LEAGUE & LEAGUERS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1842, 30 August 1913, Page 12

LEAGUE & LEAGUERS.

TBy ."I'LEETroor."! THE BID FOR THE UNION CUP. Interesting all the Way. j "Olio of the finest games' ever seen in Auckland" was the verdict of the c critics who witnessed tho Wellington- „ ' uckland match at Auckland last Sat- j. rday for the Northern Union Cup. 0 'ellington were defeated by the re- n jubtablo Aucklanders, and for the sec- t id time in succession. Last year tho 0 eal team journeyed north in quest of 10 cup, and were well beaten, but, this j, ;ar, they were very unfortunate, as, jc itliout doubt, Wellington were tho itt-er team on the day. It was hard j. rtimo indeed to be beaten by one )int. p The game has interesting right from ~ 10 start—Auckland relied 011 their v ;lendid set of forwards, whilo Wei- 0 ugton looked to their backs to pull s lem through. Somo peoplo say in uckland that, the Auckland forwards id not play up to their usual form, j ut .they evidently forget that Weiligton has been their stiffest proposi.oll this .year. Never lias Auckland ■] een against such deadly tackling. Tho Wellington boys never onco gave tho .uokland forwards a chance, to get = oing, and Ifwerson, their crack back, *= as watched very closely, lies in the Amber. \ Although exciting, tho game was un- s itisfactory in one or two respects. * 'irst ■ there, were a number of acci- z. ents. Hayward, the # Aucklaud for- ' ■ard, strained his aide and had to go j (f. Next House collided with somo ne and sustained a broken nose. Then E 'roebstel dislocated his shoulder—an * id trouble—and finally Finlayson lipped on the greasy , ground and icked his knee. . ' In tho second place a goal was given | d Auckland, which was considered by iany immediately behind tho posts j including one of the line-umpires) to | e no goal, ihe ball going under tho j ar However, the referee should havo j een able to, see, and probably his deision was right. Tho next incident which created omment was Kelly's-try —or at least j he try which he did not get. Kelly nade a great run from tho centre of lie field, beating several men, includ- , ng the full-back. He was pursued by f )ook, the Auckland wing, who dived f it lum from behind. Kelly, however, j vas right on the: goal-line, and un- j loubtedly- grounded tho ball well over ho lino. Tho referee, however, ruled . hat Kelly had been tackled on the eld of play, and, instead of playing he ball with his foot, had carried tho j oather over the lino. So Wellington's lick was right out. Tho referees' de- 1 :ision was resented by a section of tho ' :rowd who. wero at the spot where Selly touched down. j -low Our Backs shaped. Right to a man tho Wellington team ilayed well. ' Finlayson, at full-back, , javo a great exhibition until he got • aurt, and he scored a brilliant try. Strickland, on the wing, was boomed Lip by the Auckland playors, and much' tvas expected of him, but ho had very , :'ew opportunities, although he should ; liavo- scored 011 one occasion. He raii • right into tho full-back instead of run- 1 ning around and trusting to his pace. L'roebstel wont well, and once had a try at his mercy, but Kelly gave hiai , 1 biicl pass. Kelly, in the centre, played well, but hung on to the ball too much, endeavouring to , beat too. many men. [lis habit of tucking the ball uncer Dno arm and pushing tho tackier oil with the other is too, slow a method, and gives the opposition timo to get round. It would be better to cut in or pass out to tho wing, or back to tho live-eighth; a short punt is also very serviceable, but Kelly did not try that, manoeuvre on Saturday. ■ Moreover, ■' lis passes at times were very bad. No 0110 can reasonably expect another man who is going at top speed to take the ba 1 ! when it is thrown at his toes. Apart from these defects, Kelly was a tower of strength. His great run at the close of tho game, when ho beat several men, should have been rewardid with a. try, for it was splendid pray. Bradley played right up. to his reputation. His tackling was brilliant. In fact, 110 occasionally tackled two • men at once, aaid his fielding and catching ivere sure. Ho could run a little straighter at times, however. House was in .great form. Ho took tho ball well, ran well., and made one or two nice openings. The writer, how-, ever, blames him for Weston's try— he should have taken tho ball on the full, but with this exception his display was sound. Barber played only an ordinary game in the first half. He got the ball frequently, but worked tho blind side too much, and sent his passes _ along too slowly. House, however (his next in support), was standing a little deep, and perhaps that was the trouble. Still Barber was captain, and he should have remedied that. In tho second half ho opened up the game in great stylo, but he was responsible for the ■ free-kick which won the game for Auckland. Wellington's Van. The Wellington forwards were in great trim, and their hard training at the gymnasium * stood them in good stead. The pack was solid all through, and they surprised everybody by beating Auckland for the ball. Our front row, it seems, will tako a lot of beating. Spencer, in thq middle, got all the best of the argument against his opponent Williams. And 110 hooked the ball very frequently, l'arkor played a very "heady" game all througli, but ho has a bad habit of breaking away from tho scrum before tho ball is out. Ho gave ono or. two free-kicks for this offence. Maiming and Turner surprised even their most ardent admirers. Manning tackled with great vim, while Turner's footwork was really good. Ho was instrumental in getting tho first try which Spencer actually scored. The Team's Handy Man. ' Wilson created a grca£ impression v,'ith the Auckland public, being the most useful man on 'be £.7011110. Ho played as a forward until House was hurt, and then went' bark fiveoighths and played /a splendid game in that position. In fact, ho made tho opening of the day. Ho fooled the opposition with a clover dummy pass to Kelly, who, in turn, transferred back to him, but ho cot tackled just on tho lino. It was a clover bit of work. From five-eighths lie/was sent to full-back to relieve Finlayson, and again proved himself reliable in that position. Bar- ! ber made tho mistake of not kcoping Wilson at extra back, as, whilo ho was relieving Honso, Wellington still got the ball in tho scrum, and, under tho circumstances, Wilson could havs been kept out (5f it. Tho game was played in the bast of spirit, and tho sportsmanlike reception which/tho Auckland public gavs tho Wellington ,raon was greatly appreciated; Tho msicli has undoubtedly improved interest in tho gamo in Auckland, and, to the Wellington .public, it has shown that tho gamo has improved hero as far as form goes. A certain . person stated in Sydney that the game was friirlv strong in Auckland, but weak in Wellington. This match, however, should open his eyes. ■ "Widows' Town," as the Berlin suburb of Charlottcnburg is popularly known, is officially stated' to contain 1-1,543 widows and only 2.1")8 widowers. Gramophone selections, with an organ accompaniment by the rector, brightened a spcc.Ul cyclists' sarvica in Finniusley Church, Nottinghamshire.