MELROSE FOOTBALL CLUB THIRD FIFTEEN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 39, 26 September 1891, Page 413

MELROSE FOOTBALL CLUB THIRD FIFTEEN.

(SEE ILLUSTRATION, PACE 412.) The competition for the * third-class Cup ’ was instituted by the Wellington Football Club in 1889 for the purpose of encouraging junior football. The handsome Challenge Cup which was handed to the managing committee carried with it the condition that the trophy should become the property of a team winning it twice in succession or three times at intervals. The competition excited keen interest, ami after a series of matches the Union’s second fifteen were declared the winners for 1889, they having played 12 matches, won 11, and drew 1, the Melrose team (present winners) being second. In 1890 the same two teams contested the premiership, and were so well matched that a deciding match had to be played, the Melrose eventually winning a good game by a goal to nil. Their record for the season was 10 matches played, 9 won, 1 lost, scoring 35 points to 5, the I nions being second with 8 wins, 2 losses. This season the team made a determined effort to win the cup outright, and as a result of consistent training and practice, finished first with eight wins and a draw, scoring 33 points to nil—a really fine record. Three teams tied for second place, the Union team being unrepresented. The win of the Melrose team was, considering the position of the Club, most meritorious, and no small amount of credit is due to their captain for the way in which he worked the team. We are indebted to Messrs Wriggles worth and Binns for the accompanying excellent photo gioup of the team.