SATURDAY'S FIELD SPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1175, 10 July 1911, Page 6

SATURDAY'S FIELD SPORTS.

SOUTHERN GIVE A SURPRISE. HOW THE MIGHTY FELL " ATHLETIC AMD PLAY A DRAW. RESULTS AT A GLANCE. Southern 8 Petone 0 Athletic 3 Poneke 3 St. James 24 Wellington 3 Old Boys 13 Victoria College 3 Oriental 6 Mclrose 5

Fortune favoured Poneko in their match against Athletic, at the Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. Taking a line right, through the match, Athletic had all the best of tho encounter, and with ordinary luck they must have left the field at least 10 points to the good.- The first spell was decidedly in favour of Athletic, but halftime saw a scoreless board. The Poneko men put up a better showing in patches of the second term, but when their opponents put on a well-earned try through tho agoncy oE "Ranji" Wilson, it looked as though all was over. Tho game bore this aspect until near the end despite a number of' promising-looking rallies by Poneko which threatened to break down tho solid Athletic defence. Less than ten minutes before the call of time,-. Cannier pulled the match out of the fire, or, at all events, saved a defeat, by kicking a penaltv goal for Poneke. It was a great kick, n.nd in itself was worth the one point it gained the club on the championship ladder. Even after the scores had been equalised, Athletic were given a chance to win out. but Murray taned to grasp an opportunity which was literally thrown at him, as the result of a miskick on the goal-line by Mitchinson. I he game was a strenuous and interesting forward battle, relieved by patches of smart back play, and excellent kicking, three seasoned warriors fell during the. heat of the fray. First of all Walsh and EvMisou were both knocked out, and whilst Walsh continued to play after a breather, Evcnsou had to leave the held for a time. Later, Mitchinson was laid out, and lie also had to retire from tho battle for a rest. The surprise of the aay was tho defeat of Petone by Southern aud the win. was a decidedly popular one. Southern played a rattfing good game, the way their backs handled the ball being an eyeopener. From end to end they had the bast of the struggle, which was fast and 1 open throughout. Within four minutes of the kick-off the town team essayed a passing run from the half-way flag, and, after a brilliant piece of concerted work, the' ball was grounded under the posts. Southern held this lead until within 10 minutes of the end, when, they put on another try as the result of a brilliant run by Bradley. It is only fair to mention that Petono were minus some . of their best men. The Wellington Club apparently made some sort of a _ stand against St. Jnmes, or else tho latter grew tired of scoring. At all events the total "points against" list, which is a monument to the prowess of Wollington, was only increased by 21 points. HOW THE TEAMS STAND. Pride of place oil the championship , ladder still belongs to St. James, who now appear, to be in an alniost impregnable position'. 1 Tho positions of the various teams are:— ■"2 .. P Z. £ ? ''• H |S fl r!rio3ft St. James 12 11 1 II IG3 42 22 Oriental 12 0 a 0 IGB 52 18 Athletic -. 12 8 ;i 1 108 a 17 Petone 12 8 4 (I 135 81 10 Poneko 12 7 I! 2 130 5S 16 Southern 12 . 7 5 I) 90 (!7 14 Jlelross 12 It 9 0 78 110 G Old Boys 12 2 S 2 62 121 G Wellington- ..12-1-9 2 41 177 4 Victoria College 12 0 11 1 41 '236 1 ORIENTAL-MELROSE. A VERY NARROW ESCAPE. : If Oriental continue to play .is badly as they did against Melrose at Lower Hutt on Saturday they will reach the bottom of tho ladder with a bump. Living up to their reputation, they should have had an easy task, but as a matter of fact they narrowly escaped defeat, and in their escape, were' more lucky than deserving. The ground -was in perfect condition. Play for tho first fifteen minutes was light and spasmodic, both sides indulging in rushes, that ended nowhere in particular. Oriental played with the sun in their eye?, and tor a time this served to excuse the hopeless fumbling of the backs, but they were little better when the sun had disappeared behind a hill. Kmvig found an opening at last, and streaked towards the goal. His pass went astray, but Perry, following up smartly, recovered the leather, and carried itover. The kick failed. Oriental, 3; Meiroso, 0. Meiroso were soon attacking hotly on the. Oriental lino. There was-no inrther scoring during the spell, but W. Marshall, tho Meiroso full-back, came within an aco of notching points in a capital shot at goal. Oriental, as a team, signally failed to find themselves.* . The back's continued to fumble, and tho forwards made a combined move only at rare intervals. Melrose persistently maintained a haninier-and-tongs attack. It had plenty of vigour,, but lacked finish. Granted a few scoring backs, they would have reaped a harvest. It was confidently anticipated that Oriental would wake up in the second spell, but the hope was very dead before the ganio was douo. As iu the previous spell, the Melrose forwards, led usually by the Sullivan brother?, easily outclassed their opponents. The Oriental backs continned to throw away chances, and to let the enemy penetrate in a dangerous way, but at odd and very rare moments they played up to something like normal form. On one such occasion Kinvi; again started his comrades away. Picking up the ball in his own twenty-five, lie entrusted it to Matheson. Tho latter beat half a dozen men in a way that left them gaping, passed Marshall at full-back with iittle effort, and ran over all alone. The kick, by Akers, failed. Oriental. 6; Melrose, fl." The best feature of the game throughout was the work of the Mclroso forwards. They were practically masters of the scrum, and stood alone in the heart and vigour of their rushes. The- efforts of the less distinguished team at;■ length enrned a deserved reward, when Gilchrist, tho Molrose skipper, worked a passage over the line, at the end of a loose, forward flurry. W- Marshall converted with a capital kick. Melrose, 5; Oriental, fi. Melrose made things pretty warm for Oriental during the remaining play, hut did not succeed in again scoring. The game ended: Oriental, G; Molrose, 5. Mr. Evensen was the referee. SOUTHERN-PETONE. SUBURBANITES OUTCLASSED. The defeat of Petone at the hands of tho vastly-improved Southern camo as a surprise, despite the suburbanites' disappointing play of the last game or two. Southern quickly assumed a lead, and defended liko one man. Then Bradley, tho best back on the ground, put tilings beyond doubt when he ran through the Blues and scored under the posts. Petono lost the services of Dent a few minutes after the start, he sustaining a nasty cut over the eye, which necessitated three stitches being put in. His place was tilled by Davis at half-time, the learn playing with II men from Dent's retirement fill then. . Southern opened with an attack, Galla!th«r KMirinif. nu'l ««iiflin? s«'ifHr to il'lJouald, ■ s'.hw made sreund. aud twii

passed to W. Houlihan, who made ,1 nice opening for Johnson, who streaked for the line. He was grassed by Parker, not, however, before he had passed to Bradley, who ran in unoppesed. The scorer converted (he try himself. Petone then set up a hot attack, led by Dent and Lindsay, but Bradley brought oil a save. Again Gallagher set the backs going, and the leather travelled swiftly till Johnson took a high pass, and got clean away. Daley overtook him, and play centred. Kamsden found M'Konzie handy, and a swift bout, started, but M'Kcuzip was surrounded by Maroon jerseys, and ho kicked to save trouble. .The pace was willing, and Fcloiie's vanguard made desperate attempts to reach tho chalk line, but Bradley, Gallagher, and Houlihan were too smart dh the defence. Southern forwards, put up a great rush, which swept the field as it progressed. They got within ten yards of tho line whcii "Les" Campbell kicked too hard, Hoyil forcing. Dent left the field at this stage. I'ctone attacked for a stage, allowing M'Farhno three shots at goal, which were all missed. Although Southern were playing the 3—2—l scriim, l'etone, with 2—l!—2, got the ball, but tho advantage was wi,tli tho backs, and Southern had two wing forwards and an extra back, l'etone, with 11 men, battled away. Daley made some great, efforts, and so did Ramsden, but the tackling was very effective. Bradley, whoso line-kicking was superb, forced play down, . and Ramsden started a good movement, but it never passed the centre. A series of liue-outs, with both forward teams working well, continued till half-time. The placing of the suburban team was .changed .in (ho spell, and tho chango worked better. Southern kept on the good sido of half-way for a long time, and were getting the better of play. "Les" Campbell and Houlihan were very prominent in the forward rushes, as were Bradley and Gallaher in the backs. Kamsden made a fino run, and sent to M'Kcnzie, to Carson, Aston, to Boyd. The last-named missed a certain score by fumbling. Again Ramsden sent tc Aston, who passed to Daley, who attempted to pot, and a force resulted. M'Donald, Johnson, and Gallagher took play right down, and Campbell and Bradley had unsuccessful shots at goal. Potono again made desperate attempts to score, but they could not break down the defence, ■ From the line-out in Petone's territory, Bradley gathered in the ball, sidestepped past, tho tirst line of .defence, then made straight for the posts. He-swerved as Parker went at him, and ran in under the posts. Houlihan's kick was charged down. Southern were very tired toward the end, and they had a hot time round their goal, yet Petone could not get over, try as they would. The game ended: Southern, 8; Petone, nil. Mr. Nielson was. tho referee. ST. JAMES-WELLINGTON. AN EASY WIN FOR THE FORMER. Anticipating an easy victory over Wellington on Saturday, the St. James tram played without the services of Cook, Moflill, and Du Blois. Wellington, playing with a weaker team than usual, managed to keep their line clear for the first halfhour, but after that their defence gave way. Tho losers almost looked like opening Iho score, for after St. James had had four unsuccessful shots at goal, and lleketa had been grassed by Lambert within a. yard of the scoring area, Wellington took 11 hand in the attack, and the team being awarded a free-kick, Lambert niado a fino attempt lit goal, tho ball just falling under tho bar. With a good run. 11. Roberts carried play to near the Wellington goal-posts, and one of the defending side, hanging on, gave E. Roberts a shot at goal, which ho turned to advantage. St. James, 8; Wellington, nil. Within tho next five minutes E. Roberts . missed two very easy shots at goal, but made up for these mistakes by a clever try. From a scrum on the twenty-five line, the ball came to St. Janice. E. Roberts feinted to pass, ami then made a lightning dash for the line. He completely outwitted the opposing '' backs, scored under the posts, and added the major points. St. James, 8; Wellington, nil. This was tho score at half-time. On resuming, St. James quickly placed Wellington on the defensive, but Lambert relieved pressure and caused some excitement by a capital run for half the length of tho field. St. James quickly returned to the attack, and King securing on tho line-out ran through and scored. Clark converted. St. James, 13; Wellington, nil. After the drop-out a Wellington rush took play to St. James twenty-five, where Hunt secured, and, after beating several men, kicked over the head of the fullback, followed up and scored at the corner. Bridge failed with the kick. St. James, 13j Wellington, 3. Following a St. James passing rush, a Wellington player got off-side, under his owu goalpost, and fi. Kobrrts placed a goal. St. James, 1C; Wellington, 3. A brilliant piece of play came about while Wellington were attacking. St. James were pressed on their own line, ..when E. Roberts broke a-vay, and after racing up to half-way transferred to H. Roberts. The latter sent back to E. Roberts, who gave a long pass to Wright. The last-named dived for the line, but fell short by a foot. Not long afterwards Manning dived over from the side of the scrum, and E. Roberts converted. St. James, 21; Wellington 3. The c core was further increased by King making 0, fine dash over the line from the line-out. H. Roberts failed with the kick, and the game ended: St. James, 24; Wellington, 3. Mr. Lanvay was referee. ATHLETIC-PONEKE. AX EXCITING FINISH. Grim, hard, forward work of tho fast order, varied by occasional dashes ot snappv back play, sum up the contest, between Athletic and Poneke. On the play it was Athlctic's game, but fortune, favoured Poneke, who brought off a lucky draw. Athletic had the best, of tho lirst half, but the outstanding, points, opart from the stereotyped swift rush and counter, were not very many. The Poneke men failed in their place-kicking, Walsh had two moderately easy shots, one ot which went wide, whilst the other dropped a couple of feet short of the bar! Jlitchinson also had a shot straight in front, although a little distance out. but again the attempt to score was a failure. Without Mitchinsoit and Tilvard, Poneke would have been in a sorry plight. The former put in two striking runs. On one occasion he caußut C. Cunningham waiting for the ball to Imiind, and, nipping in, chshed awny up fie. Held. Gosling gave chase, and him when things were looking serious. A little later Mitchinsoii put in n. straight dasb "I , Inp touch-line, and then "passed to Gardner, who was sent into touch on the corarr fin;;. Outside of the repeated concerted cl'orts on the part of Athletic, can be mentioned a fine charge down the touch-line by "Ranji" Wilson, who was knocked 111(0 touch just before lie reached the line. On two occasions Poneke had to seek relief from tho onslaughts of tho Athletic vanguard by forcing, and on another occasion a brilliant piece of passing by the Blue backs ended in touch at Hie corner. Tho charging-down of a shot at goal by Evenson from a mark was another let-cff for Poneke. A spirited attack by Athletic at the start of Ilie second spell ivn.% followed b,v iv lsastby ai!&uK by Fouvkv, but Even-

sou turned the tide by intercept ing o pa;?, and liu .strode awav up tho centre of the field. I'oiickc returned to tlio at lack, although driven out repeatedly, bill jii length Athletic .-ctiled down In serious business on their opponents' line. After a series of hard-fought scrums nn Ihi, lint, Tilyard relieved with a speculator, but the relief was only temporary. "Itiinji" Wilson secured jw.-ixion from a line-out, and, hurling; at tin. , line, scored. Evenscn failed to convert. A littlci later Murray crossed the Poneke line, but was hold up and could not ground the ball. Play was fast and hard at this stage, and excitement ran high, l'linrko put in scvfral strong bills, ami at length Uardnei , had a shot at goal from a free-kick. Tiic dishime was long, the aiis;li> great, and the hope looked forlorn, but Gardner ixhs to the occasion, and sent the ball soaring over the crossbar, amidst deafening applause. The (inal moments were hot and rxciling. Ponokc- slrove n-.anfully to pull tho game off, but finally they wore driven to their line, where a mis-kick by Milchinson dent tho ball right into the arms of Murray, who had only to take the. ball rind divo to win (he match. Unfortunately for Athletic, ho did not recognise the opportunity, and Iho game ended: Athletic, 3; Poneke, 3. Mr. Meredith was tho referee. OLD BOYS-COLLEGE, A DREARY GAME. Old Boys and Victoria College met at Ifarori. "College had what they looked upon as a junior team, .so heavy was the percentage of emergencies. lor the greater part of the first spell College more than held their own. Several of the Green backs wero fielding and kicking well, particularly Bobbie (wing-thrce-nnar-tt-.i) and Grc-y (full-back). Rtainlon, who played half, stopped (he White forwards moving far. A kick at goal by Ponanga failed to bring points to College, and a subsequent attempt by Stainton, though an excellent kick, was likewise fruitless. Old Boys' attack was .much superior to College's, and when Poolc set the White backs in niolion the Green's wore considerably troubled. A pass from Poolo to Grace, and then on to Dam-on, resulted in the last-named flying across. Turner converted. Old Boys, 5; College, 0. Shortly afterwards, Stainton converted a penalty for College, and at half-time the scores were: Old Boys, 5; College, 3. Tho second spell opened with a score by the Whites, Poolc getting over. Old Uoy«, 8; College, 3. A splendid break through the ruck by Stainton slutted play almost the whole lenglh of tho held, but College, did not turn advantage to point.?. Old Boys went very near scoring on several occasions, and before the game ended Diniiie got over, and Mason converted. The scores therefore, were: Old Boys, 13; College, 3. JUNIOR GRADE. Petone, after a good hard game, defeated Southern by 11 points to nil. lne suburban team were the aggressors lor the best part of tho struggle. Tries were obtained for the winners by Parker and Mooney, and Whitley kicked a penalty goal and converted Mooney's try. The Athletic-Oriental game resulted in a. draw, each side scoring 9 points. The match was marked by good forward play on both sides. Oriental did most of tho attacking, and also missed several easy penalty goals. Tries were obtained ior Athlet'ic by Riddick, Luoni, and Pool, and for Oriental by Patterson, linnkin, and Cowrie. Mr. Ingram referral. AYellington had a rather lucky win from Schyyn by 9 points to 8. Play was at times exciting, especially towards tho finish, when Selwyn made desperate attempts to .score. For Wellington Frater scored -a try. nnd Sheridan kicked two penalties. Burke arid Cooper scored for Selwyu Kud Flack converted. At Mirumar, Poueke bent Old Boys by 11 points to 3. Tor Poneke, Elliott (2), ■Rollins, and Carlylo scored tries, and Williams converted once. Everest kicked a penally goal for tho tetrs. Third Class. Southern defeated Porirua by 3 to nil. Twomcy scored i'or the winners. •• ■ Fourth Class. Southern defeated Solwyn by 18 to. nil. Nelson (2), Tavendale, Walker, and Whito scored tries, and P. Russell kicked a penalty goal. St. James beat Oriental A by 9 points to 8. Waiwetu were defeated by Petouc by 9 points to 3. Fifth Class. Petone defeated Southern by 19 to 3, NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITY TOUR. DEFEAT IN SYDNEY. Bj TekcraDh-Press Association-Copyright (Rcc. July 9, 5 p.m.) Sydney, July s. The weather was dull for the football match between tho New Zealand , University team and the Metropolitan. Tho attendance was small, numbering only about 200. . The first half was a fast and even forward game, and ended: Sydney, G; New Zealand, 3. The ground was slippery, and prevented the backs on either side from getting going. In tho second half the local men outplayed the visitors, scoring 1G points to New Zealand's 3. Tho game ended: Metropolitan, 22; New Zealand, 6. I'or New Zealand J. Fair and Curtnyno scored a try each. IN OTHER CENTRES. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.! Palmerston North, July 8. In to-day's footlwll matches Manavatu defeated Jlorowlicnua at Levin by 8 points to nil. The local junior results wero:—Palmerston 11 beat Athletic G; Old' Boys 3 beat Kia Toa nil. Palmerston wins the championship for the second time in succession. In the third-class contest Feilding 9 beat Athletic 3; Kia Toa 19 beat Old Boys nil. Fourth-class.—High School won by default from Feilding; Athletic l(i beat Kia Toa nil. Cartcrton, July 9. The principal Rugby fixture, Carterton v. Red Star, was pliiyed at Carterlrci on Saturday. There was a good attendance, the match resulting in a win for Cartorton by nine point's to three. Shortly after the start, from a scrum, F. Groube, the local half, set the Carterton backs going. All took part in tho attack, ending in N. M'lvenzie scoring near tho corner. From tho kick-out, the Star forwards took the play to Carterton's line, where Ball twice almost got over, good defence by C. Groube and August saving. A Carterton forward, Callister, was injured, and was replaced by Blake, a junior. St.ir continued the attack. Ball gettiug posMssion, parsed to Chamberlain, who equalled the score near tho corner, but tho try was not converted. From loose forward play, Brongb ran half tho length of the field, nnd pessed to Barry, who missed a score by inches. At half-time the. local men were still attacking. Tho second half was mostly in favour of Cartertou, whose backs were tho best combination. The passing between 1 ,, . Groube, Spooner, N. M'Kenzic, and C. Groubo resulted in a score, which was not converted. The Carterton forwards and bucks were now passing in a. manner that pleased the spectators, and kept the Star* det'endius. August, Brough, and. Barry made a passing rush, and Barry scored. All the Star.- forwards, helped by Ball, V.'illancc, aind Chamberlain, in the backs, bore the brunt of the iKfence. Tho Carterton backs nude a display nil round, and outshone (ho Stars backs. Biough, Barry, llesmond, H. M'Koazic, and Bind were, tho best of the local pack. The result gives Carlerlon the p nior championship for the third time in the last four yoars. Gladstone defeated Mastcrton by eight to three. The junior competition resulted as follows :--l)alefielil (9) v. firoytown (3); Liberal (11) v. lied Rtfli , 00; Masicrtou forfeited to Carterlon. Third ela«j:—Red Star (It) v. I.iliernl (nil); Carterton (17) v. Mastcrton (nil). (Ily Tclccraph-Pro'6 Association.; Auckland, July S. The Ruqby matches resulted as follow:— Ponsonby beat University by 21 points to 11; Paniell lieat Graf ton by 12 points to X; ami City beat Newton by 3G points to nil. Christchurch, July 8. The Canterbury Rugby Union's competition* "'ere continued to-day ju line i\t;itlier and on good grounds.

Afior a fa-st and attractive game Albion sulfored their first ilcfcat this season, bciiiK beaten by Old Hoys by 0 points to IS. Merivale boat Limvood by G to 3, otter a rather uninteresting forward struggle, and Christ church lmd an easy victory over Marist Old Hoys by 31 to 3. Canterbury College were ngain unable to raise a team and defaulted to Sydenham. Dunedin, July 8. Tho senior Rugby matches wero played to-day in line weather and resulted 1 :— University 12 v. Pirates 3; Southern 8 v. Alhambra til Knikorni 8 v. Zingari-Rieh-inond <!; Taieri 25 v. Duucdin 0; Union , 11 v. Port !). NEW ZEALAND LEAGUE TOUR. A NOTIIUR VICTORY AT BRISBANE. Uy Tclcernph-l'ii'iiH AsscvlaUon-CoDyilEht. (Rec. July 0, 5.5 p.m.) Brisbane, July 8. The won I her was fine in the Kew Zea> land v. Queensland Rugby League match, and about: 10,000 were jirtscnt. Tho toams wore as follow:— Queensland: Back, ITGrcgor; threequarters, Dufiin, O'Brien, and Gilmorc; nve-cißhth, Hazelfon; half, Heidke; forwards, Glasson, M'urlngh, Scrgnson, FulIcrton, Nicholson, and Brackenrig. New Zealand: Back, Ashor; thrco-quar-ters, Buckland, Mitchell, and Gillettj fivo-eigliths, Woodward and Sprague ; haJf, M'Donald; forwards, Francis, liukutai, Mason, Seager, Savory, and Jlilner. ]n tho fir.st half the New Zealandera played with a breeze, and showed brilliant combination. Tho Queenslanders tackled and, fumbled badly. Play was very fast, and strenuous, and several plovers were temporarily disabled. The Nv\y Zealanders had much tho bet. to:- of this half, and badly beat the Qiieenslanders in the scrum, scoring most of their points as a result. ■ Tho , spell ended—Now Zealand, 13; Queensland, 2. Tho second half was vigorously contf*.t«d, both sides .showing splendid combination the tackling being deadly. Tho nsw Zealanders were frequently on the defensive. The Quceiislanders lost several certain tries through fumbling when close to the visitors' line. The closing stages were very exciting. The Quecuskndors scored twice, and the remainder of tha points wero Hie results of penalty-kicks.. The ganio ended—New Zealaud, 18s Queensland, 14. For New Zealand, Seagor, M'Donnld, Mitchell, and Sprague. scored tries, Seager converting Ihros of tliein.