ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1199, 7 August 1911, Page 6

ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD.

» • THE CLUB SUPREMACY. TWO TEAMS LEADING FOR FINAL HONOURS. ATHLETIC CLOSE ON THEIR HEELS. FIGURES OF THE GAMES. Athletic 4 Petone 3 St. James 16 Old Boys 0 Oriental 19 Southern 7 Poneke 12 College 8 Wellington 5 Melrose 3

Conditions for Eugby ,at Athletic Park could scarcely have been, better than they were on Saturday. Tho weather was beautifully fine with just that much of a chill in the atmosphere to instil energy into tlio players and to cause discomfort among the large number of spectators, while tho ground was in capilal order without being hard.

Tho principal attraction was tho contest on No. 1 ground between Athletic and Petone, and over 3000 proplo attended to see the struggle, which was exciting from the kick-oft' onwards. The gamo had an important bearing on tho championship for, had Athletic, been beaten, it would have practically placed them out of the running, and left the final issue to lie between Oriental and St. James. However, Athletic proved victorious by tho narrow margin of ono point (a potted goal .to an unconverted try) and they are still only one point behind the two leading teams- in the championship. , Petone, who had been placing weak teams in the field for several weeks past, had the brothers Ryan back in place on Saturday, and it was fully expectcd that the' team would hold its own against the best side that the Athletic Club could select.

Owing principally to hard work by James Ryan, the l'etonc backs made, if anything, a superior showing to tho Athletic backs, but tho forwards in the latter team, who were in splendid training, more than made up for any weakness that existed in their backs and, as James Ryan was the star performer in the Petone rearguard, so A. Wilson stood out conspicuously ill the Athletic vanguard. Ryan was most effective with his linelucking, which lie gauged with wonderful accuracy and gained the fullest possible amount of ground on every'occasion. He also made several line openings that were, however, of no avail 011 account of the fact that both wing-three-quarters were playing badly. On tho single occasion that a Pet'one passing rush did end in a score, the Athletic defcnce was sadly out of joint, and it would probably have been more severely tested, but for the spoiling work of the forwards.

A. Wilson played one of,his best games. It was always easy to find him among the thirty players if one could see the ball. Wilson was generally following up at a high rate of speed. and ready to dive for his man. His tackling was really magnificent, and he proved himself a thorough master of scrum tactics. Petone played two five-eighths, two wing forwards, and a thrco-two-onc scrum for the greater part of the game, but this scheme of play did not appear to have anything particularly good to recommcnd it. The game, though strenuous, was played in' good spirit and, though brilliant scoring efforts were not the order of the day, the play was interesting enough lo arouse a great deal of enthusiasm and applause. On-No. 2 ground at the park, the game between Wellington And Melrose was more amusing than interesting. In the first spell, • Hunt, a Wellington t'hreeouarter, met with a minor injury and Hill replaced him in the second spell. St. James, Oriental and Poneke all had easy matches on suburban grounds and duly proved victorious. The position of the lending teams in. the championship is, therefore, relatively the same as 011 t'ho previous week.

CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER. Tho following table shows the position of tho teams in the competition as a result of Saturday's play:— 0 if! iiiii. iI!S £ $ £ o |a Hot St. 'James ... 1G 13 3 0 188 51 26 Oriental .... 16 13 3 0 27G (U 2G Athletic 16 12 3 1 143 53 25 Poucke : 1G 11 3 2 ICO '72 21 Petono 1G 10 (1 0 1513 !H 20 Southern 16 8 8 0 116 93 1G Mclroso 1G 4 12 0 SO 132 8 Old Boys 16 2 12 2 72 196 1 6 Wellington ... 1G 2 12 2 19 235 ' G Victoria Collego ' 1G 1 11 1 .55 292 3 ATHLETIC—PETONE, FORTUNESOF THE "STAR" MATCH. Petone had the sun advantage, but had to commence by defending, Jas. Ryan's line-kicking'being superb. It gave lie.yt to his forwards, and (headed by Trice) they rushed down-field, smothered Gosling, and, from the ensuing scrum, Jos. Ryan spoilt a chance by kicking, and Evenson presently found touch nt halfMay. Good Athletic forward work gradually forced on an attack, and Evenson had*an unsuccessful shot. Still keeping a tight grip on the suburbanites, Athletic kept Petono defending until Win. Ryan initiated a great counter-attack, which eventually got to Daley, who put in a nice "centre." This however was returned by Gosling to a less dangerous locality. Bell. Wilson, and Rapson now broke away up-field, and trouble seemed to be in store for Petone, but the übiquitous Jas. Ryan met them, and drove thein back. But once mors the town team came at it, and M'Donald, marking the return, (jave Evenson another chance at goal, which, however, he missed. A neat pr.t&ing bout by the Petone flying division saw Athletic defending a yard from tlicir line, but here Daley was ruled offside, and play centred. Petone—backs and forwards working nieel.v togethermaintained tho attack until Murray roused "tho bank" by a fine dribble. A cross-kick from Petone allowed Gosling a fair amount of time to pot, and tho ball sailed over .straight and true, amid excitement. Athletic, 'I—o.1 —0. Fetono still continued passing tactics, and once Boyd was tackled within five yards while, on another occasion, Jos. Ryan dropped _ a when a trv seemed a certainty. Notieeablo about 'this stage of the melee were the two M'Donalds, M'Vay, and Evenson, who were working like Titans on. the defence, but when, presently, they ccmmenced an attack E. M'Donald unfortunatclv spoilt the chance by kicking stead of passing. Away went, the Petone backs instanter—Ramsden, M'Kenzie, Jas. Rvan, Jos. Ryan, and Boyd—and tho last player darted over with a couple of men hanging on to him. M'Farlano just missed the goal, which, as it was to bo seen at the finish, was an unlucky miss for his side. -I—3. Osborne, Bell, and Murphv now led an Athletic attack, which 'defied all defcjice. and Evenson just missed a score by the smallest of margins. Immediately afterwards "halftime" sounded. , The -second half commenced witn tight, massed forward work. Athletic had a slight' advantage until the bat! burst, and gave all hands time to breathe, and then Ramsden cleared his line. Directly afterwards Ramsden set his side going, in a pretty bout of passing which, however, was spoilt by Jos. Ryan scuffing out too high to Daley. Athletic forwards once more asserted themselves, Ready being prominent, but Dent, M'Farlane, Lindsay, and Dempsey. responded to the call, aiid headed a counter rush, which was brilliantly "saved" by Kim Wilson, who put in a high kick allowing time for his forwards to bunch rouno, and to go gcaiwards again. He had a pot shot shortly after, but it was n feeble affair. From a line-out in a good position, Ashlon sent to Daley, who darted over, but the referee ruled that I X)ftley .was within the five yards when he

took tho. ball—a veiy doubtful ruling. Tho closing stages of tlio match were without incident, and l'etone were on the gcod side of half-way when the bell wont.

It was a good forward display on both sides, Petono having the advantage in the rearguard work. Mr. Jones was refeiee.

ST. JAMES-OLD BOYS,

FORM TEI.LS ITS OWN TALE, Although there was a sixteen points' margin in favour of St. James when they left tho arena after incsting Old Boys on tho Polo Ground, this score does not givo a fair indication of the game. About half-way through tho first spell, St. James scored, but, up to this point, they had not had by any means the best of the play, nor did they have it afterwards until within twenty minutes of the end, when form told its talc, and St. James literally galloped over their tired opponents, a.ud piled on eleven points. As long as Old Boys' condition lasted they set the St. James men a solid pace. The White forwards, led by Dodd, who gaye a glimpse of his old dash, kicked it in with a will, and, with the assistance of Grace, who played a sterling back game, and Dawson, who was right up to his best form, a.ud full of dash and resource, St. James and tlieir supporters had many anxious moments. Still, it was the same old story that lias had to be written so many times about Old Boys—good material, but poor condition. It is only fair to state, in favour of St. James, that they were minus four of their best men—Moffitt. Thomas, Manning, and De Blois. Further, they played the last few minutes without King, who was requested to retire after a brief argument with the referee.

The first try registered for St. James was the result of fast following up by Donaldson, who blocked a return by Grace, and, with Heley, carried the ball on and over the line at the corner, where Heley grounded.it. The,kick was not an easy one, but Cook landed a nice goal. This was the only score in the. first half. . Old Boys, who bad been playing right up to it. the whole game, commenced tho second term with a willing attack, initiated by Dodd and carried on to tho line by Grace and Turner. Old Boys continued to give as good as tliey got up to within twenty minutes of time, and then a rot' set in, and St. James went through, round, a.nd over their opponents. First of all a free-kick enabled E. Roberts to place a goal, and, following this, a really pretty piece of passing, in which E. Roberts, H. Roberts, Crowes, uml Hekita were associated, led ,to the last-mentioned player scoring after he had bored his way through a squad of opponents. Wright converted. During another lialt in tho scries of sweeping rushes, with which, St. James wound up the proceedings, • E. Roberts kicked another penalty-goal, making the. score 16—0. Donaldson and King wero the two "star" forwards on the winning side, and E. Roberts, Crewcs, and Cook did excellent work in the rearguard. Mr. J. Condor was referee.

ORIENTAL—SOUTHERN. ABUNDANCE OP GOAL-KICKING. Oriental met and Ireat Southern at Petone, and "incidents" occurred early in the gamo. Immediately after tho kick-oft' a Southern movement failed, a.ud tho oval bounced into the hands of Kiririg, who whipped it out to M'Lcod. M'Leod mado a big. bid for a score, but was driven into touch. Tho Southern forwards then took play back into Oriental's twentyfive with a rush so hot that Roberts (who was playing centre-three-quarter) was somewhat hustled to s:\ve. A little later one of the Southern backs made a mistake in defensive work, which cost tho side a try. Gillespie, coming on in tho vail of the Oriental forwards, secured and passed out to M'Leod, who galloped in near the posts.' Kinvig converted. Oriental, o; Southern, 0. Southern forwards then swept the "Magpies" into their twentv-fivo again, and there M'Donald got a mark, which W. Cappsr converted. Oriental, 5; Southern, 3. Kinvig soon added to Oriental's total by converting a penalty and a mark. Oriental, 11; Southern, 3. Tho Southern forwards, however, retaliated with a rush, before which Oriental went right back to their goal-line, a Southerner got over, but no try was awarded. Still Oriental could not shake off the attack, and, just when tho Reds appeared to have a fine chance of an effective movement by their backs, W. Houlihan potted a beautiful goal. Oriental, 11; Southern, 7. Just or.i half-time, Ivinvig scored, and Sandall (Oriental's new fullhack) converted. Oriental, 1G; Southern, ' In the second half there was little of interest doing. Kinvig converted another penalty, and the gamo ended: Oriental, 19; Southern, 7.

PONEKE-COLLEGE. SURPRISING UPS AND DOWNS. Surprise—big lumps of it—wero thick at Karori, where l'oneko just squeezed homo alter some queer ups and dowus in a scc-saw game with Victoria College. Collego kicked off, and, for the first few minutes, operations were in mid-field. It soot became evident that College were holding their own, and, as the game progressed, their confidence grew, until they at last had tho temerity to institute a passing-rush. The attack was foiled, but, for several minutes, l'oneke had their iumds full, endeavouring to roll back tho invasions of a very busy pack of Green forwards. At last they cleared, and, realising that attack was tho best sort of defence, took tho ball to tho other end of tho field, where, shortly afterwards, they wero awarded a free-kick, aad Gardiner booted home a very pretty goal. After this play was of the up-and-dowu-thc-field variety, both sides alternately attacking, but both seemed to lack tho vim to sheet things right home. From a. line-out about half-way Sothcran secured tho ball, and evaded nearly all the opposition backs, but was grassed in front of the • goal. The College forwards then carried play up the field, but (through the instrumentality of Sothcran), a coun-ter-attack, which reversed the situation, was set going, and, eventually,- Tilyard snapped tho ball up ill a loose rush, and hopped over with it. Poneke, G: Collego,

Tho surprises wore now to 001110. After the half-time "Ineathor" College attacked strongly, awl at last (possibly to (heir own astonishment) their eflorts wero rewarded. By fast following up they managed to smother a l'onokc return, and Daniels rushed (he ball over the Hue like a Hash, and scored. K.vnn converted. Poneke, fi; College, 5. , This was good business for College,. but it was not'all, for, presently, they smote the Reds PR.rn, and smoto them hard. Before l'oneko had realised the position, the Green backs wcto sailing down t-he line with the Kill flying from hand to hand, and, eventually,' it shot out to Fa ire, who went in liko a Steam-engine, and scored the best try of the day. Victoria College, S; Poneke. G. This reversal of tho scores was, of course, quite unlocked for, and up till a few minutes to time it really appeared as if l'oacke were done for, but. they plugged away, holding an'ugly situation

by tho heels all tho time, and, at length, a good penalty by Gardiner cave them th< advantage. Poneke, 9; College, 8. Collego were now "down and out," for, immediately afterwards, the saino player secured tlio ball, and, beating tlio opposition backs, scored an easy try. Tlio game thus resulted iu a hard-won victory for l'onckc by 12 points to 8. Poneko wore minus the services of Mitcbiuson, liynn, and Calcinai. Mr. Mahoney tho referee.

WELLINGTON—MELROSE, AN UNINTERESTING CONTEST. Wellington, who wore defeated by Mel. rose in the lirst, round, turned the tables on Iheir opponents at No. 2 ground, Athlctie, Park on .Saturday, Apart from tlio fact that the victory for Wellington was an unusual occurrence, the contest was of the most uninteresting description. For the first 21) minutes, the play waa mostly in favour of Melrose, the' only points of note being a- good run by Bridge for Wellington, and two unsuccessful shots at goal by W. Marshall, o! t.ho Melrow team. Subsequently Wellington opened an attack through Hunt and Noddinglon breaking clean away, but W. Marshall saved the situation. A gocj run by Lambert', who cross-kicked to Murray; almost resulted in a Wellington score, but a 51 cl rose player resorted t< obstruction, and Wellington were awarded' a free-kick within fairly- easy range, Bridge, however, failed to turn it to advantnge. Carr more than oncc got near the lmo for Wellington, but could not score. Just befcro the end of the .spell, Hunt marked right in front, but Eridga again failed with the kick. The spell closed with Melrose nttnekinp. Early in (lie second half the Melroso forwards got going about half-way and, coming down the lield in fine sfyle, dribbled the ball into the scoring area where Sullivan fell on it. Marshall failed with tlio kick. Melrose, 3; Wellington. G. Wellington were not long in equalising tho score. The backs got going, and the ball travelled right on to Carr, who touched down at the corner. Ijambort kicked a magnificent goal. Wellington, 5i Melroso 3. From this stage of the game both rides worked strenuously, but not by any means scientifically and the scores were'not increased.

Mr. W. Spencer was referee. REPRESENTATIVE TEAM. The following team has been selected to represent Wellington against tlie. North Tshnd;C'oinHry Union's team at Atliletio Park on Wednesday next:— Fnll-back: Evenson (Athletic). Three-quarters: Graos (Old Boys), Mitclunson (l'oneke), Cooke (St. James), liv<Miighths: J, P. Eyan (Victoria College), James Ryan (Petone). Half: E. Roberts (St. James) . • Forwards: Soiheran (Poneke), wine: Tills (fat. James) and Elliott (Poneke), hookeis; Motlitt (St. James), lock; Perry (Oriental) and M'Fariane (Petone). sunports; Be 1 (Athletic) and Wilson (Athletic), back row. Emergencies: Backs. Daley, Bradley and Tilyard; forwards, King, Sullivan, and Eyan. ' OTHER CITY GRADES. THIRD CLASS. I Southern (29) r. Victoria College (0). The scorers were Alexander and Gray (2) Finlayson, Taylor, and M'Guiro each 1. Gray converted two tries and Finlay. son and Miles one each. Oriental (20) beat Ivarori (nil). For tho winners, M'Coiuisky, Bradley, and Oarmichael scored tries—tho last-named converting two and kicking a penalty, Bradley also dropped a goal. Sehvyn defeated Waiwetu by ; 5 points to nil. Fifth Class. Melrose beat Wellington College by IC points to nil. J. Scott and Baldwin senre.l tries, and G. Ilellewell potted a goal. School Football. Technical School beat Marist Bros, br C points to nil. Petone beat Terraco School by 15 points to fi. For the winners, Cowie, Plntt (2), and Marsden scored tries, and Piatt kicked a penalty goal. Anderson and' Watson scored tries' for tho losers. NORTH ISLAND COUNTRY TOUR. AN "INCIDENT."

DEMONSTRATION BY CROWD. (Bj Telegraph—Prose Association.! Wanganui, August G. The third match of tho North Island country team's tour was played on Saturday afternoon, when they met and vanquished Wanganui by 13 points to nil. Tho visitors were ill good condition, and saw the gamo out better than tho homo team. Tho teams were 1 very evenly matched as regards play, but tho North Islanders had tho advantage in weight, Tho score does not represent tho difference between the contestants. Tho weather was fine, and (lie ground good, and there waa a largo attendance.

l'lroccedings were marred by a regrettabla incident. Just, before the third quarter ended Percival followed up a kick to M'Kenzio at full-back, and tho latter, in fending Percival with his elbow, caught him on the point of the jaw, putting him hors-dc-coinbat. A largo section of'the crowd booted, roaring that M'Kenzie should, bo put off, and calling him names. Tho match all through was hard and strenuous, and several of tho visitors were temporarily injured. Tho North Island men started with a rush, and, before tho first quarter ended, Desmond'scored from a dribbling rush, and M'Kenzie converted. The visitors then tried many passing bouta which, however, lacked finish, or otherwise tho score would have been increased. Another forward rush, in the third quarter, by Bailey and Smith, was successful, tho former scoring, and M'Kenzie again adding points. With two minutes t<s go, Downing dived over from a line-out, but. M'Kenzie, who was still being hoofed by a pc.rtion of the crowd, missed with tho kick, the gome thus ending:—North Island, 13 points; Wanganui, nil. As tho visiting team was leaving tho grouud, a demonstration, was again, inado by a small crowd.

SECOND MAORI MATCH. POOR rORM THOUGH WINNERS. (By Tclcsraph.-Snecial Correspondent.) Palmerston, August 5. In beautiful weather, before a very fair gatheiing of spectators, the touring Maori Rugby'football team defeated tho Hoi'owhenua-Jlanawatu combination today by H points to 11, after an indifr'orcnt display of football. The Maoris aro not nearly so fino a combination as I,hat which toured tho Dominion after a visit to Australia last year, and their football has littlo that is brisk and spectacular. Although the local team did not show any brilliance, it certainly had t.ha best of the game—at least in tho second jipell—and tho Maoris won only in tho last stages of tho game. Tho first spell ondod in the visitors' favour by 8 points to 3, Rawiri kicking n penalty goal for tho locals, and- lvnipara scoring twice for tho visitors. .The score remained unaltered I,ill half-way through the sccond half. Ilenaro Rawiri, who always plays good football, then set the local backs going, and Cordyro finished up a passing rush by diving over in tho corner. Tho • trj was very doubtful, for the corner flag was knocked over. The local men wore sooi. afterwards plnccd in the lead . through bad play on their opponents' part. Twc of the 'Maori backs failed to force tho ball from a long kick, and llopa, following up fast, fell on it, and was awarded a try. Rawiri converted. A lino penalty goal, however, put the Natives level again, Rogers sending the lwll over t.no bar from a difficult angle. Tho winning l.rv was the best of the day, Takarangi beating half a down opponents by some prettv feinting work, and scoring casil; near'the posts. The thus ended Maoris, 11 points; Combined Teo.:n, 11. MATCHES ELSEWHERE. the ciniiSTCiiUHcn finals. ■lis- Toiecrapli l J ri'<- A*-" ia:ioii Christcliurch, August 5. Tho icsuit of last Saturday's matched h.i,i assured the senior championship and the possession <-f the D.C.L. Shield for another miso'i to the Albion first fifteen. The Canterbury Rugby ' iii"n h decided to closo tbti senior competition, it had been intended to n uam out to Leeslon to-day to play l.lio lillcsmoj-o Sub-Union's ronroscutativcs, hut tho latter were unable to put » team in tho

field, and the match was called off, with the result that all senior players in Cbristchureh had a free Saturday. DECADENT OTAGO. Dunodin, August 5. Th© Otago representatives defeated the combined South Island minor unions' team to-day by 14 points to 13. The yisitors, however, made a much better showing and flung the ball about briskly, and, at tho end of the first spell, had a lead of 5 points. Up to this stage the defence of the Otago backs excepting that of Scott (full-back) was wretched, and tho forwards were not playing with any dash. In the second spell, however, tho local team infused more life into their play, and, although hard pressed by the country players in tho closing stages, finished up with a bare lead of one point. Tho visitors excelled in line-kicking and in brisk passing. Auckland, 'August 5. The Ilngby matches to-day resulted as follow-.—City beat Parnell by 1G points to nil; Marist Bros. Old Boys beat Grafton by 9 points to 3; Ponsonby beat Newton by 31 points to nil. (By TeleErapb..—.Soecial Correspondent.) Carterton, August 6. The Wairarapa and Wellington Junior representatives met at Carterton on Saturday, the game resulting in the defeat of the country team by nine points to nil, after an uninteresting game. • The first spell ended:—Wellington, six Points (a try by Miller and a penalty by >\h»loy) to nil. lii tho second spell Miller again crossed for the visitors, but therfc was no further score, although Wellington should have at least scored on two ■•other occasions. Miller was the best forward in the visiting pack, and was well supported by, O'Leary and Guthrie, while Drury, Rvanj nnd Whitley were tho best backs. Several •of the Wairarapa forwards were suffering from "old age," and failed to pace it with their younger opponents. Welch being the only local forward to shine. He and Miller, of Wellington, were the best forwards on the field. The Wairarapa backs were a disjointed 'combination, the exceptions being, perhaps, Tait and Nilsoo. Opinion hero is that future Wairarapa junior rcpretentative teams could be improved if they included younger blood. Mr. E. M'Kenzie was referee. ( . NORTHERN UNION. OUR MEN BEATEN AT AUCKLAND. IBy Telegraph—Press Association.* Auckland, August S. The first challenge match under Northern Union football rales for the cun presented by the English Northern Union for competition anions the provinces of the Dominion was played yesterday between Auckland and Wellington (challengers). The local team won a game which was considerably spoiled by the weather ■conditions by 16 points to 8. Rain foil steadily from 2 o'clock to 3, and the ground as a result* was very sticky, and prevented fast play. Wejlington scored first, Mitchell securing a try, but Kay equalised this. Mitchell then scored again for the visitors, Seeling converting .the try. Before the spell ended "Opae" Asher scored for Auckland, the scores at the change of ends being:—Wellington, S points; Auckland, 6 points. Auckland monopolised the scoring in the second spell. Morse kicked a penalty ■goal, Bennett scorcd a try which Morso converted, and Kay scored another try. the final scores thus being:—Auckland, 16 points; AYellington, S points. During the match Ti■ M'-Donald, of Aiick j land, a member of the New Zealand team which recently toured Australia, had his , leg'broken.