FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 533, 19 June 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUQBY. CUT AalAtOßOT.tfl.)' v 1» : Ths MelttSo-Orientil fixtufe'held thejease jf tho'"star" playing fat^h—Ne. 1 ground, .••lAthlotM Park—last Saturday/: I'lwt the ' » : ,tenaaioy only, resulted in. a moderate crdp -of

ii'vgood football. Tho Conditions during th« .- term—both ■aa 'kigarda ground and- rteatlier •rf ►—wero pcrfect,'till halfway through tho <ivp second spall, when tho light grew,:dim,.and, 'to- tho-occupants, of the stand especially, She proceedings were, somewhat hazy. ' The match; although finishing with a gofld - imargift is. favour of Oflcntal, Was V6fy hotly v'i'-..Dontosteid, aud was practically: anybody's " :/. Tight up to: within about .a' Quarter ol- an bodr of tho whistle. At half time tho aceto , (was in 'favour of,..Molroso, and, r during,;.that } • time thfe Orlefitil men .wero eptttifiualiy put v.v.-.; v.)n a thinking mood by .their .opponents' ior- • *a«ls teho, it May bo said, gavo.the, spefcs■: .:;•■■■ •: : Itatora a'flash—an da fairly long onerrof. la,st peaadil's dashing tactics. '. ' ■ Roberts;^the Oriental I ,half-back, during . flio first torn, Biftdd valiant oltofts to :.' ; .:.'' ': . : 'VgDt tho .men behind bim in motion, but t.hc Cardioal anil .Bltifea ' wefo .'tliore time,- . . • .nod generally• sneoeeded in cither smothering r: , i .itJio movement or getting tho ball away at Shear feet, 1 \■ . ■ ■: ,v: Oriental: were! t moro 1 successful - in ■ • getting- '- •' *, UlO ball in tho i second , spoil,-,., an<l r ivitii :■/Boberts to start things, they exhibited soma ' >: Bjnajt, 'ofiSp passing. Melroso, however, wore altogether.; out of itj but they - were handicappod bv not having fleet backs, to put , a docisive polish .on their spirited tactics, i;, .:' (which were generally , spoilt by mulling at the .oritical momeot. .■ s-ii 1 Roberts's showing, in tho game proved what; - ' K keystone his play is ; to the Onental fabric, and h&ir 6&ftefaly his ftbienco against Old i,";.;. rßoys oost OrieJital . a championship ■; point. 03*aro; may' attimesseem'tohe: an atom of Beifishneßs -,in his'play* when m possession of.. ; v.',itho ball, but there 1 are vaster compensationai ■. (With tho Melrosd fotttards :■ surging ilown, ."ax.- ' 1 [Roberts, would intrepidly ,divo in and change ( 1 ■ : i defence toattack, , and quickly l tho Oriental lacks would 'bo Tacing round/'tho.- Melrose: : • playefS hke round an " oftten , . I 7Ti/; . '' , Mdtheedh gavo n Mnnd.exfWflitlon at wing- ' 1 three-quarter, und ho was easily second man . - to Roborta. ' There was ono piece of play on ::>:c Saturday m; which..Mathoson took, a hand—ti piece.which especially pleased. Roberts ,:had . Idodged' from behind :-. a > scrum /which was ■ : • ' ; formed a few j-Bfdfe fH>ih the litib, ahd, drafr- :• i ■.ing ■ off tho defenders; sent a :timely pass •to Mathefion. Tho.latter punted to the centre, ,0, whore Tyrrtll Mapped -up ?;the hall' and sey ;,' rr icnred a trt.: A heady piccfl of play, and one which' donbltd hp the OppOEltidfi ill a | ling. _ 1 Of tee remainder of the Oriental baok diTi- : feion,'M'lie(id (fivo-olghths) .played well up. to i .'■ his previous form, and Vercoo at full-back •can -be .'singled out <as having played -a, geod : gafflo.' H® fielded the ball reliably, l , with ohfl eioejtion, and this error he, qhlckly retrieved v ' by Waning back, and; getting,: in, b splendid ' ' v : ; Tho other backs: ara - all on: the light side,: *nd, on: the, oocaßion,. wore tnare atliiirfte.on . the attack than the defence ' . The Oriehtal fofwards—a bsayier lot thin ' iUcltose adXifdilig :,t6 -tho ; . ; eclipsed by the Cardinds, :but. not totallyiso;. ■ Maiihlng was absent -from tlie , pack, but .hie substitute played; up well; : so they . woro_:nofc ■* - handicapped by: this,M'Mahoil,' Tyttclli l and , : iWeflt,wore the,pick:of a hard-working lot.l : 1 ; 1 : From; full-back to ' front-tanker, .the -Mel- , v i yose were the ."brush," ■ but: at tho "finish, Onental proved to be tho '"hdtlnds" t That the MelfbSO team ulti> > '.y r jnatoly... qualified -fory the.'role of ( the ;■:-.l ~was dn«S f ,to their back dlvi&idn, who were ,will- -!. j ,ing,enough to endeavour, -but were unable to ■: ; ;■ cope with the stiff apposition provided by the Btrotig nummg of Roberts and Co. ' Greeks, at half, played his usual solid game, but, excepting from .Beavis; and Two- ' jneyi he received little support,' Of tho Melrose forwards it would bo hard

to r-singie't anybo'dy : out .for.spccial >. mention. :| alUworkod welt 48, ftfty.ilocal , •' fflffrard' teairi' thfs >n Squally sound back 'division, tho team ? i?: r-: would: be a; hard one to: beat-in: Wellington, i Petone Olub ii Sbt having a VGfy 1 good , . Jnn -this<: SAaaon .in thb blatter vof. niembor- i ship, Boawhy of work In the district, Various illnesses and: injuries,: and the contraction of a love for the professional gamo, is'this: ]: noticeable ltt regard -to tlio senior fifteen, which, Since the beginning' of. tho reason, < • has undergone, a very material: chango in its . personnel. ;'Of,Hho bdeks who : 'took part in , retone's opening match,' Bmyrko, Greenland ' -i • :ii a. Jun.Ryan now alono, remain, The vacancies ; havo;been filled; frofil tho junior. rankß,- and; in::many instiuices/'very-Tivprthily,so/'.-The' ogamst Wellington, led by the' Vctoran Hard- " .haifl, W&S, on Sv ; ."ge"nCral' glaftco "i-'oUrid, .'seen ' ! to be ,a coffiparfvtively,'youthful .combination, vthoir ivporiseas. s ac-'' . C . ; ;VV iivity and keejl ;feUsh'fol : .Hl!C. : g&n\c. which ' .■ WSjJp fleft ;the£ye|lowsj!-at, thb'-'call of .'ti/pei in jfejfsSj (^deficiency'of.lS. points.'- .. • . -'][ . iJ,i^xAlthbßgn^<the gßhiß^.was 1 not. • noted' for ■ vtrrach.in tho >vay of really.: concerted;'play, *■■. still it Was•. a fairly.- interesting., cohtdst:' Wel- -.. • . .liflgton's ■ babliß .Still it sh&wv an 'inability to :V jhandlo .the--:ball at ■ all . «lepaly ( .. andv: tho v..,:... brililt- bf,.'tho (struggle:-was, -iii consequeiieo). , ; .loft to the. forwards. In tho Eonims, Wel- •!'.'!;. - Jingtoil 6cctii;e(l tho ;bill?a;;fair ' j;y i^/v^betr:; 6f:tililfea/.'but;' itiull ing' wa^^gencraliy' re- ] .Vr Vc&'ortS;' boing - tfotlr ; / reaultalit. On tho other.' hand, -when Groen ,j„ Joe-Ryanj aiul ilillarj" it- was to '.some .useful. ptirposo, and it.was this quintet Which J/jES®;;;: most. Sparkle, ill the game. Hurdhttin and Dent \\bfo gfinerhlly rio'tieeoble iu the Ytill of the i'ctMie iorw'ards blltt'llStod WithHltcnumerous ■:' shots at goal thilnig tho afternoon): Ulidj; had ' <k rf'^^ ,^9.*i:, *--h®" : " su -CC B '3sf u l ids .. ; . occasions, -Petone . would'havo. had an . easy 60 per cent, incicase ill their score SMiKw-fv' ; Welliiig- ... lon forwards inlUs'od. A..littlo.more.life into their phy than llfttml Of tile, mid hard did ; . .thoy plug'.,throtieliou.t-the aftonioon.' As a kkwx'» matter, ot .fact, they trained ;f»r-the match. (Wilson, Ffernaiidos, and M'Kullji most fr©qnßhtly . C&tigllt ■ t)io eye. 'ilio backs, howevor, let them diwh. Mulfroy j;ot tho ball oway from the scium well at timos, ahd Carr, on tho wing, mado the most uso o{ tho opportunities that camu Ins way. ■ Corson, who has boon playing wing-three-r quarter for P4tono seniors in' most of their Batches this season, loft for Nolson last v week. , Syme, after an enforced absenco of four or livo Saturdays, through miuriok, resumed his plaeo as hooker,'in:,tho Wellington team on Saturday, , < ■.'V/:j .■ It is diflicult to. find a torm which would ■ .exactly, dosenho .the'.quality.-.of plfty "of tho ■v; : ; Southorn-Old Boys' match.. Itr '.was" not'-dis- • :l, tmctly bad. though there wcro many faults. .1/ :,. which needed romedy, nor was it good, : - • • . thouf{li there were instances bi play abovo tho avorago, Hitherto pld Boys havo roliod mostly, on their but on Saturday thoy -showed a- tendency to open out the - m.: Dawsoltj :who!,itr.suffering., from, ah injured knee, was "absent from' wing three-quarter,' and his plaoo was fillod by Matthews, whoso 1 expenenco has betfrt mostly iu light forward One of tho bad points of the gamo, npart ■ o fcoirrso from caroloss passing and 111-judg&l '• .. kicking, wa£ tho exhaustive use which tho . ' . : ; Whitea .made of the .."blind side," Surely they aro dblo to realise that,,oneo tho surprise olpmdnti Ii gone from this movs, tho value is'practically nil. On at least two'occasions tlio valuo.to Old Boys wap less than 'W? ; '*(oil, 1 : Spufho t Oi: igcttin p_ all;tliorpositivo valiio.' ; fho two brightest. points in tho whole play were tho tries Boourod by Avery and.Pook. Avery is iioti gosorally a aooli&f man, tot ho

does not "hang on" to the ball, {tossing to anothor player if • that poo has a better chance, hut on this occasion he took his chance, and securod hiß try. | < On the Southern side, five men showed a rather remarkable selfishness—they Wanted to do;most Of the work, and tho rest of tho team, with an-UnselhslwoSs not quite so rare, gor\ orally permitted tho fivo tx) do; as they desired. The fivo wore Houlihan, Jack Campbell, Moriarty, Galloway, and "Lea." Catilplxill. ' ltlohftrdson, 'by the Way, still. ignores the fact that there is such a thing as a touchline, not an. imaginary line liko tho equator, but a substantial Olio.which, may occasionally bo put to iiS6 by' thft full-bafik when tho attack is hot.' Perhaps, the touch-line is. imaginary to Itichardson-r-rtho, writer has never seen him find it.:

A walk-over, was expected at l'otone last Saturday,' but'-the 'COllego boys played a fair game, und.oVCn: BuOoeoded ouco ill scoring, l'oueko had several Iresh men, some of whom : ha'd :; not. : rtho : generally expccted of players. ' There were alsa changes Hi: the Victoria Collego ranks—for tho bottor, gorhaps —and Greens tolerated, only- one invasion iii the first half. The' scof6''roso:toVl4 however, befor> , adopted Dy tue vanquished pack! ... ... ■ Tho vacant ; position. of \wing, oreated 'by, the departure of/.Neilson, was tilled. for one Saturday by Uliott, and. Wilton, an exSelwyn junior had- the appointment when tho team met the Collego. JSarly in tho game Wilton made a bad showing. Ho missed a "ball, and 'his side wore dangerously situated .until 'the full-back, Cording : (ej,jmior) -rfent-'ddSn:to'-it:'' Later on, howover, Wilton.,YV&3 useful) -ho scored nicely from ail opening rnado by Flanagan., 'The smart .live-eighth kicked judiciously, and Dobbio, the 'opposing' full-back, was just slow enough to; meet the charge. Wilton picked up the ball quietly,-.and sprinted away from all opposition: ■ : - Tho enemy kt3pt steadfast oyea Oil Kyan, aftd, tnoro thail Oncfe, when. ho was handling :thb . 'bail j^ihereappeared I a deputation • of, three; or. -four .waiting to bring , him down; This was particularly, hoticcabie dnom. occasion; initho.,opening spell,, just prior to ■thS'fjj-St'j.scbra.-Tho. : first three points were obtained by a, (accomplished .by Gardiiier), awarded foi I 'obstruction. Mitchinson had made a great run, and was crossing tho line ;wheh Checked. Ho was about i to paSs to ltylin, When tho latter was pulled | back by Duncan. ' Wilsho was not playing, because of a severe bruising/ which -iWas; part 'of the . honour he won in the previous match. Tho five-eighths line to fill the vacancy was" transferred -from wing-forward. It is to the captain's credit that he goaled tfride, SUrely. At th 6 - tilartl ti-y ho. again hoame very "near success, and - another distance shot was a, poster,. - i ..' A-degtee of' excitement- was .-recorded in I the closing moments,' for the Collego took I the role'Of aggressors. : Do la Maro had a prospective try,, as ho bjroko-away -from the melee, > but: a knock-on left him disappointed. Their Berendsen dodged- bnskly. through, and left the ball under the bar. It was a neat score, ' and not UfieiDected. Philhßa missed an easy, kick. r\ i■' Ar/J v'-