FOOTBALL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 21 August 1911, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

TEVIN-WANDERISR (3) v. FOXTON (3).

The. "0 between those two teams tm vid«l «"V amount of excitement fo tic spectators and caused *> in.°Uderal>le barracking from cortam SonsiWes. The rugby ban-ack-cr at Otaki has been conceded to Jx> «l,ot stuff," but tlio big-voiced, nun--0 ivoi tl'vo Foxton fooVlmll entahsts are simplv par excellence. On Jwtardav Martin' Winiata was tlie unfortunate vliio incurred their antip:itl..v, and the Foxton players ff ,M'o exhorted in no uncertain aiiguago to "give him one," "pnt him j out!" another bump will cow inva. Great credit must "be given t<3 the players of both team?;, who, tin dor this uncouth hectoring, played tlic? game wit!) il;v.-h yot with good feeling. One incident occurred which* caused a certnin .amount of spocnV ation. As Nepia "Winiata. V4vs taking a kick at goal from a mark the reforee whistled for no charge jufifc as the 'ball was kicked. The referee, mis-understanding a signal from aline umpire apparently awarded a goal, and the Levin players fell hack; 'into their places. The referee them consulted the line-umpire and ordered another kick. Several in embers assert that the referee had' awarderl a goal. On boiiur question-. Ed after tlio mulch Dr. Adam.s saysho has no knowledge whatever of" blowing'his whistle or awarding .ttoj.:. 2f>al. Tii view of this it would Vm useless for the Levin Club to protest and, in any case, the members of Hie team should ho sportsmen enough to let the inalter pass for it is evident the 'ball did not cross the bar. Levin 'kicked 'off and immediately invaded the home team's territory. The play, however, was soon worked back to the neutral 7,0n0. From this stage Levin were having the bettor of play, and were constantly in Foxton'.s 25. A good dash, up field by the blue forwards gave relief. The Levin backs essayed a. passing rush which carried the hall back over hall' way. Here a free. kick was awarded the visitors and Xepia Winiata. Inndc-d a magnificent goal from near the halfway line.. Levin again attacked and a fine, passing rush ended with Lower touching down but he was s;iven offside. The home team persistently kicked the hall (o Martin "Winiata who gathered it in and. sent it hack down the field. He, however, wa.s faulty in finding the line. T.lio Foxton forwards led by Eoid and Rehawa infused s;reat vigour into their play, but with the exception of Pitihira their backs were faulty. A good mark by Nepia in front of the posts was not converted. For the reiiKiiiuW of the spell Levin bad much the- bettor of piny. tTiongh tho liomo 1 team once or twice attacked dan-

cjeronsiv

On change of ends it soon became, evident that the Foxton plavers were "after the Q-oosp." Thev •v.vnvmrd on to the Rlnck lino, and mi ir.nro (linn one occasion were within >iin nco of scirii\<i. Tim Lovin clofonro Avns toslorl to tlip ntand a foiw Ilio. rf-pitc <rninpfl. was. lioworcr. of short, duration. Down tlic fiokl sivppi wli.'it is niuLinhtodly the finost pnek in tlio Fninn, an<l tlio visi--tors wero sixain <lofonding. From" a. scrum on the lino Tmns socnrccl the/ hall and scored. Tie took the kick himself and inissrd. An or-cnsioiial dash np-fiold hv tlu» Blacks wns quickly rotnriiod. Onco Ilopa hroke away and had a possible cliajice to scon\ hut t-!io hall hnat liim. Foxion prossc.'l. and Xciascisi relieved hy smartly ]>ic]ciiiir up Hie leather and transferring to Hitchin.gs, who found touch well up the field. Kiv»m a free kirk I?ore niade. an unsiiecossl'iil attein])t and shortly af't-er Irons failed to improve from, tlio same source. A good passing 'bout was spoiled by Jli'ta .yetting a bad

pass. A spoil iii even play followed ,-uv.l excitement- was running high. The odds seemed in favour -of tho homo, team, hut the Black defence was good. Btuckoy at full-back played a careful game, making no mistakes, and finding touc'li with. every kick. .Just on the call of time the, Black backs got going and a splendid passing bout ensued, the hall going out to Nopia, who transferred badly to Tfeta, thereby losing a certain try. The ball went out. and no side, was called immediately after. On tho day's play tho scores indicate* tho relative merits of tbe two iea.ms. Levin bad tho advantage in the first half and in the second honours were with Foxton.

Dr. Adams reforced

NOTES ON TITK GAME

(By ''"' Forward.")

Th (T I^oxton-Tievin-Wiindercrs innt'Ji was a hard fought, strenuous forward game from the start right up to the call of time. .In fact, towards the close of the game it scorned to bo a bit too hard, especially in tho lino out work. Tho rol'ereo didn't seem to watch the throw in. for times out of number it was thrown in only a couple of yards. It put me in mind of tho old struggles a few years back .bustling and bustling each other to no purpose, and not much nlay about it. Foxton have a fine forward team, -and depend upon them for winning their matches. Levin, again, were playing to their backs, but were frustrated by the off-sido play of tho Foxton wingers. How tho referee missed these men, "who wore standing off-side when tlr ball wa.s put in the scrum," was a mystery. Tt forms as an illustration how a strong forward can ha.mper clever back division.

Stiickey cTidnt have much to do, He took the ball and kicked well. Ho In, and 7, ever, the two wings, didn't tret much to do. Heta, as a wing-throoein*rted, seems to he a wasted man. What ho does do ho does well, but would do better at five-eights. Val .Hitchings, after a long retirement, donned the jersey again, and played a first-class 'gniiutJf is fielding .and collaring were fine, and he took j)jirt in all the passing rushes. Ncvill, Martin and Napier played well, though they were too well watched to do much.

The forwards, though beaten by their doughty oppancts, stuck to their task well, and hung to v it till the finish. _ Winiata, Close, Saxon, and Sf.'inseia being the pick. The Foxtnn forwards are a fin© lot- They took charge of the game nt the start, and they tried the Levin defence sorejy. Reihana olayod well ;he was always in the thick of it. and showed up in the loose. Reid and Cook also played TVOIL

Tbo hocks are a very moderate lot, Pitihira being the pick. They seem to have no idea <of a back game at all. They take the ball and kick for the line every time, and never attempt to piss at all. Once they lenrn the finer points of the- game they will bo a hard team to beat in future-shield contests.

The only .junior match on Satnrdav was a trial crame between the North and South of the Union. Play was of a very mediocre nature, this being apparently due to over-eager-ness on the part of the players." A junior ren.'team will bo chosen from Saturday's players to represent %i ITorowhenua in their engagement against Wellington on September 2.