ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1163, 26 June 1911, Page 6

ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD.

THE STAR MATCH A GOOD ONE.

SCEME OF ENTHUSIASM AT ATHLETIC PARK

THE LEAGUE GAME'.BOOMING. SUMMARY OF RESULTS. Oriental 12 Pctono 11 Athletic 14 Wellington 0 St, James 23 College 6 Southern 6 Melrose ~.„... 5 Poneke 19 Old Boys 3

passing, but his theoretical error cost Southern a try. W. Marshall converted. Southern, 6; Melrose, b. COLLEGE-ST. JAMES. RECRUITS AGAINSr VETERANS. Facing St. James at Karori with a fifteen that included seven untried juniors, Victoria College gave, nil things considered; no mean account of themselves. In the first .'part of-the opening..spell the University players—humble occupants of tho bottom niug of tho championship ladder—gavo tho team that stands' on top a lot of work to do. To state tho matter frankly, St James, for that brief space, were extended,' or at all events wcro pestered. It is only fair-to'add that tho more experienced team was minus the services of throo valuable men, Hills, Mofftct, anl Smith. Playing in dashing stylo at the outset, and tackling opponents with vigour, College rattled up six points before St. James had started ta score. Ponanga brought off a capital goal from a mark, and Amton attained a still more .distinguished honour by sprinting over the St. James's lino, and scoring the first try that has been recorded against thorn this season. Ponanga had bad luck with the kick, the ball striking tho cross-bar. College C. St. James :0. St. James asserted themselves.'townvds the end of the spell, and Du Blois. H. Roberts, and King scored in rapid sucr.es-' sion. None of the tries were converted. St. James. 9, College C: ■ ' . In tho second spell E.- Roberts kicked a. goal from a mark and scored a try.: Tries wcro also scored by Clark, Crewes, and Hoare.. ■ . . . -. --■-'- Crewes converted his own try. and Donaldson converted Hoarb's. -St. James 28s, College 6. Mr. Thompson was referee. MINOR .CITY ENGAGEMENTS.

•■'; '.'. JUNIOR GRADE. Selwyn defeated St. John's by 8 points to 3. For the winners, Roberts and Flack scored'one try each, and-Lowe converted one of these. Smith scored for the losers. Mr; H. Larway was referee. - The combination and handling of the ball in the Southern-Victoria .College game Was Very good and interesting. The game resulted :h a win for Southern by 8 points to 3. Campbell and Parker scored for tho-winners, the latter converting one, and Mackay scored for-the losers. '.•'■.•■ Old Boys defaulted to Wellington. Melrose defaulted to Oriental. After a very interesting game, Pctone just managed .to defeat Athletic by one Jioint, the scores being—Petone 12, Atheticll. Third Class, Exchange beat St. John's.by B points to nil.' Oriental were defeated by Porinia by 6 points to nil. Petone were defeated by Karori- by 5 points to 3.' Fourth Class. Wellington won from Melrose by default. -.....;,.. _ . J . . Selwyn defaulted to Petone. ' St. James defeated Oriental B by 9 points to 3. Fifth Class, Poneko defaulted to.Petone. St. - James -were defeated by Southern by '2J points to nil. Other Games. Primitive Methodist Sunday School defeated St. James's Sunday School by 10 points to nil; The scorers were—Haswell (3), Church (3), Hoverd (3),- Warwick, Carter,.- and- Christophc'rson.-- Two trieswere'converted by Church.' . - ''■■ '< ;.- ; ■_,:.': •"—— /'- : .'.' Y ! MATCHES ELSEWHERE. (By. Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) ,'-:;' Masterton, June 25. The.-.'secpnd round of the senior Rugby championship was concluded'on Saturday, at Carterton. The' local .team',;defeated Masterton'.by 13 points'to 3. Tho weather was miserable, and the ground sodden by heavy rain. = Masterton, favoured by a strong southerly wind, attacked almost throughout-the spell, 'Carterton relieving at times with passing rushes among the backs and forwards. From a Masterton forward rush Wilkinson" scored, Carterton replying immediately with-a-fbmardimsh from which.H. M'Kenzie scored. In the second spell Carterton opened "with, 'fine passing, rushes, but -Mas-terton's defence was.good.' From a short pass, eventually Brough. raced through the Masterton backs, scoring a clever try, and H. M'Kenzie lucked a good goal. Shortly after "C. Groube .scored from a passing rush, and H. M'Kenzie again goaled-this time from, the. • toiichline. Masterton' -'successfully' kept the'..opposition from, doing'.further damage until the whistlo. sounded. ' Mr. Charters was referee. Gladstone defeated Red Star at Glad-stone.-by 5 points to 3 after a hard forward game. Hodge scored for ' Gladstone on thecall of time, S.'Mason'converting. Mr. Nicholls was referee. "- "■'.'. '■:' ' .

The ■ senior competition .is .now in. in Interesting stage. .Carterton "leads,,with 9 points, Red Star have 8 points, and Gladstone 7 points. Junior results: Liberal and Dalefield played a draw—no score. Carterton (6) beat Red Star (nil). Grey town (25) defeated Masterton. (nil). Liberals now lead for this championship. Third Class: Carterton (3) drew with Red Star (3). Liberals (18). beat .Dalefield (nil). Masterton (9) defeated Greytowu (G). Red Star lead for the championthip. Palmerston, June 21.. Rugby matches were .continued hero in good weather, but the groijnds wero' soft fis the result of rain. In the senior grade. Athletic (15) beat Palmerston JO). In tho juniors-Palnierston (a) beat Kin Toa (3). In tho third class events High School (12)' beat Old Boys (5): Kia Toa (6) beat Palmerston (a): Feilding won, by default from Ashhnrst. Fourth class: High School won by default from Kia Toa. .(By Telegraph-Press Association.) Auckland-,. June. 21. Tho Rugby matches, to-day resulted as follow-City boat Marist Old Boys by 8 points to nil; Pousonby beat Parnell by 11 points to nil, University beat Newtou by 36 points to 3. ' Christchurch, Juno 21. Old Boys (12) beat Sydenham (3); Albion (C) beat Mcrivalo (3);. Christclmrch (53) beat Canterbury College (5); Linwood (6) beat Marist Brothers' Old Boys (5). Tnb second round of tho senior championship opened to-day in- rather doubtful, weather, tho rain of tho last low days leaving • the grourds heavy, while a, strong south-west wind was blowing across tho ground. Despito this, however, some interesting football was witnessed, tho attention of tho spectators being divided between tho matches Old Boys v. Sydenham and Albion v. Merivale. The first-named match was played on tho East ground, where, after an interesting exhibition, Old Boys claimed the advantage. . The Albion-Merivale match w.is n very close game, Albion cvontiully winning by a narrow margin. On the South, ground, Christclmrch, alter one \of tho finest exhibitions of back play scon here for somt time, boa'; a. weak Canterbury College team by the.largo margin of 53 points to 5. At the Show grounds, Linwood, after an exciting game, beat Marist Brothers' Old-Boys by a narrow margin. There was a fair attendance of spectators at Lancaster PaTk, tho receipts at tho gate being .£32,

Dunedin,' June 24.' All footb.ill matches except the, senior games wero postponed to-day civing to the rainy. weather and the sloony grounds. Results: Southern '8) boat Pirates (S); Zingari Richmond (9) beat Dunedin (nil); Kaikor.it (3) b?at Aihambra (nil); Port. Chalmers (fi) and "Tnion (G) drew University (5) boat Taicri Rovers (3).

THE LEAGUE MATCH. FORTY THOUSAND SPECTATORS. DOMINION AGAIN BEATEN. fir Telet'ranh-Press Association-CoDyrlirhS (Rcc. June 25, 5.5 p"m.) Sydney, June 25. Several changes have been made in the teams for yesterday's League football mateh. The New Zealand team was as follows:— !••«] 1-back.—G illett. Thrce-quarteTs—Asher, Sprague, and Biieklaml. Fiv«-eighHis~Woodward and Morse. Scrum-half—M'Donald. I'dnwirds-Franciss, Iftikut.ii,.' Savoury. Statir.way, Stager, and Dunning. In the local team Russell replarcd I'rawley Farmvortu, took Holloway's place,

and Williams and M'Murtrie played instead of Noble and Ca'un.

In this the second match New Zealand showed great improvement in every department, the backs and forwards combining in excellent style. . It was a hard game, rough at times, and several players on both sides were cautioned.

.Fortv thousand spectators were present when New South Wales kicked off. Tho New Zealand forwards immediately workfed up to the New South Wales' line, but, several chances were missed.

Play shifted, and Pearce, from the ruck, passed to Itallet, and Brooinham scored. Messenger converted. Immediately on resuming, from a wild passing-rush, Pearce dived across, -and Messenger added the extras. Although New Zealand's backs wero playing well, they were no match for their more skilful opponents.

Shortly after, M'Kivitt scored, Messenger' converting, and the scores at halftime were:—Now South Wales, 15 points; New Zealand, 5. Starting the second half, the New Zealand forwards, particularly Dunning mid Francis, were conspicuous in a great rush. Then M'Donald, securing from the ruok, passed to Morse, Sprnguc scoring. Seager converted. New South Wales, 15 points; New Zealand, 5 Shortly after Broomham scored again, Messenger failing at goal. New South Wales, 18 points; New Zealand, 5. With the ball in play again, M'Donald, from tho serum, passed to Buckland, to Francis, to Seager, who. dived across. Seager added the extras. New South Wales, 18 points; New Zealand, 10. Thenceforward New South Wales had things all their own way, Russell and M'Cue scoring tries, and Messenger, converting one. Tho final scores wero:—New South Wales, 2G points;' New Zealand 10. Of a fine lot of forwards, Francis and Savoury played best. M'Donald, at half, and Gillett, at full-back, were excellent, Now South Wales, without exception, played well.

I ASSOCIATION. I ONCE MORE THE "SOUTHERLY.". Footballers have been visited with more bleak southerly weather for their Saturday afternoon sports this season than they altogether relish.' Last Saturday afternoon saw the spectators once more shivering in the blast of an inhospitable southerly, and as for the various unfortunates whose skill in the defensive side of tho game ordained' that they should shiver between-, tho goal posts, their extremity was one to test enthusiasm to the breaking-point. The results of Saturday's senior Association games were as follow:— Hospital 4 Ramblers 0 : Swifts 4 Y.M.C.A. 1 Thistle , .', 1 St. John's , I) Diamonds 1 Rovers .;, 1 ■ Wanderers .... 'i Corinthians ... 1 HOSPITAL-RAMBLERS. ; Losing the toss, Hospital kicked off, facmg the sun, and immediately began to press, Thillips putting in a centre which Cross cleared, but he conceded a corner just after, which was finely placed by Phillips and only cleared with difficulty. Roots presently came into prominence with some sterling play, giving an opening'.to Davis, who, with Tyrer, lost a clear opportunity to score right in front of goal. Ramblers now made an attack, Edwards centring prettily, and Wallis, miskicking, almost scored against his own side. Davis made a good -effort to score, but shot .'over,-and, after Edwards had been whistled for off-side, Roots settled on to-tho ball, and,.-with a smashing volley at 30 yards' range, beat Webster'all ends up, after 18 minutes' play. Returning' to the attack, the Hospital forwards swept through Ramblers' defence, and, from Pearson's, fine middle, Davis headed against the post, being whistled for off-side at the same linstanf. With a' brilliant piece': of tackling,' Shand terminated a rally by Edwards and Hart, and, on Phillips capping a fine run with .a. pass to Elliot, tho latter gave Webster a warm handful, from which tho custodian, gave.a corner.-. ■Pearson dropped this in Phillips with a fino'header placing to Davis, who. headed a pretty goaf out of Webster's reach.'. Roots.now.delighted the spectators. wrth',;sbmn work of the ; . highest',, class, ..his hcadwork.'being magnificent', and.it being a case of Webster-Roots with the former's goal-kicks time 'after time. Edwards, with a run and hard shot, gave Cockburn somo work, the custodian with a right upper-cut a la Johnson clearing a right gerous ball from the winger, and also dealing effectively with a fine attempt by Hart, at centre-half. Roots secured in ,-mid-field, and, working into position, drove in a great shot which rebounded from tho inside of tho post into the not. Halftime arrived with Hospital leading by 3-0. i

• In the second half, -Ramblers went to pieces, and,, while Cockburn had no. more than half-a-dozen weak attempts to clear all through the game, Webster was kept on the rack continuously, and only- stouthearted work by him kopt the score down. Davis, Tyrev, and Phillips all missed openings, usually by over-eagerness or bad marksmanship, ihe ball being lifted over tho bar when a low volley would have done tho trick. A pretty combined movement- by all the forwards was- ended .by Tyrer banging over, and then Shand, with a long, swerving shot, beat Webster for the fourth time, but tho keeper was ouite unsighted in this case. _ Mawby made a dashing attempt, but failed to finish his work, putting the ball wide oh two occasions. ■ Davey was responsible for some pood clearances, and Kirschberg, who was the best player in his team, worked hard to' alter the state of affairs, the latter's clean, stylish football being the redeem--ingfeat'ure of a poor display, by.the Ramblers, who were but a. shadow of their former selves. Mr. B. .L. Salmon, was referee.

roVers-diamonds. At Kclburno Park—not by -any. means tho cosiest corner in Wellington in a -bcuthorly—Diamonds met Rovers for tho .second time this season, and escaped barely defeat. Tho match was well contested. .Both teams were keen to win, the Rovers were stimulated by the rcmombranco of their defeat at fhe hands of the Diamonds early in tho season. Soon after the kick-off Rovers scored, Elford taking a ' well-placed pass from o':Shea and sending the ball home. Tho force of the wind kept the ball most of the time on tho oif-sido of the ground, and Diamonds in 'consequence wore not able to devolop their full strength in attack during tho first spell. Rovers, showing, if anything, superior combination, manoeuvred very well for n time, and tho good work of the half-back lino effectively blocked the.onset of the opposing forwards. Owing to the vagaries of the wind, however, the play generally was more vigorous than scientific. Gib'on (Rovers' centre-half) sustained- a nasty bump on the knee early in the game, and had to retire for a spell, taking charge of the goal on re-entering the field. Another unfortunate on the.Rovers' side, Holmes, was also placed hors-de-combat for a spell, and had to take things more easilv during tho second half. The first spell ended with.Rovers leading hv 1 goal to nil. During Ihe second spell tho gamo bofame very scrappv, chanco after cbnnco being thrown away. The shooting was poor, even after making all allowances for tho wind. Just before the whistle "blew, B. Lowe (Diamonds), following up on erratic shot bv Hathaway, scored, and so equalised for his *ido. During the last few minutes both teams strove desperately for a winning goal, without success. Mr. A. Williams was the referee.

SWIFTS-Y.M.C.A. After a well-contested game, Swifts defeated Y.M.C.A. bv four goals to one at tho Basin Resc.-vc on Saturday. The play was a Irillo jiatchy in parts, a tricky wind robbing the "efforts of tho "star" performers of much ' of their services. Y.M.C.A., with the advnnlngu of the wind, scored shortly after the commencement, Forsyth netting the ball from a lively skirmish in front of tho Swifts' goal just after tho goalkeeper had effected u smart "save" from a well-plncc-.l corner kick. Swifts rallied strongly after this reverse, and held tho winning cards for the remainder of the match, although the Y.M.C.A. men responded gamely to the calls of their supporters. Swifts, though superior in attack, were weak in finishing off their work, and several promising forays resulted in a collapse at the posts. Shortly before-tho end of the first spell the Reds equalised the scvo, more by good luck than by good management. "A hot skirmish occurred in front of the Y.M.C.A.

goal, and tho ball during, the melee bounced off a Y.M.C.A. man and shot in between the posts. On tho change of ends Y.M.C.A. opened vigorously, but were unable to break down tho Swifts' rearguard. The latter guickly pushed their attack into tho Y.M.C.A. ground, and kept it there most of the time. Corner kicks were n feature of tho play, and from one of these Roberts scored goal number, two for the Swiffs. The, game livened up after that, and Roberts, who played very well all through /was able to put a shot in Scott's way not long after his own score. Scott scored easily. Swifts 3, Y.M.C.A. 1. Goal number four resulted from a meleo about the Y.M.C.A. posts, and although the Y.M.C.A-. men made desperate attempts to reduce the odds before the call of time their efforts wero of no avail, and tho game ended without further incident. Mr. H. L. Godbor was referee. THISTLE-ST, JOHN'S. The Tkistle-St. John's match was played at Siramar in a strong southerly, good football being out of the question. St.. John's chose to play against the wind in tho first half; and, what with a stubborn defence and good goalkeoping by Walls, tho first thirty-five minutes only produced one goal. A penalty was awarded against Cummins (St. John's) for handling. Tho kick was nicely taken by Ash, but Walls made a beautiful "save." On crossing over at half-time, with a lead of one goal, Blues' chances of getting the points were not very promising, but the' Yellow forwards had no control of the ball, and never caused M'Ardle (Thistle goalkeeper) any anxiety. Asb, Aitchcson, and their supporters mado several visits lo Walls's goal, and a shot from Ash had to be fisted out. Wild kicking, anywhere but between the posts, aptly describes the play of St. John's front rank. The sev-enty-minutes' play ended without any change in the scoring, thus giving the "Scotsmen" a lift of two more rungs up the championship ladder.. Mr. J, B. Paton was the referee. WANDERERS-CORINTHIANS. A straggling match from start to finish was played between Wanderers and Corinthians on Saturday at Miramar. A heavy "southerly"- interfered with tho play a good deal, and during the' first half it was only on oue or two occasions that Wanderers managed to wander across tho half-way line, so consistently did Corinthians press. Of course they were assisted greatly by the wind. However, the wearers of tho Black and Whito shirts did not follow up their advantages as they should havo done, thus they lost many opportunities to score. Wanderers, on the other hand, defended well. During the second half of the game play was much brighter, Warderers appearing to be able to Control the ball much better when playing with tho wind than when pitted against it. About halfway through the spell, Gettins (Wanderers) secured the ball, and registered tho first goal of the match, and about _a quarter of an hour afterwards he registered a second one. Time was now drawing nigh, and Corinthians exerted themselves strenuously. At last their efforts were rewarded. Ives, centre forward, scoring the goal. From this out play again became very uninteresting. Wanderers left the field winners by 2 goals to 1, Mr. J. 31. Wilson was referee.

LESSER CITY ENGAGEMENTS. JUNIOR MATCTIES. . The results of the matches in the junior, divisions are as follow;— . Second Division. Brooklyn beat Wanderers by 3 to nil. Third Division. I'etone beat St. John's by 5 goals to nil. , St. David's beat Johnsonville A by 1 goal to nil. ' Brooklyn beat Johnsonville B by 1 goal to nil. Flaws, in goal for Johnsonville, played a splendid game. «t;;: ..■ Fourth Division. "' Institute beat"Y.M.C.A. B by i goals-to" 1. Hudson (2), MThan and Shields scored for Institute, and Goodor for Y.M.C.A. .-' Brooklyn defeated-St.- Anna's* to 2. . ■ . ' ■.-.-: • :■:■ •>.".:, St. David's and Rangers played a drawn game, each side scoring a goal, Hangers played livo men short. ; • Y.M.C.A. drew with Diamonds, ono goal all. Baker scored for Y.M.C.A., and Diamonds scored as the result of a miskick by one of the opposing side, while Tem.perton and Pearce, on the right and left wings respectively, played splendid games, as did also Roberts at full-back for Diamonds. I Fifth Division. Marist Brothers defeated St. David's by 5 goals to nil. Rangers won by default from Ngaio. ' Y.M.C.A. drew with Brooklyn—one goal all.'" AVorth" scored.for Y.M.C.A. Fifth B Division. Marist Brothers won from Amokura by default. , , Y.M.C.A.,, playing with five men, were defeated by .South AVellington .by 6 goals to nil. . , . Sixth Division. ■ Institute beat Brooklyn by 3 goals to 1. Sixth B Division. Institute beat Y.M.C.A. by 2 goals to nil' » ' Y.M.C.A. defeated Rangers by 3 goals to nil. Hally, Cook, and M'Girr, from a penalty, scored. Porirua defeated Y.M.C.A. by 6 goals to nil. (By TelcEraoh.—JPres3 Association.) Palmerston North, June 24. Rangers (2 goals) beat Celtic (1) after an excellent game.