THE FOOTBALL WORLD.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVIII, Issue 1015, 19 August 1909, Page 12

THE FOOTBALL WORLD.

The interprovincial match between Auckland and Poverty Bay on Saturday failed to attract more than a limited attendance at Alexandra Park, those present numbering about 3000. Favourable weather prevailed during the afternoon, but the game was generally considered an easy task for the Aucklanders, which probably accounted for so small an attendance. Though the Auckland team succeeded in gaining a victory, they had a very close call, as a drawn game looked almost a certainty, until Wilson relieved the anxiety of the blue and white supporters by potting a goal in the last stages of the match. The Aucklanders played much below their form, the backs particularly being all at sea, and had they worked with anything like their usual combination the chances are that they would have won by a fairly large margin of points. The Auckland forwards outshone their opponents, but the Poverty Bay backs simply ran through the weareis of the blue and white at times, giving a much finer exhibtion than the Auckland rear division, who were unable to get going properly. Several of the Auckland backs were decidedly off colour, their play in all departments being of a very poor character. Though the Poverty Bay back division is undoubtedly a strong one. they would have met a tough proposition if the Aucklanders could only have reproduced their club form. The visiting team was weak compared with that of the hlue and whites, but the great assistance they received from their backs tended to equalise matters. Had the game ended in a draw the visitors would have received no more than what they were entitled to, as on the day’s play they must be credited with giving a better account of themselves than the local men.

The Auckland B representatives journeyed by train to Huntly, where they were defeated by a narrow margin by the Lower Waikato fifteen. The Auckland team, which was under the charge of Mr. George Donaldson, was not as strong as that originally selected, several players being unable to make the trip. The result of the match did not come as a surprise to football enthusiasts, as the Lower Waikato team are known locally as a very powerful combination. The Waikato men had a much stronger forward team than the Aucklanders, while their backs were responsible for a fairly good display. The Auckland backs played well together, showing plenty of dash and pace in their work. The home team fully deserved their win. as they gave a more finished display all round than the visitors. The Auckland Junior representatives also tasted defeat on Saturday, when they went under to the Whangarei team at Whangarei. The game, however, was closely contested from start to fininsh, the Auckland backs showing more cleverness than the local men, whose strength lay in the forward division. AUCKLAND (12) v. POVERTY BAY (8.) . During the first spell the Poverty Bay men took advantage of the wind, and with their fast set of backs were able to provide spectators with some interesting play. The Aucklanders commenced attacking from the start, but a certain chance of scoring was lost by Skillen failing to pass. However, a few minutes later a passing run by the Auckland backs in which Young, Magee, Skillen, Renwick and Robinson participated enabled the last-named player to draw first blood for the blue and whites. R. Magee’s shot at goal was unsuccessful. Auckland 3, Poverty Bay 0. Repeated attacks by the Auckland men to cross the visitors’ line proved futile, the Poverty Bay backs getting in some excellent work. A pass by Magee was taken advantage of by the visitors, Watchorn kicking the leather into Auckland’s 25, Miller finding the line with a weak kick. The next incident Of note was a splendid opening made by Seeling, who passed to Skillen, who on being tackled transferred to Magee, the Auckland skipper running in and scoring the home team’s second try. He took the kick himself, landing a good goal. Auckland 8, Poverty Bay 0. Auckland still kept up the attack, the forwards working hard for a score. Finally Ryland secured

possession of the leather, and sprinting up to the Auckland full-back, kickeu over his head and following up smartly snapped the bah up on the bounce and made for the line. Miller, however, chased him and brought him down when within a few yards of the line. His pass to Pollock was erratic and an excellent opportunity of scoring was rnst, the Auckland forwards relieving the situation. The visitors made matters lively in Auckland’s 25, and Kaipara, a burly Maori, obtaining the ball beat several of the Aucklanders and then passed to Ryland, who sprinted for the line, transferring to Pollock at the right moment, the last named scoring Poverty Bay’s first try behind the posts. Fitzgerald kicked an unmistakable goal and the spell ended: Auckland 8, Poverty Bay 5. Fort the first quarter of an hour of the second half the Poverty Bay men kept Auckland extremely busy defending, Miller finally being compelled to force. The Auckland forwards headed by Seeling and Maguire at last shifted play into the visitors’ 25, the latter player being collared when in close proximity to the line. A likely looking forward rush by the visitors saw Auckland in difficulties, and from a free kick in the blue and whites’ 25 Fitzgerald kicked a splen did goal. Auckland 8, Poverty Bay 8. As was to be expected play from now onwards was of a very lively

order, both teams working hard for a victory. The Aucklanders were attacking solidly in the visitors’ 25, but the fine defence of the Poverty Bay backs was not found wanting, and earned general appreciation from the onlookers. Finally Wilson obtaining possession of the leather, made a successful attempt at potting a goal, the ball finding its way over the crossbar amid great excitement among the Auckland barrackers. Auckland 12, Poverty Bay 8. In the remaining minutes of the game both sides were responsible for badly missing excellent chances of scoring through faulty handling of the ball, and the bell rang with the scores: Auckland 12, Poverty Bay 8.

For Auckland, Miller, at fullback, rendered valuable service, but was very shaky on occasions. Wilson was the pick of the threequarter-line, his work being executed in a smart and clever manner. Renwick was responsible for a moderate display, making numerous bad mistakes. Robinson was only fair, while Skillen, at fiveeighths, was the weak link in the back division. He invariably spoilt likelylooking opportunities by his hangingon tactics and totally overlooking his fellow backs. Magee, at five-eighths,

failed to play up to form, his work being of a patchy order. Young, at half-back, was disappointing, his play being below representative form. Wilkes, on the wing-forward, was responsible for some really clever work at times, and played with great judgment throughout. Seeling put in some fine work, but had a tough opponent marking him. Williams, Herring. Maguire (City) and Waddell formed a hard-grafting quartette, playing with a good deal of dash.

The Poverty Bay backs all snowed up well, every man jack of them just ring his inclusion. Fitzgerald, at fullback, played a faultless game, and would be a big acquisition to any rep. team. Of the threequarters, Pollock •.va's the best, showing up prominently krth in attack and defence. Kaipara. at five-eighths, gave flashes of brill ant play now and then, but was overshadowed by 'Watchorn, the other fiveeighth, who was responsible for a particularly fine exhibition, his tackling being of a very, high order. The forwards were an even lot, and do not call for individual comment. LOWER WAIKATO (5) v. AUCKLAND B. (3).

This match was played on the Recreation Ground at Huntly and attracted a large number of spectators, in spite of the showery weather. During the first spell Lower Waikato had the

best of the game, and from a throwin Hinton scored a meritorious try. Drake was successful with the shot at goal. Lower Waikato 5, Auckland 0. Though the Auckland B team tried hard to score with repeated passing runs by their backs, the spell ended without further score.

Soon after the resumption of play the Auckland B representatives succeeded in notching a try, Hanley getting over from a well-judged pass by Otterson. Hardwick failed with the shot at goal. Lower Waikato 5, Auckland 3. Both sides were playing in a very willing manner, but were fairly evenly matched and the game ended without further points being registered.

For Lower Waikato, Peckham was the most prominent of the threequarters, while Clout played a serviceable game at half. McAuley was easily • best of a good set of forwards, and was ably assisted by Sampson. Sinclair played a sound game at fullback for the Auckland B team, while Hardwicke got through a great amount of work at centre-threequarter. Otterson. at half, gave an excellent account of himself, his rush-stopping be'ng a treat to witness. Mcllhone was the most prominent of the for-

wards, while Muir and Bamford played hard games.

WHANGAREI (8) v. JUNIOR REPRESENTATIVES (6).

The match between the Auckland junioi l representatives and Whangarei proved an evenly contested game, the latter team winning by the narrow margin of 8 points to 6. In the first spell Taylor kicked a penalty goal tor Auckland, while in the second half Penny scored two tries for Whangarei, one of which was converted by Dickey, while Taylor notched a try for Auckland just before the call of time. COUNTRY MATCHES. At Cambridge an inter-club match was played between Franklin and Cambridge and was won by the latter team by 8 points to 6. At Waihi the return match between the Upper Thames Goldfields Union representatives and the Thames team was played before a large attendance and was won by the latter by 8 points to nil. VOLUNTEER CHAMPIONSHIPS. Franklin Rifles defeated College Rifles by 48 points to nil. Highland Rifles beat No. 3 Company G.A.V. by 16 points to nil.

No. 2 Company G.A.V. won from No. 1 Native Rifles by default.

WELLINGTON DEFEATS TARANAKI.

The representative match between Taranaki and Wellington was played at Athletic Park, Wellington, on Saturday and resulted in a win for the home team by 15 points to 6. The defeat of the Taranaki team, which was considered particularly strong this year, comes as a big surprise, and it will be interesting to see how the Auckland team fares against both Wellington and Taranaki, as supporters of the latter are sanguine of the amber and blacks winning the Ranfurly Shield this season.

At the end of the first spell Taranaki were leading by 6 points to 3, tries having been scored for the amber and blacks by Cameron and T. Sheehan, while Green scored for Wellington.

In the second half tries were scored for Wellington by Ranji Wilson, and McKenzie, while Gardner kicked a penalty goal and Mitchinson a goal from a mark. Taranaki failed to score in the second spell, the game ending Wellington 15. Taranaki 6.

NOTES.

It is seldom, if ever, that one hears of as fine a record as that of the Cleve-and-street (Sydney) Rugby football second junior team. This team, the average weight of which is 6st, has the proud distinction of having won the second junior competition for five consecutive years. The record for the last four years is perhaps the most remarkable in the history of football. In 1906 the score (in all matches) was 160 to nil; 1907, 205 to nil; 1908, 165 to 3; 1909, 250 to nil; that is, in four years the team has scored 780 points, and has had 3 points scored against it.

How a young player can come on ! (remarks a Wellington writer). Tannahill, who is selected for the representative team, was not considered good enough for senior grade at the commencement of the season. Strenuous efforts on the part of someone kept him in the junior ranks. After he had assisted Kia Ora to win the cup not the slightest objection was offered to him transferring to a senior club. Now he is in the Wellington representative team. Surely the classification in the first instance was wrong ?

“ Fairplay” contains the following regarding Ponsonby’s victory over the Metropolitan team: —Ponsonby won by 13 to 11, and during a large part of the last spell they seemed content to let well alone. Their defence was marvellous, and if one man missed his tackle the runner hadn’t time to grin at his luck before another, and usually a heavier and nastier blue and black crashed into him. There was one shuddersomely narrow escape from a bad injury when Cunningham (or was it Nicholson ?) was tearing madly after a bounding ball, and Booth speculated at it with all his speed and swing. His leg crashed across the big forward’s thighs, and Ponsonby turned a complete somersault on to its back, while Metrop. limped in evidently severe pain for minutes afterwards. How either or both escaped broken bones seemed miraculous. Neither knew much about the game for some time afterwards.

The “ Town and Country Journal” thus refers to the defeat of the Ponsonby team in Sydney:—For two years Ponsonby has been undefeated in contests at Auckland, and with victories against Metropolis and South Sydney the' visitors maintained their great record until August 7. On that date, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the clean page was smudged, as Metropolis, in the return match, succeeded in winning by 13 points to 9. However, Ponsonby did not go under without a mighty struggle. In fact, the defensive work of both teams could not have been beaten. It was, as a rule, a forward battle, with incidents which caused the spectators, numbering about 20,000, to roar with excitement. The deadly tackling, a heavy and greasy ball, and a soft ground told against a game which thrills the public all the time. There had been a fair amount of rain the previous night, and a few hours before play began.

Page, the ex-Parnell forward, is making a big name for himself in Queensland football, and was a member of the representative team that recently played New South Wales. Page’s willing play is highly spoken of by Queensland football scribes, one of whom considers the ex-Parnellite to be the best forward in the State.

The return match between Auckland and Thames takes place at Alexandra Park on Saturday, when an attractive game should be witnessed, as both teams will put their full strength on to the field. Auckland won by 13 points to 5 on the last occasion they met a fortnight ago, and as five Ponsonby players are included in the Auckland team for Saturday, three of whom are backs, the blue and white combination should give a better account of themselves in the return match. The teams selected are as follows: —Auckland: Fullback, A. Renwick (Grafton); threequarters. F. W. Wilson (University), G. Murray (Ponsonby), Robinson (University); fiveeighths, R. Magee (City), G. Bater (Ponsonby); halfback, Webb (Ponsonby) ; wing-forward, T. Wilkes (University); forwards, F. Herring (City), G. Sellars (Ponsonby), J. McGuire (Grafton), W. Cunningham (Ponsonby), A. Waddell (City), C. Seeling (City), J. McGuire (City). Emergencies: McGregor (Ponsonby), Capill (Grafton). Thames: Fullback, Newdick; threequarters, A. Lennard, E. Fisher, H. Harrison; five-eighths, Snowling; halfback, Winder; wing-forwards, Coles and McCollum; forwards, McKeown, Farley, Clark, T. Crawford, W. Williams, Harold Hayward, Barney Miller.

Emergencies: Back, Griffin; forward, M. Hayward.

The Auckland B team leave by the Rotorua express on Friday, and will play the Rotorua representative team on Saturday, returning to town by Monday’s train. The following players have been selected by Mr. D. Gallaher to make the trip:—Fullback, Miller; threequarters, Hanley, Sinclaire, Hardwicke; five-eighths, Armstrong and Twiname; halfback, Ottersen; wing-forward, Estall; forwards, Revell, Smith, Pople, Eaton, Bamford. Deans, Muir. Emergencies: Skillen, Young, Yates, Harris.

Messrs. V. Meredith (Wellington), S. Humphries (Taranaki), and D. Gallaher (Auckland) met in Auckland on Tuesday afternoon for the purpose of selecting the North Island team to play against the South Island fifteen at Wellington on Saturday, the 25th inst. The selection made was as follows:—

Fullback, Meuli (Wanganui); threequarters, Cameron (Taranaki), Mit-

chinson (Wellington), Milne (Auckland) ; halfback, Green (Wellington); wing-forward, Wilkes (Auckland); forwards, Herring (Auckland), Ready (Wellington), Francis (Auckland), Milne (Wanganui), Tamu (Taranaki), Waddell (Auckland), Bruce (Wellington).

It will be noticed that the names of veteran players such as Seeling, Roberts and Cunningham are missing from the team chosen, the selectors having given a number of younger footballers a chance to distinguish themselves, it being realised that these are the men that in future years will have to keep up the standard of New Zealand Rugby football. At the time of going to press the name of Milne (Auckland) on the threequarter-line is causing a good deal of mystification to Rugger enthusiasts, many of whom consider that Murray, the Ponsonby threequarter, is the man selected for the position.

If any player deserved a place in the North Island team it was “ Archie” Waddell, the City forward, and his inclusion is a popular one indeed with all those who have witnessed his play t’uring the season. Waddell has been playing at the top of his form both in club and representative matches, and is one of those solid types of grafting forwards who have gained for Auckland the premier position in Rugby.

The Auckland team leave on their Southern tour on Tuesday night by the Main Trunk express, Mr. C. P. Stichbury accompanying the combination as manager.