FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1491, 13 July 1912, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

-■.■■•'■; ",'; CBt 'ABisTOBULua] . ' 'the Game on "Number One."- •■■• : ; ; One can always look forward to a fairly j V- ■'■■'. brilliant encounter "between .Petono and '> .■'!':'■. ,Ht. James,'no matter under >what circuni- ':..;■.: stances they play.'. , : Last Safrirday the v . ..! Icround was an enemy : to , weak.knees, and !.- . ' ioanda.ged ankles. Apoilt ten minutes -.wna '•.,'.■".•:". 'subtracted from play-timo on account;of r:k '. "injuries."' , ". : ' :■•" ■'■ '. ', ;' : . But through it all there was plenty of ••, ',',; bright football, always vigorous, but not • -rough. The Ashton incident may or may :-. ■ '~';.-not.have been deliberate, but,one can find iy;: ■' ".just as many, eye-witnesses who will say ';■ ..}'■■■ iithat.it was an acoidont.as that it was de- !'-; '.\'!■'•', liberated ' -:; ■'■• ■_■■'■. , v '.' ..-'!■ For a start, Petone could do very little ;'.;.:, that was , right. ..Their passes were bad, '- •■-.-.■• '■'.' ■ and their general all-round'work was well I '■■■";■• .—"simply awful." :In the-second naif, '■:-. :;:•; however, there was no; end to the change. [■;.'. ;, The Blues became, more, and more .conr ■■■ .Evincing a? timo' went on, and, when "no r . . side''sounded they would apparently havo ;' : <v\ Konel,"oh -comfortably for. another , half-<;.:;'.:-/..■lhpnr:;'-',''-',■■■"■•;•■.■ .:■' '■'.';" '"'.■; ■ t: •' ."■". St.-James.iwero just in. the pan, :,;, a brilliant/try ton .'minutes after the J-'-.'. ■■ kick-off,;'another just after the interval, I:" , , .and .'that was "tho end of it." ...With the 1 •■■•-.■ exception -of- Heketa and Dobson the backs wero patchr. Tounß was suffering ' .. -fromi a bad. shoulder, ivhich excused him, ■■ '•■■'"'■.' bat TJtiku/ Poananga, and Asher did not ■': : inspire anybody.! Cook mado^some very ;: \' : fine'dashes,-and a fine run when he '.-'■'.■-■•:'\ scored. ■■•■■■' ' i ■ ■ 7 ■ :': ■ Of.,tho''St. James forwards,: lloffitt was, 1 •'■'■"' "out after it," till his injury, and jDonald- ',: ■.'■'"':''sorij■*'.Hilk; Brown, and .Wright. worked - '■ well together. Murray was a hefty winger: . ■■'■•'.-■ E. Ryan was not.only Petono's best ' .;lack, : but the best of the whole' thirty. ">'■*■ His■ side-stepping tactics and resourceful- ■■'; ■■'.".' ■■■'.'■ ness'brings back to inemoryin some faint : ■ ■:'..':' degree tho days of -Wood." James ■-<-'..:.: Ryan,' M'Kenzie;;and Nunn were a clever . '■''' triio, -and of ■ a fine set of forwards, Par? '■'■".' .rant.. Price, MTarlane, and Parker were ;.." the'leaders. ; . ■.■ ; . ...

Wellington Assaults "The Impregnables" .; .'; To-day. . '■■ ■■•■•. : 'All eyes are on. the Wellington Club: to- ■:: 'day—that is to say all. the eyes that follow ■•- Rugby in Wellington. To-day Petone will ' j>o weak and Wellington—that greatly ■improved team—will be strong. Perhaps it :■■- ';■■ would be asking tW Yellow, mid Black ■ men too much to lower Petone's,colours, : ijbnt many hold th© : opinion that the old ..-' '-city club Tv-ill fully extern! the .suburban-' ; ites thia ,afternoon.' It ,is ; to' be.,, lipped -. that they hold their own: at-all events. . Dunedin Championship Ladder. : ? [ ; As a result of-last Saturday's matches: :/ nt- Dunedin the first-grade '.teams , .'now ; > ; . stand as follow-:—.- ■-.--■•■].;' ~ .

Jv v; ■■■" ■'','•■ ■'■~-■• - v ■•'■■ ■■'•■' v 'ij ! tH--^-.V:--iiJ<!:3,3-l f- ; \-:. ■ :--V' ■■■■■•■' ■■■■■•■-.: ft P- Hi P ft< :P< .-O' :■■■■••"■■■ lUniversity ......... 10 8:2 0 127 71. 1G ;- ''Southern .........; 10 8' 2 0 152 50 16 :•■;.'•■.:■■■ fflnßaii-Eiohmond*-.10-7.. 2! 1 81. 28 15 . Kaikorai 10 ' 7 3 0 112 52. 14 '■ ..Alhambra V;;..;.- 10 5 5 0 "82 83- 10 h ■, Pirates 10 S 5' 0 92 103 10 i '■'- ; I)unedia „.... 10 3 5 2 51 72 '8 ;V . .Union- ~..10 3 70 .59:98 6 ■■ -Vort Chalmers -. .....10 2 8 0 21 106 4 ~ : ,Tai«ri Borers .... 10.0,9 1 28132 1 ''.({ : ■ *Beat Taieri Rovers by default. :, Merivale on Top in Christchurch. i . The positions to date of the ■ various ,' . ■ teams in the senior competition at Christ^' i ' ■'■ '. ohurch are as um'er:— ; - ..-..■ ' '■ ; - ■' .'••■ ' . ■.■■•■•! '.'■'• •.■" ■.■-■ '. ■" ,J ; . '■ • ; '/'-V ■'" ■■'•' ;; '' :L ■ .^'■■a V !' " '''■ ■'• "S ' !c 5 ■'•' w "I , 'S 1 : . • ■.■■.©,. ■. t» -ii -w -d .- '■■': ■ »;.:-■_ ■ •.. t>> -cc -J- g- d ■a' : a' :' IJerivak. .12 11 0 1 235 36 Hi :■-■.."• . Sydenham : ...■ -12 8 3. 1 133 103 8i ', .: Christchurch.... 12 8 i-0 137 97/ 8 Albion'.;. .......■...; 12;',5 -;5.:2,'96 98 •■'- 6 :■■•. Linwood-r.-..-...v.'.12^5-6 1 ■,■93 104 5J I . OMBoya .::i:..'l2 : "'s : '6'-,lllo : '7r;'si . '.:. Cant; "College ... 12 210 0 '37 201 '2 . : "■■:• Marisfai .....1.2 111 0 ,43 176 1 'Position of Auckland Seniors, i The., competitors '-in / thp ,sonior compe- '•,.-. tition at Auckland stand as under:— : :.'• - !cr - : ::v'.•■;■ ■' 'i ;■ ■■ ■■"■.. - t'-ti 4 ■ ■■■'■ ■■■•■••:•' ■■■■'- ■".■■ , ; " ■■■■ ' ' .'; ■«§ S , * ':' \ .-■ "-' '•■■■ . ■'■"■■' %: . :.£'£ 2 % ■■■•■■■■■•-■ ■■- ■ ■ ■ ■ ' : §■ g 1g- § .3 ,S I • - -■■ :- : ' "..■ (So Maristßrols. ~„... 9 8 10 83 31,16 ■ City ........„,.„. 951365 Ul3 '■",•■ Col.Riflea 9 3 4 2 40 60 8 •;'■ Pamell .-, !) 3 5 1 49 50 7 ' Ponaohby-. 9. 25255 77 G UniTersity ~ ;.. .9 0 5 4.3G\J3\ 4-

; The > Twenty-year-old Unsportsmanliko Trick which Athletic Revived. Evea if they do not, have the services of HQvenzie to-day, the Wellington men will have thre'o capital backs in Millard, . Wilkes; ;and Grace, while on last Saturday's 'fyrni Bridge- will do well at full*. < Millaird'would'havo ; won tho match ngainst Athletic last Saturday, for his ' support, would have been just what was 'wanted. to round off .the excellent. work dono by Gsace'and Wilkos. Lambert'let the team down badly in : the first few minutes, and' could not have played much worse had ho bsen hampered by a . hobble skirt. No one , is singled out in tho forwards, 1 bscauso'.they all did well against ' the : redoubtable Athletic pack, whoso questionable tactics proved too '■"much for tho loss. experienced Wellington men. "'.■:■■•".-.. By questionable tactics one. refers particularly to tho scheme of sending a forward to. run in front of another who'has the ball. Tho front forward is a sort of . pilot fish, but there- can bo no doubt that his';mission is to obstruct his opponents, •who may, wish-to tacklo the man with tho ball. This, is all very clever-—ard very old. But is.it Rugby? Suroly.not. It is, moreover,'- far from sportsmanlike.

Rugby Union Voluntarily .Reverses Its Own , - Decision. Some, days ago'a paragraph appeared in this, paper stating that thero was .every'profoabilityof the• Wellington Club appearing.', against;.tho decision . of the Rugby .Onion inoraering the. match (Wellington ,v. Southern) to bo replayed. As overyohc. knows, the club -would • have teen ou'good ground in doing.so.'but such, action will not now be necessary' as tho ■Rugby Union executive .haye. voluntarily reversed, their own erroneous decision.

Why Jeer This Gentleman? Keforees, Kfee other human: beings, are liable; to mr&o. mistakes a.t times, and when they hnjppou to make'a mistako before a big crowd of spectators, they have to stand tho sharp criticism'-that is hurled at; them from tho side-line, or ' the grandstand. Crowds will critrciso in their own particular ways, and referees rocogiiiso this and take it all !is it comes along. ,Tlu3 is all right enough .whemthe lei'e'ree is'in the wrong, but when tho fpei;tatoi~s nre'ignornnt of wifcat a feforeo'is actually doing, and of tho ground on which ho is giving n decision, ami. simply shout unpleasant comment at hi;u because 'his decision doo3 not happen to pleaso them, tlren it must be rather annoying.

The Folk Who Do the Jeering. ■ -%'ovv it is certain that abotit four cut of every 'live spectators know very littlo i> bout tho advantage rule. Tf they tlioroujjMy understood it, they would not iiiva.vs lw so ready to assault n referee for not. blowing, his whistle. It is clear (Miuiish-that, from a breach, there may 1» nt loast tliyee possible results—the offending side may gain, tho side not offending may gam, or there may bo tio apparent gain to cither. It 13 for tho ■referee to judge, and he is only justified .iirblowiiifr his whistlo.in. thf> first case, tli:il' i" if. in his opinion the offending eide nctiuiUv Kiiiiis. Tim "reason for this is obvious. If a rol'wca blow for. every hreaob, lie woul^

have to blow about three times a minute in an ordinary dub match, and what crowd of spectators would appreciate that? Another little point in Rugby law that the majority of spectators do riot appreciate is that relating to a kick back over foal-line. Frequently whon tho ball 19 ieked back and forced down by a defending"Bide, thel referee comes in for a deal or hooting if ho ordera a drop cut. • Why? Simply because the people who hoot are unaware that Jho referee has no power to order a scrum unless tho attacking sido appeal for it immediately. The law on the subject is very clearly and-definitely stated on page 37 of the "Ueferees' Handbook." - ' '■.

The Jeering Over a Recent Try. These remarks are really the result of a .great deal of talk that has taken place concerning Millard's try in.-the Wellihg'-ton-Oriental match, a fortnight ago. Anyone who doubts the'correctness of the referee's deoision in that case should look up'his Rugby law. Millard was not fairly tackled according to the latest' definition of a fair tackle, and, though he grounded tho ball short of tho scoring area in tho first instance, the fact that he played; it again "immediately", kept him within tho limits of the luw.

Big Scoring at Petono. The Oriental-Southern match, at Petono was a game of tall scoring. Or-'ental ran up 32 points, 21 of which were scored in the second spell. Southern scored 11 points, of which "8 were scored in the latter half of the game. The chief scorers,.: were the Oriental pair, Murry and'lCinvig,' the former as a try-getter, the latter as a goal-kicker. In the closer play Southern did remarkably well, and it was not until the ball got out among the Oriental bracks that there was' any marked advantage to the Black ' and . Whites. Southern were a conplo of. men short nearly all through. The Southern forward rushes early in the second spell were very fine, and Oriental found them irresistible. Two tries thus fell to Southern in'quick succession, and for a little while it looked as though Oriental stood a big chan'co of going under..' However, the whole aspect of tho game-was soon changed. The ovnl was tent put-to the Oriental backs —and that decided the game. ,' . )

Campbell, Findlaysori, Murray. One of the most interesting phases of the game was good individual ,play." A trio stand out—Campbell, Findlayson, and Murray. In. tiie-last few seasons, L. Campbell hns been of very great service to the Southern, teriitfl., On Saturday ho gavo a typical display. • He worked throughout with that Temarkable energy find -strength which have characterised his play on many a Saturday. He tried to fill several positions, anW'SUcceeded in playing an exceptionally good game. Campbell is one of those men who..play best when his side's star 13 dimmest. Findlayson faced his heavy task in a similar spirit to that in, which Campbell attacked his'work. The other man was an Oriental—Murray. Murray was in his element. Ho found 6ome of'.the Southerners rather easy .to , elude, .and the fact that Southern.were'two men:short:made things simple for himjon several occasions. Howv ever, after, making all allowances, his play was good, and quite a treat beside the. aimless hopping and gigging of ITXeod. ' ... . ' -.-...'

Goals From Half-way. " ' Some of the finest kicking seen this season was done; in the Oriental-Southern match on Saturday..," Findlayson's'line kicking was superb.',.lt easily outclassed Kinvijfs. The Southern half-back is one of the most extraordinarily powerful kicks in the city, : and on Saturday he-had a real day out. Campbell's plaoe-kioking was remai-kably good. His first attempt resulted in a place-kicked goal from two yards less than half-way. Both his attempts' to convert the Southern tries were great lacks, the first unsuccessful, the second successful: Both were taken from the side-line. When kicking .off from, half-way, ho easily sent the ball over the Oriental goal-line at a height greater thaa that of me'goal. '•" ', .■.' - .: