FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XX, 19 May 1900, Page 926

FOOTBALL.

Saturday was almost a perfect day fur football, cold but fine, and if the opening day of the 1900 season only proves Io be the forerunner of many more such beautiful afternoons the players and spectators will have little to grumble at, provided, of course, good football ensues. Taking into consideration that most of the clubs were playing their first mutch of the season, the play shown was distinctly good, and looking at the results of the various games, the different teams promise to be much more evenly matched than was generally anticipated.

At i’otter’s the match that excited most attention was the one between Newton and Grafton, which was played in front of the stand. Most people fancied that the former team won hl prove more than a match for their opponents. Su. h, however, was not the case, and although Newlon proved victorious, it was only by the narrow margin of a goal to a try, ond had the luck turned Ihe other way I fa tie \ Grafton would just about have g«»t home. Winning the toss was certainly a great advantage to the victors. as they bad the advantage of playing with the wind and sun in their favour in the first spell, and when ends were changed tint wind had dropped considerably and the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.

'I hr second senior match al Potter's was that between Ponsonby and Pa rm* 11, ami a very even game resulted. Neither tram was successful in crossing their opponents’ line, and Ponsonby won by a penalty goal, an exceedingly fine kick. The match could hardly be cnllr«* an exciting one. and Ihr standard of play was not of the highest order, but both teams should show improvement

later on. At North Shore the local team was pitted against City. and though they made n gal hi nt fight of it they suffered a rnthrr decided reverse. The

game was to a great extent confined to the forwards, and in this department the two teams were fairly well matched, but whenever the backs took a hand the town players showed a distinct superiority, both in attack and defence. ® ® ® NOTES. NEWTON V. GRAFTON. There was little or no brilliant individual play shown in this inateh, though an exception should perhaps be made in the ease of Kiernan, the Grafton centre-half. The forwards were fairly evenly matched, though Newton were superior in the line-out. and their front row men were generally successful in obtaining possession of the ball. On the other hand, the black and whites were better in the open. Of the Newton forwards, Wilson and Long did good work, whilst for Grafton McGregor played a great game, and he was well backed up by Gunson. H. Speight at times showed up prominently, but he evidently lacked condition. In back play Grafton showed decidedly better form all round than their rivals, though on several occasions they failed to avail themselves of fine openings, and to this cause they can ascribe their defeat. Kiernan, at half, played a splendid game, in fact, he was the best baek on the ground. He should prove a great acquisition to Grafton, and from present appearances will give Young a great go when the question of selecting the reps, crops up. The black and whites played four threequarters, and they were fairly successful, though at times one or two of them were inclined to get out of place. Of the four, Campbell was perhaps the best, and he showed great improvement on his last year’s form. It. Smith was handicapped by a bad foot, which was probably the cause of the several mistakes he made, but he got off some nice runs. He made one fatal error, however, in potting at goal when, by passing, there was an almost certain try. jl likington, at full, was not a success, being slow, and on several occasions he indulged in “speculators,” an unpardonable thing for a full-back. Of the Newton backs. Woods was the best, but taken all round they were not a success. Roberts at times put in some nice bits of play, but he was decidedly patchy. Paul was safe, but his kicking was off, especially in the first spell. Mr Mackie was referee, and he gave every satisfaction to the players, but to the spectators he seemed to be far too fond of the whistle, stopping the game for the most trivial mistakes. PONSONBY V. PARNELL. From a spectator’s point, of view, there was nothing especially interesting in this match, which was a hard fought and most even one from start to finish. In the forward division Parnell more than held their own, Hancock being the most conspicuous and playing a fine game. On the other hand the Ponsonby backs showed superiority, and at times they brought off some very fair passing runs, in most of which Galloway had a hand. CITY V. NORTH SHORE. This game being confined to a great extent to the forwards, was not a particularly exciting one for spectators. At times, however, when City got the ball out to the backs, .he game livened up considerably. Asher was certainly the best back on the winning side, and he is shaping in greatly improved form this season, lie is using his head far more than formerly, and to a great extent has dropped his bullocking style of play. If he goes on as at present it vill take a good man to keep him out of the reps, as five-eighths. Young played liis usual elever game, though lie had not a great many chances, and of the other backs Absoluin Was perhaps the most conspicuous. Donovan, nt full, was not as good as usual. Of the forwards, G. Tyler was the pick though all showed good form.

The Shore backs, as a whole, did not. gii’e a good exhibition, and their kicking especially was weak. The forwards, however, proved very strong, and quite held their own. Had they received better support, from the backs the scoring would have been decidedly smaller, and tlie game much irore interesting. Some of the new blood showed great promise, and if the backs improve the Shore wilt not be an easy team to defeat.

SECOND FIFTEENS. City v. Ponsouby.—City won by 13 to nil. Scott and Brown each scored tries. Scott kicked a penalty goal, nud converted a try. Parnell v, Newton.—This match ended in a draw, each side scoring a try. Strong scored for Parnell, and Clark for Newton. Suburbs v. Grafton.—Suburbs won easily by 17 to nil. Murray scored two tries and Austin and Cauley also scored. © ® ® THIRD FIFTEENS. City A v. Suburbs.—City won by default. City P> v. Newton. —City won by 9 to *3. For City McGurk. Anderson, and Parkes scored each a try. . Ponsonby A v. Ponsonby B. —The B team won by 9 to 0. Grafton 111. v. Suburbs A.—This was played at Ellerslie, and resulted in an easy win for Grafton by 15 to 3. For Grafton Connelly (a try and a penalty goal), and Mclntosh, Brewin, and O'Neill (one try each), were the scorers. Calvert, one of the Grafton three-quarters, had his shoulder dislocated. Imperials v. Hobson. —After a wellcontested game Imperials won by 4 points to nil. For the winners D. Green kicked a goal from the field. Clarence 11. v. Pirates 11. —• This match was played at Stepney Grounds and resulted in a win for Clarence by 27 to nil. Tries were secured by Green (2), Walrond (2), Carlaw (1). Philips (1) Anderson (1), Notton (1), three of which were converted by Gorman. Roseberry v. White Star.—After a well-contested game Roseberry won by four points to three,-Dickey kicking a goal from the field. Clarence v. Victoria Rifles (No. 1). —■ This match was played at Arch Hill on Saturday last, and resulted in an easy win for Clarence by 22 points to nil. Tries were obtained by Rogers (2) Mason (1), and Neal (3), the latter converting 3 tries. Mr Somerville gave every satisfaction as referee. Warriors v. Onehunga (at Otahuhu). —Tills match resulted in a win for Warriors by 15 to nil. For the winners Jenkins (2), Abbott and Harper each secured tries, while Jenkins kicked a goal from a penalty kick. Native Star v. Ited Rose.—The former won by 16 to nil. For the winners A. Blakey, B. Blakey. Ansel and Leslie scored tries, two of :._aich were converted by Whyte an«S i*oyd, ® © ® AUCKLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ RUGBY UNION. SEASON'S FUTURES. The draw for the Public Schools Championships is as under:— “A” SECTION (12 SCHOOLS). May 19.—Na pier-street v. Mount Eden, Nelson-street v. Richmond Road, Grafton

▼. Devon port, Bereaf ord-street v. Weltesleyatreet. Ponsonby v. Newton East, Ouehnng* r. JParneM.

May 28.—Mount Eden ▼. Richmond Road, Parnelt v. Ponsotiby, Napier-street v. Onehunga, Grafton v. Newton East, Devonport y. Beresford-street, Nelson-street ▼. Welles-ley-atreet.

June 2.—Napier-street v. Ponsonby, Mount Eden v. Onehunga, Parnell v. Grafton, Wel-lesley-street v. Richmond Road, Beresfordstreet v. Newton East, Nelson-street v. DevouporL

June 9. —Napier-street v. Grafton, Onehuiign v. Richmond Road, Mount Eden v. l*onsonby, Beresford-street v. Parnell, Nel-son-street v. Newton East, Wellesley-street v. Devonport. June 16. —Wellesley-street v. Newton East, Nelson-street v. Parnell, Devonport v. Richmond Road, Onehunga v. Ponsonby, Mount Eden v. Grafton, Napier-street v. Beresfordstreet

June 23.—Napier-street v. Nelson-street, Mount Eden v. Beresford-strpet, Onehunga v. Grafton. Ponsonby v. Richmond Road, Wellesley-street v. Parnell, Devonport v. Newton East.

June 30.—Newton East v. Richmond Road, Parnell v. Devonport, Ponsonby v. Grafton, Mount Eden v. Nelson-street, Napier-street v. Wellesley-street, Onehunga v. Beresfordstreet.

July 7.—Onehunga v. Nelson-street, Grafton v. Richmond Road. Newton East v. Parnell, Ponsonby v. Beresford-street, Welles-ley-street v. Mount Eden, Napier-street v. Devonport.

July 14. —Napier-street v. Newton East, Ponsonby v. Nelson-street, Onehunga v, Wellesley-street. Grafton v. Beresford-st., Mount Eden v. Devonport, Parnell v. Richmond Road.

July 21.—Beresford-street v. Richmond Road, Grafton v. Nelson-street, Onehunga v. Devonport, Ponsonby v. Wellesley-street, Mount Eden v. Newton East, Napier-street V. Parnell.

July 28. —Mount Eden v. Parnell, Napierstreet v. Richmond Road, Onehunga v. Newton East, Beresford-street v. Nelsonstreet. Grafton v. Wellesley-street, Ponsonby v. Devonport. There will be only one round in the “A’* competition this year. Delegates must certify to the secretary before the competitions begin that the players comply with conditions set forth in the rules of the union. “B” SECTION (FIVE SCHOOLS). First Round. May 19.—Bayfield v. Epsom, Newmarket v. Wellesley-street. Chapel-street bye. May 26.—Bayfield v. Newmarket. Chapelstreet v. Wellesley-street, Epsom bye. June 7.—Bayfield v. Chapel-street, Epsom v. Newmarket, Wellesley-street bye. June 14. —Bayfield v. Wellesley-street, Epsom v. Chapel-street. Newmarket bye. June 21.—Epsom v. Wellesley-street, Newmarket v. Chapel-street, Bayfield bye. © © © OHINEMURI RUGBY UNION. The Cup matches in connection with the Ohinemuri Rugby Union commenced on Saturday, when Paeroa played Karangahake, and Waikino met Waitekauri. » > . 1 PAEROA V. KARANGAHAKE. This match was played at Mackaytown, the following being the teams: — Paeroa: Full-back, McPike; threequarters, Hobbs, Shaw, Beere; fiveeighths, Bromwich; half, D. Shaw; forwards, Niccol, Hudson, Chamberlain, Sorensen (3), Lovell, Dean, Pennell. Karangahake: Full-back, Dean; three-quarters, McLean, Hill, Johnson; five-eighths, Rockley; half, Houghton; forwards, Smith, Montgomery, Westerne, White, Meagher, Douglas, J. McGuire, Capper, Casley. The Paeroa

team consisted largely of juniors D. Shaw being one of last year’s second juniors. Nevertheless, he was the hero of the game, playing- splendidly at half, jleere and Hockley, respectively, for Paeroa and Karangahake, played well amongst the backs, but the rest were only fair. Karangahake Won by 16 points to nil, McLean, Hockley, Smith and Houghton scoring tries, two of which were converted by McLean. The game was slow and uninteresting, especially in the first spell, when Karangahake only scored one try on the eall of time. Mr R. .Tones was referee.

The Waitekauri-Waikino match, at Waikino, resulted, after a close contest, in a win for Waitekauri by 3 points to nil. Keating scored the try. Mr J. Macdonald was referee.

The junior match, Paeroa v. Karangahake resulted in an easy win for the latter by 9 points (3 tries) to nil. Bush, Shepherd, and Bae each scored tries. The other junior fixture. Waitekauri v. Waikino, was won by the former by 6 points to nil. Hattan scored 2 tries for Waitekauri. Mr C. Johnson was referee. The ehampion five-eights. Oily Beilly, arrived here yesterday, and will play for Karangahake, which club promises to la* very difficult to beat this year. © ® ® WELLINGTON. The following matches for the Rugby Senior Championship took place oil Saturday:,—T’oneke versus Oriental resulted in a tie. each team scoring nine points. Neither side could claim any signal advantage. In the last stage's of the play, for the winners, Roberts played finely, showing excellent defence, while Davis shaped well behind the serum. McAnally, Mann, O’Brien, Wilkinson and Ready (wing) did good service in the vanguard. Bush was far and away the best back on the Oriental side, and Wylie. Dixon. Skelton, and Ritchie did good forward service. In the match j’etone versus Wellington, the former won by 13 points to 6. The Wellingtonians', however, sustained serious loss through Buchanan, their crack three-quarter, being incapacitated and having to leave the field at an early stage of the game. All the Petone backs did yoeman service, especially Woods and Barber. Judd, Bate, and Chambers were the best of the forwards. The yellow backs need no comment, except that they displayed some excellent defensive 'work. Kember was the best forward on the ground, his attacking and defence playbeing excellent. Of the others Leversadge in the pack, and Thompson in the open, .were best. Melrose beat Old Boys by nine points to nil. The winners played with more than usual vigour, and at times the play was somewhat rough, and there was a good deal of off-side play which escaped the notice of the referee. The play exhibited by the Old Boys did not come up to expectations, but this was due in a great, measure to the fast forward play of the winners.