SATURDAY'S FIELD SPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1438, 13 May 1912, Page 6

SATURDAY'S FIELD SPORTS.

ORIENTAL BEAT PONEKE. THE CRUSHING DEFEAT OF ST. JAMES. SOME TALL SCORING. Pts. Pts. Oriental 17 Poneke 0 Petone 26 St. James 0 Melrose 11 Wellington 6 Athletic 18 Victoria College 5 Southern ..- 27 Old Boys 0

• Oriental and Poneke—A Little Gold and Much Lead. Tho ground colour of the Orion- ; tal-Poneko clash was of leaden groyness, and tho only reason to ■ justify its being chronicled as a, ■ passably good game was that there were 1 visible, from time to time signs of a spark of intelligence struck somewhere. . Tho man who thought quickest and with | most effect was Roberts, and there were one or two on his side who thought with him. Tho game really was an excellent example of tho triumph of skill and craft combined over mero skill. The Poneke men appeared to be just as clever at handling tho ball, very nearly as good at kicking it, and they certainly were a great deal better in hand-to-hand struggles, but tho net result of their frantic striving was that they were beaten by 17 points to nil. Tho thousands who come to see the gladiators every week had evidently decided that this battle would not bo a desperate one, and only some 2500 of them came along to sc'o it. They saw a game that was more closely contested than tho records of tho rival teams this season should have led them to expect, but certainly a game that wan nearly always dreary. It was a struggle all tho time for control of tho play, tho rival sides having different notions as to what style of game ought to bo played. Oriental wanted badly to keep tho ball in the air, out among tho backs for choice, and Poneke had made up their minds that their ono hope of success had no chance of being realised if they could not keep the ball mostly on the ground. Oriental did not get nearly so much of tho ball as they would havo liked, nor did they always do as much as they might have with it when tho opportunities came. What Came O'er the Passing? In all tho game there was not a single ono of those sleight-of-hand passing bouts that the Black and White backs seem most to enjoy themselves at, and the fnct that this was so was at least partly their fault. Passes )yero both badly given and badly taken, tho running: was not always good, and on the other hand tho tackling of tho Reds was nearly always deadly. * Only one "Fred" Roberts. Right early it looked as if Oriental were going to win as they liked. In tho beginning they had things very much as they chose to have them, and Murray made the opposing backs look very stupid when ho 6Corcd tho first try. For perhaps five minutes longer Oriental had all the play, and then the Poneke men shook themselves up. They played fully fifteen minutes before showing any form that could possibly get them near to winning, but from that out honours in a general way wero easy. The main difference between the teams was that one had the advantage of Ttoberts's skill in strategy and the other had not. Both the other tries scored, although it was M'Leocl who actually touched down on each occasion, w»re made possiblo by Roberts's tactics. Kinvig's final effort—the snapsbotting of a field goal—was such a brilliant one' as seldom tops off a mediocre game. ' It happened that nothing depended especially on those extra four points, but under other circumstances much less remarkable feats have been written up and mado into history. Undoubted Gameness of Poneke, Tho incidents of the game were few after all, and they would bavo been scarcely sufficient to keep up-a sustained interest for an hour and a half. What really made the game possible for tho spectators was the undoubted gameness of the beaten side. They had not won a match this season, and they were submitting to tbeir fourth consecutive defeat, but they played as sternly, as hard, and as fast as if_ they might at any time score the winning points. In some way or other they had got into splendid condition, and thev certainly had Oriental on the run for most of tho second spell. St. James Stampeded. To say that the victory of Petone over St. James by 26 points "to nil is to uso a weak word. Petone were perhaps the moro fancied, but most people expected to see an evenly-contested game, instead of one side putting the other to disordered rout. This latter is what actually happened. St. .Tames had left their dash at home, their backs were nerveless end impotent facing the raging Petone scrummcrs, who were playing at their fiercest pace. The Red and Whites were opposed by a stronger side, an dinstead of I'oing a littlo better work to meet them, the whole team stampeded. Two Accidents. Hugh M'Leod is surely the unhekiest player in the game in Wellington. On Saturday ho was badly shocked in a hard tackle by a Poneke forward, and had to 1 leavo the ground, evidently in pain and I certainly distressed. He was taken to tho ' hospital, where his injuries were diagnos- ■ cd as bruises and a. broken rib. i Another player, Alex, Kerr, a boy of ] 17 years of age, is also in hospital snf- '■ fering from even more painful hurts. He was playing at Johnsonvtllo on Sat- '. urday, when ho was kicked in the region of the kidneys. ! 1 CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER. . *-' -5 ' ? , . i i I 1 ! ? 3 n 3 x ■„ « ', ~ > °. £ f -= 1 r- > 1-i O £, Cj y , Melrose i 4 0 0 77 22 8 Oriental 4 4 0 0 55 8 8 I Athletic .: 13 0 1 52 17 7 Petone 4 3 0 1 57 15 7 St. James 4 2 2 0 43 35 4 , Old Bows 4 13 0 10 ill! 2 ', Southern 4 13 0, 30 43 2 ' Wellington 4 0 3 ] IB 511 ] , Victoria Col 4 0 3 1 17 41 1 J Poneke 4 0 4 0 17 52 0 ! t ORIENTAL-PONEKE. BATTLE FOR CONTROL ALL DAT. { A long spell of indecisive play at or 1 about midfield followed the kick off. The 1 Reds were keeping the ball at toe, and t were faring fairly well at these tactics. .' Thev also seemed Id be able to push Orien- J till off the ball as soon a« Hie lighting got. .1 to close, quarters, so that Oriental could seldom nut their backs to good use. I'ie- 1 si'ntly. however, Kinvig took si. puss from n Roborts about thirty yards (rem the goal, c

passed to M'Leod, who flicked on to Murray at once. Murray bored outwards along tho line of the attack, drew the defence in that direction, and then swerved inwards, to score the easiest of tries beside the posts. Kinvig added tho extra points. s—o.

Twice in quick succession Oriental renewed the attack, but'each lime a freekick let the Reels out, and then the Ponoko men for the first time in all the spell burst away on a dribbling rush, which really looked like business. Oriental got relief in a force-down. Play surged up and down tho field for fully teii minutes, the most noteworthy feature being the number of free-kicks awarded to either side. Generally, they were for off-side infringements in closo play. Paton, for Oriental, made several good but ineffectual shots at goal, and Irvine had about an etjual number of not quite such good shots for Poneke. The Poneke forwards played with frenzied energy, and it required all the watchfulness of tho Oriental backs .to prevent tilings from happening. Just before half-time an Oriental forward rush was well stopped by Morris in his own quarter, and from the succeeding scrum Oriental secured the ball for tho second time in the match. This gave Roberts his opportunity, and ho whipped out a long fast pass to M'Leod; who caught the defence badly disposed, and raced over, to score near tho corner-flag. Pa lon mis-'-ed the shot. B—o. Poneke came out to "do things" in the second half, and for short but frequent spells had Oriental busy keeping them out. Roberls was really hard pressed wlien he threw n twenty-yards pass out to M'Leod near the half-way line. . M'Leod i kicked high towards goal, and the wind .mode the flight of the.ball puzzling, so that lie was up with the game before tho ball was., played. There was a smother under the bar for a second, and then ho 'got the,leather and wriggled over. Kinvi? scaled: 13—0. .There were more free /.kicks than lever, arid a great'deal of long-kicking for '•thelinVhythe backs of both.sides. .As a trial "of skill it was very interesting and amusing, but for minutes at a time tho may was such 'hat no 'score could possibly come. Once Carmichael made a blunder which was'nearly fatal by charging into a dropning ball to take it on the half-volley, and missing it. The Red forwards and backs joined into a rather badly organised passing-rush twenty yards from the line, but sound tackling by Kinvig, Murray, and Roberts kept them at bay. Until the end the game was undoubtedly Poneko's, but somehow their uood work never seemed to produce anythin<?. Just on the call of time Kinvig rot the ball by fl pass about forty yards from the Poneke goal, but instead of streaking for the corner-flag as wai expected, he dodged inwards, lonlcpd for a clear natch, and then while still on tho run, dronped a goal—a beautiful left-foot shot, and amonsr t\xc best ever made on the Park. So it was that Oriental won by 1" points to nil.

PETONE-ST. JAMES

A MILD SURPRISE. The Petone-St. James fixture at Petone attracted about 1500 spectators, about half of whom were from town. The weather was ideal, and the slight southerly rather added to the brightness of a game that was lively and full of vigour during tho greater portion of the play. The St. James backs wero very weak, and did not relish stopping the cyclonic rushes of tho Petone vanguard. Petone's work,' both forward and 1 back, was capital, but on tho other hand the attacks of St. James wero few, lacked initiative, and on one occasion Leggatt had the line at his mercy, but did not apparently havo the "go" to get there. Play opened among tho forwards, tho ball hovering in tho centre for some time. Kinß.'Moffitt, and Leggatt headed a, rush that was turned back by M'Kenzie and from a scrum, Nunn secured and, after the ball had been handled by all the Blue backs, Daly fooled Moffitt and Thomas with a feint and raced in at tho corner. M'Farlano added. s—o. Donaldson then led an attack to Petone's quarters where Leggatt had a shot from a penalty which, however, was charged clown. A series of line-outs, with both forward teams strenuously fighting for mastery, then ensued, presently a well-judged kick by IHienzio put his side in a good position. Another passing bout was checked by Murray, who kicked to half-way. The invasion was helped along by King, who kicked across, and Petone had a warm time. Jas. Ryan, however, came to tho rescue, and set the forwards going in the opposite direction. M'Farlane, Jmld, Parrant, and Ryan showed rare combination at this stage and meeting with little opposition, got right down the field where, fortunately for St. James, Thomas saved with a mark. Then nway went Petone's backs again. A knock-on pulled them up, but only to sec them off again and the speedy Daley once moro touched down at the same corner. M'Farlane just missed 8-0.

Cook, Heketa, andUtiku were next seen in a passing turn, the last-named dropping the pass when ail but over and the Bluo forwards, playing as one man, rushed play to safety. From n line-out W. Ryan, sent a nice pass to M'Kcnzio who cut in and sent, to Ramsden who smartly passed to Jas. Ryan who sent to Boyd. The lastnamed player cut in prettily, scoring with a couple of men on his back. M'Farlane goaled with ease. 13—0. Petone had much of their own wav till half-time, the defence of St. James b»ing thoroughly broken up, and their backs were continually shirking the rushes' relone were getting possession, and did so ail through, and, to prevent the score piling up, St. James took a man out of tho scrum as extra wing, but it did no good. Whenever Xunn was smothered, soma Tctone forward would set the backs goinf. A mild surprise came in the second half. St. James went off with.new vigour, and had Petone penned up for quite a while. Young, their wing three-quarter, made several brilliant dashes, but was not backed up. Cook also showed up in some good work, while King was doing tho work of two men in the vanguard, assisted greatly by Leggatt nnd Moffitt. After some play Jas. Ryan made a great dodgy run' upfield, but received a stunning knock on the head. He dropped the ball, nnd nway went tho Red and Whites. That, however, was the nearest they ever got to the chalk mark, E. Ryan just forcing in time. Then Pclone's backs went off again, and, after a series of "bunches" on tho line, the forwards carried on the attack, which ended in Ashton diving over. The reliable M'Farlane shot the ball over. 18—0. A few minutes afterwards the same player goaled from a penalty, bringing the score to 21-0. The town club now made a final effort, per medium of Israel and Murray, but the good kicking of B. Ryan reversed the position, and, just before time, Taplin secured on the line-out, and, after a combined movement between M'Kenzie. Ja.s. Ryan, and Ramsden, the last-named teat three men and got over. The brilliant M'Fariane's goal was the best of the day, and the final score read: Pttone, 2G; St. .lames, nil. Mr. Neil'-oii was the referee. M'Fariane's goal-kicking tally wa-- five >ihtp>--o< i nut of *ix shots. ' Kven the cuo was a ''poster," ]

MELROSE-WELLINGTQN. |

MELROSE ARE STILL UNBEATEN.' "Still unbeaten" was the position of Melrose alter their match with Wellington at Athletic Park on Saturday. On four playing Saturdays tho team has actually won four matches and is still at tho hoad of tho championship ladder, though no doubt their bunt with Oriental nest Saturday will leave them on the same rung as it finds them. Certainly the club is looking up, though llir senior team's form on Saturday was beiow that exhibited on the previous week in tho game against Poneke. The players, however, were not lucking in condition, and it was this Hint won them the game. In the first spell Wellington certainly had the better of the game and with any luck would have established a suitable, lead. Melrose opened the scoring, gond work among Murpliy, Rivers, and Deo enabling the last-named to touch down. W. Marshall failed with the kick. Melrose, 3; Wellington, nil, Tho scores were soon evened up by M'Kenzie kicking a splended goal from a mark. Wellington, 3; Melrose, 3. The Wellington forwards were now playing with dash and play was mostly in the Melrose territory. Passing between Potaka, M'Mahon, and M'Kenzie ended in the. last-named scoring near tho corner. Bridge's kick was unsuccessful. Wellington, (!; Melrose, 3. From this reverse Melrose did not recover for somo time and Wellington had several good chances, but the Yellow backs were slow to get going, the half being apparently hampered by one of his own scrummcrs who took up a position as a sort of auxiliary half and made innumerable • marks where tho orthodox half should have taken the ball and made openings. .Tust before half-time Melrose started a dribbling rush from below half-way and 1 the whole of the Wellington backs failed ; to stop it, Sullivan touching down within I easy range W. Marshall's kick was a failure. Melrose, G; Wellington, C. This was the score at half-time.

Tho game did not turn in favour of Melrose until Hearing the end of the second spell. Wellington repelled a strong Melrose attack, but Gilchrist immediately sent piav back by finding tho lino at the corner (lag and from tho throw-in D. Sullivan fell over the line. This time W. Marshall kicked a fine goal. Melrose 11; Wellington, 0. Five minutes . later Wellington gave a fine display of passing that deserved a better ending. Potaka securing from the serum, passed to Brid"c and M'Mahon taking a difficult pass from Bridge scut the ball on to M'Kenzie, and on it went to Hunt, but the last-named fell an easy victim to the opposing wing. The game ended without further seor* Mr. I, H, Jones was referee. ATHLETIC-COLLEGE. THE UNDER-DOGS PLAY GAMELY. Pleasantly surprising in many respects was the game at Hntt, in which Athletic met Victoria College. The Greens got tho drubbing which had been foretold, but took it in a fighting fashion that kept things agog with interest. The absence of Evenson left Athletic one man short until ten minutes from tho call of lime, when C. Atkinson, who had been acting as referee in a neighbouring game, took the field, and brought tho Athletic team up to full strength. Tho first onset of Athletic crumpled up their opponents, and hustled them back to their line, but this was a passing event, and, although they icmained for a long time on tho defensive, College were by no means restricted to a merely passive part in the events which followed. Athletic had a decided superiority in tho rearguard, but, strangely enough, the forwards appeared to be more evenly matched. The fatal weakness of tho beaten team was tackling, and time after time they aliowod the attackers to slip through their fingers in an astonishing wav. Gosling, the Athletic full-back, obtained the first try by a dashing bit of play. Having sent a long kick up-field, he followed it up at top speed, charged the return, took the ball on the bounce, and raced in to an almost unopposed score, (Athletic, 3; College, nil.) College were still making a fight of it, but. before long tho Athletic backs found another opening, which enabled L. Macdonnld to double tho score. Athletic, 0; College, nil. Play had hardly got well under way again, when S. Wilson cleverly put the final touch to a passing rush, in which Roberls, Paton, and Kelly bore a hand. This was one of the occasions on which the College attacking went to pieces. Athletic, 9; College, nil.

But apart from occasional lapses College had been gradually improving nil through the first half, and, when play resumed after half-time, they actually became aggressive. The forwards made'their weight tell, and tho backs, too : began to assert themselves. They earned one passing rush right up to the line, but Fraer was tackled with no ono at hand to take the pass. Athletic spent a busy five minutes in defending their line,'but eventually broke out of durance. Roberts did a bit of smart fielding and the ball passed rapidly to Kelly, "Rangi" Wilson, Macdonald and Butt, the last-named scoring at the corner. Athletic, 12; College, nil. Wild and rather flurried play followed, and at intervals two more trie's were obtained for Athletic. Palon got the first by a quick dive as the bail emerged from a scrum near the College line. The next scorer was Batt, who made tho culminating move in a daslt started by Kelly. Athletic, 18; College, nil. Undismayed by the score piling up against them, College gamely continued their efforts. Their perseverance was at length rewarded, when Beard forced a passage through a scramble and enabled Poulson to cross tho line between tho posts. Ryan had an easy hick. College, S; Athletic, 18. Tho call of time found Athletic defending hard. Mr. Russell wgs referee. SOUTHERN-OLD BOYS. SOUTHERN'S CRICKET SCORE. Old Boys were soundly thrashed at Karori by Southern. Tho game was started late, and might, therefore, have been cut a little short. Southern held tho master hand almost the whole afternoon, and made a fair showing, but, with a well-coached back division, they would havo put up a score as long as from the ground to Kaiwarra. The weird Old Boys lot was bundled into their own fiuirtcr almost before tho whistle had finished sounding the opening of tho contest. They got temporary relief from a couplo of free-kicks, of which Grace made good use. Then a dashing run by Bradley, through the tltick of the enemy, was wound up very close to the goal-line. A mix ensued, and then somo Southerner darted over, but ha was called back for having knocked on. A scrum, nnd Campbell, picking up, hurled himself backwards across the line; still no try, however. Another serum, and Fiudlayson succeeded in scoring, and Bradley converted. Southern, 5; Old Boys, 0. Old Boys got to the other end of the field somehow, and while there the once-dashing Dawson flashed over in close attendance upon the oval, and looked like a scorer, but (he referee, who was near-by. declared a force. A few minutes later Houlihan scored for Southern as a result of a forward rush. Southern, S; Old Boys. 0. Mnrtenson added a try, which was due to sheer hick. H. Capper made an excellent attempt at the goal, but only got a pos'er. Southern. 1t; Obi Boys, 0. Shortly before halftime Bradley streaked up the field, beat a host of opponcnis, passed out to the nearest back, who sent it on to Osborne, who flew across. Southern, 14; Old Bots, 0.

Campbell opened the account in the second' spell by scoring from a. forward movement. Brndlcy converted. Southern. 10; Old Bovs, 0. Mortenfen ran through a number nf th» enemy, who made no attempt to interferf with him. nnd scored near the posts. Southern. 22; Old Boys, 0. The whole of the Southern (•earn combined in a na-ssinc rush, whirh was absolutely first-elnss, and was only killed when on tho noint of resulting in n score tlirontrh Bradlev failing In hold a lob. The finest individual oiTo-f of the day came from Mni»nire. He beat the whole of the nnposln? team, and llien transferred to Camp Ml. who scored under the no=ts. Bradley converted. Southern. 27; Old Boys, 0. That was the final score.