FOOTBALL

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 412, 16 June 1898, Page 7

FOOTBALL

[By

Vigilant.]

Last Saturday’s senior Cup matches were the semi-finals of the first round. Newton, Poneonby, and Parnell defeated Suburbs, City, and North Shore respectively. Newton and Suburbs met in front of the Stand, and thte former team added another win to their 7- list by .10 points to nil, after, a keenly-contested game, in which there was little or nothing to choose between the teams until well into the latter half of the second spell, when condition told its tale—and Suburbs went to pieces. . Roberts was the best of the Newton rear divi- ~' sion, playing an excellent game-on the attack. O. fi'reeman acquitted himself very well, though' I prefer him on the wing. Mynottdidall that was asked of him cleanly . and smartly, and Hobson handled himself very well behind the pack. *<’ '.The forwards worked well, and though beaten in the pack by Suburbs, they were more clever ■with • their feet and booked the ball more fre- • quentlj. Williamson >was one of the hardest all-round grafters, and was ably seconded by Lewis, while • “ Nudger” Otway did good work in the pack. Suburbs tried a new man in Otway at full back. He gives considerable promise, keeping his head and kicking well. The trio of three-quarters —Sutherland, Me--Pike, and Absolum—upheld their reputations, in fact the first-named didyeoman- service in this . position, both as a defensive and an aggressive player. He kicked beautifully. Cummings only played a moderate game, and, all things considered, I think the,, selectionists erred in throwing Bennett out on his one indif- . ferent display, seeing his previous form had been really good. Gage was in rare buckle, and made several clear openings for his side. His defence was perfeet, and I fancy when all' is said .and done he is bound to go behind the pack for our rep. team. Gillett, as heretofore, was the dandy of the Suburbs forwards, and stood out in all departments, while nothing could be. finer than.his line : work. Goldsbury and Williams were also very noticeable. Ponsonby beat City on the No. 2 ground by 13 points to nil, and, as mentioned in the other match, the game was of a much more evenly con- ’ tested character than the scores would lead the . casual reader to believe. In .fact City had very ; hard luck, in not scoring on two or three occa-f-Ssions. ; '2li;<Webber’was safe at fullback for the winning ride, .and the three-quarters— H arrison, Riley, i and Lendrum—left no room for con.plaint, other than that .at times their passing was erratic, io say the least. . (

Wilson was always in the thick of the fight among the forwards, and was ably aided and abetted by Rule, Hemmingway, and Carder. Donovan, at full-back for City, showed sound defence, and Siddell, Young, and Moros worked in unison , and to good purpose, Cories being as clean as ever behind the scrum. Gillett, Tyler, McMillan, Bates, and McKean were perhaps the pick of the forwards, though none of the others shirked their work. 1 Parnell had a day out at North Shore, running up the largest score (34 to 4) of the season in senior matches, against the marine suburb. The new blood has wonderfully strengthened the back division of the maroons, and they must henceforth take a power of beating in Cup matches. Asher, the Tauranga lad, was the very best back on the field, and his play may be safely classed as brilliant; He did not show a weak spot. Phelan was also as good as ever, nothing being more noticeable than his fine tackling. Laws showed.no signs of the erratic play with which he has been accused in some quarters. A stronger and sounder set. of club threequarters could hardly be wiabed. Murray and Handcock were the pick of a good all-round pack, with Gordon and Thomson close v*P-

Laing has lost none of his dash on the wing, and quite outshone Whitley. In view of the. amount of work with which they were taxed, the North Shore backs must be credited with sound defence, the only weak spot in this respect being Cardno, usually so safe. Nicholson and P. Gerrard stood out as the best pair, while Pitt did solid graft. Dacre and Kett were the strongest forwards, though all played a hard game and showed better combination than in their last match. . The game of the day on Saturday next will be that between Newton and Parnell. Both sides have been giving a good account of themselves to date, and Newton may be deper ded on to fight hard to retain their unbeaten record, while Parnell, with their new men, will give them no end of difficulty to uphold the position. The fourth round of the matches in connection with the Association Cup were played on Saturday, when the Boeers A and B teams respectively met United and Grafton at the Domain, while North Shore played the Y.M.C.A. and Grafton 11. at Devonport. The chief interest was shown in the game between Rovers A and United, and a good assemblage of the public, including a sprinkling of the fair sex, attended at the Domain to witness “ scientific” football. The game was fairly fast throughout and resulted in a draw of 3 goals each. The features of the game were the excellent combination of United front rank and the utter lack of unity in the same division of the opposing team. Individually the Rovers are a very fair lot, but collectively they have a good deal to learn. The forwards are good men, but they ought to be quick to grasp that individual brilliance is consid* rably discounted by absence of combination. Time after time on Saturday the Rovers should have scored, and they would have done so if more brain work had been used with the agility and speed which the forwards undoubtedly possess. As it was, they were beaten by the superior “ head” play, in more senses than one, of the Heathers and Rice. The Rovers back division is a strong one. Sawbridge worked like a Trojan and kicked with most effective judgment, while Russel’s defence was sound and he was truly a ‘tower” of strength to his side. Warner, in goal, stopped two or three of the “ very warmest” during the afternoon, and has the makings of a safe custodian. J he play of the Heathers and Rice has been mentioned before, but I must say again that their skill in attack was brilliant in the extreme, and that they would worthily fill places in any “ socker” team. The United backs played a solid game, but Todd talks too much and questions every decision of the referee with “ What’s that for ?” Grafton romped over Rovers B to the tune of 9 goals to nil.