FOOTBALL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 15 May 1911, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

THE OPENING OF THE SEASON MATCHES. RESULTS. Levin-Wanderer 27 v. Tainui 6. .Hui Mai 21 v Shannon 0. Boot! Boot! Go low! Well played! Hurrah! lie's over! These were the cries that floated over the tops of the trees surrounding the local reserve on Saturday afternoon and "rooted the passers by. To fclic uninitiated the sounds conveyed nothing bevond a Babel, but to those inside they had a most s.gnificaut meaning for being fought out there was the first match of the season in connection with- the Hprowhoi.ua Rm'-by Union's competitions. At Mana'kau a second match was played betwen Hui Mai and Shannon, and as tho junior competition commences on Saturday nest the ball season may now be considered to bo well under weigh. The display on the local ground though showing strong evidences of rawness ■ on the part of the players, proved that there- was good material present A number of players who shone, in Hie junior ranks last year, were tried out and made good. Hota. in the local team, .pistified. his inclusion, and should get very near to representative honours before the season closes, provided he continues on in the way ho has commenced. Tainui played three of last year's juniors, McOoll, Aston Nepia and Don Wilson, and they acquitted themselves'more than creditably. Aston, at wing three-quar-ter repeatedly earned the plaudits of the spectators by beautiful kicking. Tliere was. perhaps, a. little, more than the usual amount of whisker grabbing which 1 characterises the onening matches of each season. Tdoal weather prevailed and a groat deal of interest was evinced. The extra charge made for senior matches did not prevent the true sports from turning up in goodlv numbers and naying up with a smile. Dunne: the progress of the first spell Easther. who is probablv the lightest forward nlaving senior football in the Union, had the misfortune to brenk his collarbone. The.Tainui skipper in a most sportsmanlike manner allowed a substitute to take the injured man's place At Manakan very little science was shown bv either side, th'on<rh tho home backs showed a marked superiority over the visiting rearguard. Tho Shannon forwards, however, more than held their own, and secured the ball from the scrum with greater frequency than their opponents thouorh it proved of no essential raln-e to their side to do so as the Yellow backs did not take advantage of the opportunities "-iven them. Some comment was caused bv the dolavinjr of tho start of the* match till 3.45 o'clock. Tho Tainui ton in which visited Levin were treated in a somewhat similar manner. They woro roadv to start the match at 2.30 o'clock and it was not till after 3 p.m. that tho Levin team were madv to take tho field. The onlv difference in the cases was that at, M-nnnVnu tho visiting team wers the offoiuWs and flic homo team at Levin. Tho rcmeriv is in the referee's hands who should start, the »match at the stated time, and if one team is pot on the Hold declare the match forfeited. LEVTN WANDERER v. TAINUT. Tho to«s of the coin favoured Tainui. vho ri'tin , ' , r , d the kick ar-1 iinniediatolv invaded homo, territory, being within an ace of scoring within t.ho fl'-st. minute a Inckv force snvinqr. Tliev ration fed the r>°rformfiiwp no-oiii in the second snell. the effort this time nmvinT fruitful, a irv rc«"]tni<r. A dish at the hegmiiinir of the spell will often bo tnrn•■•d to profit a< t>'ie<--o examples show. Levin s'-orod first blood—a trv. rcsultin<r from a nice bi| of work initiate 'bv Walter Winiat'i who secured ilw ball from a lino out near '■V- vis't'ors' cro.il line and ms&ofl to Hota, who in turn transferred to Hopn. and tV-n on to Nonia who scored, near )b« nnsts. The major points wore Tho second t v y was secured shortly after bv Hooii who bullocked over line nonr He corner, no seal respiting. At. half fiim> tho score stoo'l at, 8 to ni , in fav "r ' !'. vin With'n twi miniit,.« of th-' ■( -<" .|.tui i of ;,l;,v Don Wilson touched down for Ibe visitors aft-M' a fast rush Mom their own twenty r ,ve in ivl-.ich I'-imi showed • p most .■oriMvciiouslv C.i '■ t l,is run uas • 11-■ host pie. ? if work donn during the whole cranio. The kick at <ronl was unproductive. This .-sudden onslaught of the Tainui team seemed to paralyse the local combination, but the reverse, however, awoke in them a sense of their responsibilities and shortly after Lester a simple trv—all the players nracfic.'illv stood still and watched him walk in. The effort to convert nroved fruitful. Fast play, especiallv n monq; tho forwards, then ensue?! and Henri Rawiri, after a good run. touched down near the corner for the visitors. A local back made an attempt to stop him by collaring bis jersey. The jersev came off and Rawiri wont on-—result, a try. A good but fruitless attempt was made to convert. Towards the end of the <ranie the heavier weight of the local forwards appeared to have worn tho visitors flown and trios were, added in quick succession bv TTopu, Nopia, Walter Winiata, and ■ Di.von. th<* hitter trv being converted bv Nepia. who made a beautiful kick from near t.he touch line. Though Levin, ran out winners by the big majority of 21 points, the scores do not givo a criterion of the game. Mr J, Freman refcreed. HUI MAI (21) v. SHANNON (0). Shannon journeyed to Manakau on Saturday, ajid met Hui Mai. Tho game was of a somewhat uninteresting nature, and started late. Although the train arrived at Manakau at 3.15, it wa,s 3.45 before the Shannon players, as a whole, put in an appearance. Play was of a rambling nature, and while Shannon proved strong in the scrummage, they failed to take advantage of the ball, and the homo team won easily. Their play in all respects, other than in the scrum, was good , , Shannon showing some trepidation — especially in the first half — of collaring their opponents. Shannon: kicked off, and Hui Mai at once assumed the aggressive. A free-kick fell to Shannon. Cobler received and kickedi up field. Play drifted to the left, and «ome hot work took place in the Shannon quarters. A scrum was formed in, the visitors' 25, but McOle-llan broke away in' splendid style, and! Cootes took the pass, but was collared. Bevan kicked up-field, but Grimstone- took the ball. A mark was taken by Bevan, the resulting kick falling short. Hui Mai continued to press, and came within an inch of getting over the line. Cook subsequently received the ball from a scrummage, and got over the line in fine style. Martin took the kick, but the ball fell short. Half time arrived with the score: Hui Mai 3, Shannon 0. Encouraged by cries of "Play up, Blues!" the home team, on the resumption, severely taxed the visitors' defence, but the pressure was temporarily relieved by some hard work on the nart of McCready. The ball travelled with ranidity from end to end for a.'brief duration, ajicl after somo strenuous work in the home 25. an incursion was made into the visitors' territory, Cook initiating a splendid run, but the ball •

J Vent into toucb. Paseing continued to be good on the liotne side, and Shannon repeatedly made the mistake, when kicking, of kicking the hall into the homo right wiug, whioli was by far the stronger of the two. After some severe •_ pressing .Too Ilnkiki got over for Hui Mai, but l?evan failed to improve, (β-l).) From the kick-off Kauriti put in sonic fast work, and a free-kick taken by fievan was productive. (9—0.) Shannon now played up with vigour, hut it was a reckless outburst, ontiroly devoid of science. They "wont 1 ' for their men with spirit, but Ifui ISlni were too fleet o'f foot, their passing was • better, and Shannon was outclassed. Towards the close, matters were keenly contested in the Shannon 25, and at last Co'bler got over the line (12—0) t.lie kick failing. Another point was added, and at the end of the game Hui Mai run out winners by 27 point* to nil. OOMME>fS. Shannon's game was a poor display throughout. That thev were stronger in the scrum is a fact, but their inabilih- t« take flu , hall was, even t-o a tyiv. puzzling. T(* was said that Shannon wer-- , not in their best form. On Saturday's play thev will have to make great strides if they are to herome a strong team. Cook played with nil bis old dash and spirit, and a few weoks' more lmtches Whnuld inak" Hui Mai a most formidable fifteen for any dub in TTorowhenua to moot. Mr Tom Parata ofli-iated' as . -eferee.