Football in Taranaki

Horowhenua Chronicle, 2 August 1916, Page 2

Football in Taranaki

A rLr.ASA.Vi UiifcjLitii'TlCA. (r l orn the Opunake Timet;), rootoaii lias been revived in laraiiajii Opunake senior cadets and ilawera ditto at Opunake, was the tix-t-ure for last Saturday. ilau\ ra did not put ill an appearance. OpuiiKe received their first win—by forfeit.

There is now quite a revival in footoaii amongst the local lads. About i)U players rolled up to meet Hawera. I'outlis commenced to arrive on the ground* soon after feeding tune. They came like Brigham I'oung's wives— sonic on horse back, some on foot, some by motor. They were a <lie hard lot, anil looked as if they could push Jiawe"'a, and a fowl-house, from one end of the ground to the other. Thirty players were ready for the match, and the local selector would have had. a trying time in selecting the team, and asking those who were not picked to go offhe would have been unpopular with the gieater number. When the 30 were on the field waiting for TLawera, they did not look an even lot. tall, others shorter, all fat, sunburned with jerseys in color that represented England, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, and all parts ol" Australia. Boots —there were the blutcher kind, the .clodhopper, cow-puncher, audi turVraiser with toes sticking out like torpedo tubes. It was good for Harwera or any other team that they did not meet Opunake on Saturday—they M ould have made little potatoes of any team that day. If any of our cadets had missed the ball they woukl have smothered opponents with the skimmings of yards of turf. They had heads hard enough to push through a concrete wall, and: wind to last until the cows came home. The lads came from Opunake, Te Kiri, Oaonui, llliotu, and I'ihania There were whites, and there were blacks; some had whiskers just coming through the dye and they we're all enthusiastic, and wanted n game. They and 150 small fry waited until four o'clock for Hawera. When i>" Hawera. they played amongst themselves, audi oil doing so flattened out all the long grass with their , boots, bumped little hillocks flat with their falls, and wiped the ground liif ' and clean for the next mrtteli. They played on tiU the lamplighter went round and lighted the street lamps. They

did enjoy the gaine, and it was Rood to watch the eagerness they displayed. Not only were their hearts in the game, hut their boots also. Ti'Opunakc again travels with two men short it will not he the fault of the players, but that of tlie management. T-He Opunake cadets under ordinary care will yet be top dog*.