SATURDAY FIELD SPORTS

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 841, 13 June 1910, Page 4

SATURDAY FIELD SPORTS

:'-. : :RU6BY'HATCHES STUBBORN. . A VIGOROUS Gi« AT ATHLETIC PARK.'. NOW -LEADING. NEW ZEALANDER.S-WIN THEIR FIRST MATCH

Tho series of senior Rugby matches, played on Saturday was, upon the jvhole,' more interesting that any of its predecessors. It is officially estimated tfliat there were over '4000 spectators at the -Athletic. Park, where Oriental,, by' administering a somewhat unexpected boating- to St. James, now find themselves -leading for the clfampionship pro. tern. ■ The turf, was soft- after the recent rain, and before play had been m progress very long it began to wear. Alightbreezc from.tho north had-littlo. effect' on the £!ay, which disclosed what might- be called a'fairly fast and close'.'contest all through: There were very, few concerted .movements. Neither club had its best fifteen in. the field, Oriental being without Roberts, while Moffatt, of St. James, is now "resting." Of the other matches of the series the most important was that between Poneke, and Petone, at, Hutt Park, which was won by the former after a keen game by a small margin. In connection with '-the -remaining matches; ilt is interesting to note that Southern, who surprised everybody, by drawing -with- Oriental early in'the season,, again showed good form —too good in fact for Old Boys:, - Oriental deserved their win. -In tho first half the forwards had the call on' the leather, the Oriental pack being St.. James did notor could not got their St. James. What was badly wanted in" . connection with ''the contest. was tlio new rule providing for a five-yard minimum, tnrow-out, for there were so many line-outs, especially "bunched" one's, that they tended to make the game uninteresting. Now -naid pgsin, there wore flashes of ,fast attractive football," but, for the most part, it was strenuous rather than spectacular. Why St. James did hot or could not set their backs going, as they did against Petone, is bait known to themselves, but ,-nhey will, doubtless,. benefit by the lesson which the match taught them. When the second.'spell opened—a critical part of a was noticeable that, the Oriental backs' Were studying their:.forwards" much- better than St. James. Fine line-kicking by Kinvig was, -indeed, a feature of'play at . this stages • And ,it paid. "■-Just near tho end of the game; after a meritorious try, which was converted, - had been scored by Oriental,'the St. Ja.mcs rearguard began, to "do things," ak3 play 'Became.'much .faster, with. the. result that a number of the forwards disclosed a certain amount of inability to "foot it' out" .right to the .end of\ the game.' Oriental, although rhard. pressed at times, succeeded in'-ffiahftaiiung- theirl advantage./,. ;: !.:. i.''. pj ',-',': }\ By ail oversight play : was stopped bisfore the. full time liad elapsed. It a.para- that tho timekeepers use two s— ; a small oiio aoid a large one. The referees had been instructed that when the striall bell-w'as ; -ru'ngi the SouthernOld Boys match' was to conclude, and that the ringing of the la.rgo bell was to be.:;the signal.for the stoppiiMr.of the. St. James-Oriental match. When the Southern-Old Boys contest had occupied; its full time, on© of the timekeepers went out. on-to No. .2 ground and rynig the small .bell, as had been decided upon. To -"'the- great' astonishment of the. crowd, the. referee -in tlio St. James-Oriental'game also whistled "m°~- i e- " according ; to tire official-'timekeepers, a few minutes had still to. go. It was of: course an horwt mistake. It was' stated here and there that the St.'James'team would apply to have the' match replaved, but, upon beang interrogated, some of their of-ficials-replied fhat it was very unlikely that such a step would be taken, one of adding that it was generally recognised that Oriental wero entitled to their win on the nla'v. Whether such a.n appeal would lie is at any rate another matter.

. Tho following are the results of tho senior' matches:— Oriental (5), St. James (o). .Poneka (6), Potone (3). Southern (9), Old Boys (s). Victoria College (12), Melrose (o). Hutt (3), Wellington (0). ORIENTAL, 5j ST. JAMES, 0. With' more dash than usual, Oriental attacked without delay. Alter some uninteresting . play, in the course of which St. Janies forced down, neutral territory became the ■' scene of operations. '. Then the b\ll came out among the Oriental backs, and, in due course, Mathoson easily got over tho St. James line; but the pass, which ho got from Sturrock was ruled forward. Oriental, continued to have the upper hand, the style of play, mainly the forward work, suiting them very well. Not long afterwards! Carrod, who. .secured from a ecrum,'kicked across-to Sturrock, who enabled Pylo to put in a fine run, which narrowly missed ending in a score. : When;]tho game had occupied twentyfive minutes, play was, for almost the first tiine, shifted to -the Oriental side of half-way, as a result.of some interchanges of kicks. Upon one occasion, the Sti James pack, headed by Bruce, loqkcd.'really dangerous, but Kinvig deprived them of tho ball, and play again went back to neutral territory. For Eome minutes afterwards neither side -gained any material advantage, and the game was anything but interesting, line-outs predominating. Oriental then got within striking distance again, but Thomas, although' hot ,' without" difficulty, cleared his lino. From- now on till the end of the spell St. James did much better, and for a time kept Orient*! ihemmed bad; on their goal line, where there were some exciting scrums, but, owing to Bradley- kicking too hard, Oriental were able to force down ■ nml gairi relief. An attack by the latter and a counter-attack by St. James brought the initial half to a close without any score having been registered. Soon- after resuming, Matheson followed lip a long kick- smartly, but the ball rolled into touch, otherwise he might have given Thomas an anxious moment or two.' Then M'Leod picked up in 3 ruck at half-way, and transferred to Kinvig. Feinting to pass to Sturrock; Kinvig sent the ball back' to M'Leod, who, by a straight, dodgy Jrun, got within a few yards of tho St. 'James line. As a result of a scramble following a scrum that tumMH in ■ruins hack on the line, . St. Jr.mes gained relief by forcing. In the more open play which then took place, St. James essavrd their first renllv good boutof passing, but M'Gvath on thnwinu

dropped the ball. ■-. It was tho most fortunate escape which Oriental had all day, for, at tho time, t'heir' full-back had been caught napping, and was out of position. It was not long before Oriental again took up tho attack-, with the result that Matheson on one occasion got right down over tho St. ..James's line, but it was ruled that Thomas had held him oiitside the lino. By way of variety Bradley now attempted to show that attack is sometimes the best means of defence, and a rush- which he initiated cleared St. ■James's territory. Thomas, however, soon afterwards misfielded the ball, and Bradley, who was off-side, came to tho ■rescue' as he thought.. Matheson should have turned the free-kick to account, but he-failed. After fielding the drop.out, M'Leod did not follow, the usual stylo of play by a return kick, but by cleverly concealing his intention got well into the St. James's twenty-five, and then, very suddenly, sent the ball inwards to Cameron, who transferred to Tyrrell, and on went the oval to Perry, who scored amid great applause. Kinvig made no mistake.with tho kick. s—o. The prospect of defeat was not at all relished by St. James, who redoubled their efforts, and now began to use their backs, but it was too late. On one occasion from the end of a long line-out, Bruce threw back to Bradley, who'sent the ball on to M'Grath, who, however, was too well marked. Taken ■ail'round, play for the, remainder, of the spell was fairly even. Mr.. H. Card.was,the referee. ■■ ■ SOUTHERN, 9; OLD BOYS, 6. There was not a great deal to choose between Southern (red) and Oid Boys (white) in tho match played on Athletic Park No. 2 on Saturday. Southern did most of the attacking, and certainly deserved their win. Old Boys, 'considerably weakened by tho absence of Avery, lost the toss, and had to play with the sun iu their, eyes.' Southern commenced vigorously, and the Whites had a busy time resisting the forward rushes-. . Within five .minutes of the start) ■ Old Boys ■ were penalised just outside tho twenty-live, and L; Campboll kicked a fine goal from nearly halfway. Almost immediately following the kick.out, ■ Southern had a free-kick given -against them,, and Marohant equalised. the scores-,by a-magnificent kick , from half-way.'.-.•'Southern: 3, Old 80y5..3.. Southern apparently felt that, the quality of their place-kicking had been challenged, for a few minutes later Campbell essayed a place-kick from several .yards beyond the half-way line, but the ball fell about, five yards short. A further attempt from near the corner flag was also resultless. Old Boys then carried play - up' - field,- - and sustained ;the attack for some"'.-.littlo-time.;, but tdVcross-.th.e; line,..'and: eventually;. Southern.-/ ."The"' Js'pelL,: ..ended :, without further. score: :s . .In tho : " second -' half Southern opened strongly and kept Old Boys penned down on the lino for a considerable time. Tho passing efforts of Southern, backs were, however, rather weak, and so tho forwards took chargo of tho attack. Eventually Houlihan crossed the. line near the corner, tho try being not converted. Southern, (i; Old Boys, 3. Finding this method of attack successful,. Southern forwards continued their efforts, with the result that Simpson scored a try near the 'sahib"'corner. Southern; 9; Old- Boys, .3. Still the Reds pressed the-attack, and Old Boys had a strenuous time defending, but finally Hales and Jacobsen headed a good rush and placed Southern on the defensive. Old Boys now tried a passing . rush, hut Grace gave a very wild pass to Dawson and spoiled what looked like ending in a score. A few minutes before. the call of time some neater passing between Grace, Thomson, and Picot ended in the latter scoring. The kick at goal was resultless, and no side was called soon after, with the scores reading: Southern, 9; Old Boys, 6. Mr. J. J. .Mahonoy was rofereu. " >'

PONEKE, 6; PETONE, 3. No matter when- Poneke . meets Petone, no matter what the calibre of either team may be, it will always cause great enthusiasm. Such was tho caso. last Saturday, when tho Hutt ground had its largest complement of spectators so far this season, from Wellington and all over the Hutt Valley, some 400 people being present. Poneke had the slight advantage .of the sun and wind, but started tho game by defending. For Petone Strickland maole a fine run, but a force resulted. From a mark M'Farlanc then made a fair shot at goal. Next time Petone meant business. Dent obtained possession from a' "ruck" and smartly sent to M'Kcnzio, who put in a fine run, and transferred to Daley, who had a clear run in. M'Farlane could not improve. Petone, 3; Poneke, 0. Petono continued to press, Joe Avail being conspicuous. Slater and Tilyard put in some fine defensive work at this stage. A fine, kick by Gardiner now gave Poneke the advantage. From a line-out Hunter (Poneke) . initiated a determined dribbling rush, and Donnelly and Calcinai carried play, right to Petone's goal-line, whero the former dived over near the posts. Gardiner's kick was charged down. Potone, 3; Poneke, 3. Play at this stage became fast and exciting, Poneke forwards playing with lino clash. Calcinai added to the excitement by rushing play into touch-•in-goal, followed by the whole, of his pack. Mowatt mulled Petone's kick out, and Price, Dent, and. MTarlano gave Slater a warm time, but they over-ran the ball, enabling Gardiner to find touch at half-way. Both sides now tried their back divisions, .but could not make headway. From a scrum Tilyard sent to Walsh, and on went .'tho ball to Prcndeville, who attempted a pot at goal, but was smothered. Poneke commenced the second half with a strong attack. Corson saved with a high punt to Sinclair, who let his side down badly by mulling tho take. Slater, however, came to tho. rescue, and Petone were again on defence. From a scrum near Petone's goal-line Walsh kicked across to Mowatt, who might have scored had he not missed the ball. Petone were now compelled to force on several occasions, tho Klliot brothers and Tilyard being conspicuous in the attack. Hardham put in a long kick, to touch, and from a r.cnim Nunn secured, and passed to M'Kenzio, tho ball going on to Daley and Strickland, the last-named racincr for the corner, where Slater brought off a \ splendid tackle, within a few yards of the goal-line. Petone again had a good chance of i coring, h"t Dert spoiled it. A pass

was given to Hardham in front of tho posts, and ho took a kick at goal, which wont low, and Walsh cleared with a long kick. Tilyard again set. his backs in motion, and a scramble ensued on the goal-lino, and from the .scrum Tilyard evaded tho opposition and dived over. Walsh could not add to the score, which was now: l'oneke, 6; Petone, 3. Petone, later, made strenuous efforts to scoro by a series of high punts, hut Poneke backs were very safe, and their efforts were repelled. Mr. R. Fordyco was the referee. COLLECE, 12; MELROSE, 0. Although tho College team has been rather severely handicapped owing to accidents, tlio fii'teuii which took the field against Melrose at Karon on Saturday was strong enough to prevail over the representatives of a weakened club. Owing to tho absence of J. Marshall (three-quarter), Melrose played a man short, and tho deficiency was severely felt when the College forwards, led by'Curtayne, made the pace warm. Melrose kicked off down the .slope, but in tho face of a fairly strong '"northerly," which continued to blow throughout the afternoon. For the first ten minutes tho ball was kept up close to tho Melrose goal-line, and, had not the College rearguard lacked smartness and finish, several invasions opened by their keen forwards mudt have brought results. As the spell wore on, however, 'Melrose rallied, and play was transferred to the other end of tho field. Ragged play on 'the part of tho Melrose pack, to whom tho backs could.give little support, allowed College to launch another aggressive movement, and, when the ball had been taken upfield, chiefly through the efforts of Ryan, (a capable five-eighth), Stainton (centre, promoted from . the juniors) passed, to Bprtrand (wing), who scored in the corner.' Ryan failed in tho attempt to convert. College, 3; Melrose, (J. A second score was obtained in a similar manner shortly afterwards, Ryan sending tho bail out to Fairs (wing). Tho latter, in scoring, badly beat Lindsay, the apposing full-back. Curtayno kicked without success. College, 6; Melrose, 0. In the second spell, Melrose did no better, even with tho wind behind thorn, and, in due course, two more tries- were registered against them. Tho first was obtained by Phillips, who took a flying pass from- Ryan, and touched down without delay. Curtayne again failed to place a goal, the kick being a fairly long one. College, 9; .Melrose, 0. ' Melrose now made their last effort to- score, and, during' the meleo, Stainton .went down , with, a fractured collar-bone. College repulsed the attack, and, just before the last wliistlo sounded, Ryan added, another three points, iii the gathering darkness. Tho final scores thus wore: College, 12; Melrose 0. Mr. A. Thomson was referee. HUTT, 3; WELLINGTON, 0. Tho first win for Hutt as a senior team was due mostly to the bad play on Wellington's part. Littlo or no interest was taken • in the game, which was played at Hutt No. 2. In fact, it could not be expected, and had it not been known that two senior teams were contesting a championship match it would have been quite, reasonable to suppose that two junior teams were opposed to one another. Hutt were just three points better than Wellington; Their score being brought about by iieketa in the first' half scrambling over the lino at the corner'.' ,! Tliev kick'proved too difficult' for "J udd. There was no further scoi'e; . in fact,- neither team seemed to worry about getting points. Once or twice Tannahill, Hutt's captain, tried to organise a systematic attack, but without any practical success. Cudby, Judd,. Routley, and Heketa .worked hard 'with their captain, but,,the same cannot, bo said •of .the. other)?. Sellar's, Lambert, Tuf,ner,■ aiid..Purio were occasionally .conspicuous -'Tor whoso' game throughout was patchy.'. Mr. . Wey- ' bourne was referee. '■''■' . ' JUNIOR. , At Miramar. Wellington defeated St. James by 6 points to 5. •' For the winners tries 'were; scored by Broad and Gray. For St. James Ryder scored a try, which F. Crewes converted.. Petone defeated Melroso by 4S points to nil. Tries for the winners were scored by Parrant (3), E. Ryan (2), Taplin (2), Collier (2),' Mooney, Aston, and Cudby. .Aston..,converted G tries. Petone now lfad for : tho Junior Championship. *

Hutt defaulted to Poneke. . Victoria College defeated St. John's by l'l points to o.

Oriental defeated Athletic by 8 points to 6.

THIRD-GLASS. Petono scored 11 points against 3 points by Selwyn. • Karori (12 points) boat St. Patrick's (nil). Southern defeated St. John's by 25 points to nil. Wetherall (3), A. Russell, C. Russell, and Parker 1 try each scored for the winners, .and Alexander converted 2 tries and kicked a penaltygoal. Porirua (11) defeated Oriental (10)'. For Porirua tries were scored by G. Ryan, J. Ryan, and E.' Avery, and D. Hay converted..one. Wellington -College beat Wellington by 37 points to nil. Tries were scored for tho winners by Stewart (3), Harris (2), Armstrong (2), Gallic, and Tairmaii. Stewart kicked two penaltygoals. Wellington College A defeated Hutt by IS points to nil. FOURTH CLASS. Tho match between Johnsonvjllo and Petone was won by Potone by default. Oriental A beat St. James by 13 points to 3. Tries for ,tho winners were scored by Bowman (2) and Daley. Two trice wore converted by Daley. FIFTH CLASS. AtWetic defeated Poneke by 61 points to- nil. Tries were scored by- Pool (5), Stevens (3), Adams-(2), Knight, Newgsrt, Donaldson, Robinson, Aekins, and tyles. A penalty goal was kicked by Hugh, and- tries were converted by Hugh (2), Scrimgeour (2), and Thompson. St. Pa.ts.' - B and Southern drew, no score being registered. ,Petone won their match against Melrose by default. ''..'.. St. Pats.', A defeated Sohyyn, by 9v points to 5. Cougliian, Parsons, and Dwyer scored for tho winners. MITCHELL'S RECORD THIS SEASON. According ■f-o tho Chnstchurch "Evening News," the selection of Mitchell, of-tho Morivale team, to play in the New Zealand team that is at present in Australia, gave much satisfaction in Christchurch, for it was rc- ' cognised that he was one of the best three-quarters in tho province. His play throughout the season has been exceptionally line, and he stood out by himself in tho matter' of scoring, having eleven tries and one goal to his credit. The next best performances were those of Fryer and Cade with four tries, but tho former has placed fivo goals. On Saturday last Mitchell played splendidly, and just saved his t?am from defeat. In obtaining one of the tries he practically ran through tho Sydenham team. He should have no difficulty in adding to his laurels in Australia, for lie is one of tho speediest three-auarters ■ in Canterbury.