and always dangerous on attack. Ho made several brilliant openings that were deserving of better fates, more especially on one ocasion, when he cut out severed opponents and lost the ball when negotiating Skeen, the diminutive Tech. 0.8. full-back, and when th? line was only ,a few yards off. Stead and 11. Stewart played well, as also did ('oilier, who was well marked and did not get many chances to demon st rate his pace on the wing. Simpson whs seen out to advantage in the fullback position, while Carrell played fairly well on the wing. Chisholm, at half-back, had a lot to contend with, and with the exception of a few misdirected kicks that got his side into trouble, acquitted himself with honours hnd worked his backs nicely when occasion warranted it. * * * * The Tech. 0.8. forwards all played wonderful games hnd stood up in remarkable fashion to their weightier opponents, although in the concluding stages of the game they bore perceptible signs of the gruelling game they had experienced. They had an advantage in loose exchanges and handled the ball better than the opposing eight. Dyke, Stiver and Barry were most conspicuous, and were thorns in the sides of the- maroons’ inside backs from first to last. The backs were nothing short of brilliant once they were set in motion by Grubb, who played splendidly behind the lighter pack find had a lot to put up with. B. Delves p' ;ved his usual solid game, both on the offensive and defensive, ■ and his ability in the latter department was tried repeatedly and never found wanting. Again land again to directed play out of danger, and thoroughly earned the plaudits of the enthusiastic spectators. Reid (second five-eighths) and Irwin (centre) com bined well together, and made some ejover openings. Reid’s headiness land pace was demonstrated when he paved the way for Ash to score, but he was prominent throughout, being clever on the offensive and a tower of strength on defence. Ash played his usual game on the wing, and scored off the onlv rdal opportunity he had to display his pace. Dowsett filled the other wing position, and although playing out of his place (he has been hooking for some seasons) acquitted himself with credit. Skeen was safe and reliable hs full-back despite the fact that he had plenty of work to do. He is improving with every game, ar.d compares more than favourably with full-backs with more ago and, experience. Good luck to the youngest member of the team! QUEEN’S PARK 0.8. CLUB Members of the above club, especially the thirds, are requested to attend practice at the school. Thursday night, at 7.30 sharp.