FOOTBALL

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 464, 15 June 1899, Page 8

FOOTBALL

[By

Vigilant.]

CUP FIXTURES.

June 17—Newton v. Parnell, City v. Grafton, Suburbs v. Ponsonby, North Shore bye. June 24—City v. Parnell, Suburbs v. Grafton, North Shore v. Ponsonby, Newton bye.

Heavy rain fell all the morning, and a deluge between one a’d two o’clock spoilt the attendance at Potter’s Paddock on Saturday, when the Senior Cup matches were resumed. With a fine afternoon the spectators would have been very numerous, for the North Shore team made their first appearance at Epsom, but notwithstading the bad weather there was still a very fair gathering by the time the various teams turned out. The Newton and Grafton teams played m front of the stand on No. 1 Ground, and though public opinion favored the prospects of the Newton men, the play did not bear out anticipations, for Grafton were certainly unlucky to lose the match. In both spells the black and whites had the best of the game, but luck was all in favor of the other side, and ultimately Grafton retired with the points showing 7 to 3 in Newton’s favor. Though the ground was in a sloppy condition, and the ball very heavy, a very interesting game was witnessed. Forward the teams were pretty evenly matched, the Grafton lot perhaps having a bit the best of it, but behind the scrum the Newton men were distinctly superior, both in attack and defence. In the first spell play was fairly distributed, first one team pressing and then the other. Newton looked dangerous on several occasions, while Grafton might have scored if the passing and receiving had been more accurate. After the game bad been In progress for about a quarter of an hour Newton made their first score— a goal from the field by Kirkwood. The player was very quick to recognise bis opportunity, and with a very pretty kick he drew first blood for Newton. Within a few minutes Woods added points. His try was smart, bnt really it was “ thrown at him ” by Dug Hay and Smith, who. thinking he would pass to Boberts, allowed “ Jumbo ” to cross the line unchecked and place the ball right behind the uprights. Eaton’s attempt at goal was unsuccessful. Woods’ try should be a lesson to Hay and Smith to go for the man with the ball. Afterwards Grafton made strenuous efforts to get on terms with their rivals, but despite all their efforts half-time found Newton leading by 7 to nil. In the second spell Grafton did most of the pressing, and from a scramble close to Newton’s line McGregor got across, and gained a try for Grafton. Smith took the kick, and although it crossed the bar the goal was disallowed because of one of the Newton men touching the ball in its flight Mr Campbell should have noticed that at least four of the Newton men were some yards in front of the goal line when

Smith took his kick ; but he failed to do so, and thus Grafton suffered from a piece of bad fortune. For the remainder of the game the Grafton men worked very hard, but were unable to increase their score. If the passing of the backs had been more accurate they must have, beaten Newton, for they penned the red and whites for the last quarter of an hour. The visit of the North Shore men to Potter’s was eagerly looked forward to, and if Suburbs had put a thoroughly representative team into the field a good game would have resulted. As it turned out, the Suburbs team was a weak one, and the Shore forwards did what they pretty well pleased. When time was called the Shore men had 14 point? to their opponents’ nil. The game was not a very interesting one to watch, being principally confined to Suburbs’ twentyfive, although now and then the ball was carried into the Shore territory. The backs on both sides indulged in some hard kicking, but I will make an exception of Pau 1 , who put in some very useful punting, finding the line with commendable accuracy. For the Shore H. . Frankham, P. Gerrard, and Paul did very well in what passing runs were got under way, and, forward, Pitt, Neighbor, C. Frankham, and McCluskey were prominent. Cardno did not have much to do during the game, but his long kicks were of immense service to his side. He did not get the ball often enough to keep himself warm. The Suburbs team were repeatedly penalised for the off-side play of Brennan, and so lost ground on several occasions. Dempsey played a sterling game for his side, while Absolum now and then put in a dashing bit of play. Alexander and Sutherland showed good form considering the state of the ground, while Gillett and Dacre grafted very hard in the front rank. City met Ponsonby on No. 3 Ground, with Mr C. F. Major as referee. The City team held Ponsonby in check from the commencement, their forwards being stronger in the pack and better in the open than their opponents. In the first half Donovan kicketagood goal from a mark, and the teams crossed with the scores standing— City 4, Ponsonby 0 In the concluding half the City men were most frequently in the Ponsonby twenty-five, and shortly before the whistle sounded Smith scored a good try, which was not improved upon by Donovan. Smith played a good game all the afternoon, and Asher was responsible for some dashing play on occasions. Ponsonby lacked the assistance of Riley, who dislocated his wrist on the previous Saturday.

The Wellington championship matches were played on Saturday in almost continuous rain. Melrose beat Athletic by 11 to 8, Petone defeated Wellington by 6 to 3, and Oriental drew with Poneke, each side scoring 6 points. At Dunedin on Saturday the senior flag matches resulted in University beating Union by 5 to 0, Kaikoura winning from Dunedin by 11 to 3, Alhambra thrashing Zingari by 8 to 0, and Southern beating Pirates by 6 to 4. The representative match Nelson v. Wanganui was played at Nelson on Saturday, and resulted in the victory of the visiting team by 16 points to 3. The Wanganui forwards were far heavier than the home men, and most of the points scored were the results of strong forward rushes Tries

for the winners were obtained by Kierman, Burr, Stedman, and Sigley, while Mules kicked a fine penalty goal for the losers.

The first of the inter colonial fco ball matches was played at Sydney on Saturday, when -New South Wales defeated Queensland by 9 points to 3. Last year, it will be remembered Queensland won two out of the four matches played, mee’ing with one defeat, the other game resulting in a draw.

On Saturday afternoon at Farndon Park the Clive and Napier match resulted in an easy win for the former by 12 points to nil. Clive had the best of the game throughout. E. Bissell, R. Caldwell, O’Connell Bros , Collinge, and B. Bissell were in great form for the winners, and F. McVay, Wood, Potter, Barclay, Palmer and G. Munro were prominent for Napier. Mr Weir acted as referee. On No. 2 ground Caledonians 11. met and defeated Clive 11. by 33 points to nil. For the winners Walworth, Nicholson, F. Russell, Falvy, McCarthy and Munroe were conspicuous. At Stortford lodge Pirates defeated Tomoana for the first time by 8 points to nil. For the winners S. Eddy, Tyne, Cunningham, Cowan and Gillespie worked hard, while T. Jago, Brandon, Vile, Catherall and Jacks were prominent for Tomoana. Mr Renouf refereed. Port Ahuriri met and defeated Napier by 3 points to nil. Eat Port Ahuriri McCarthy, Bristow, Moyle, McKnight, Gardiner and Gore played well, while for Napier D. Orr, McOassey, Margoliuth, Aplin, and Roulaton did a lot of hard work Mr Mitchell had charge of the whistle. At the Spit the match between Caledonian 111. and Napier 111. ended in a draw—both sides scoring 5 points. Mr Cowell acted as referee. These are the positions for the third championship : West End, 5 points ; Napier, 3 points Caledonian, 2 points ; Kiaora, 2 points. The Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union held their usual weekly meeting in the Criterion Hotel, Mr F. Logan presiding. Mr J. H. Swan sent in his resignation from the Selection and Classification Committee, and Messrs Weir and W. Fulton were elected to fill the vacancies respectively. Two players —F. Sutherland (Olive) and J. Wells (Tomoana) —who played in the Caledonian —Clive 11. and Tomoana —Pirates 11. matches on Saturday were reported by the referee for insulting behaviour. The Union unanimously decided to g spend both players for twelve months, and also to worn them off all grounds under the controljof the Union during that period. It was resolved to hold a ball this season, and the following committee was appointed with the hon. sec to make the necessary arrangements : —Messrs Weir, McCarthy, Speight, W. O’Connell, R. Hallamore, H. Wilson, J. G. Hughes, O. Cunningham, and R. Renouf, with power to add to their number. The Ciive 11. fifteen sent in their resignation from the junior contest, which was accepted. A transfer was granted to W. Graham from the Clive to the Pirates on Saturday afternoon.—N apier Correspondent.