FOOTBALL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 182, 16 August 1909, Page 5

FOOTBALL.

Maniapoto v. Otorohaag*. On Saturday last Otorobanga travelled to Te Kuiti to play a return m*tcb against the Maniapoto Union . The Union team was picked from the Te Kuiti and Nehenehenoi clubs the Mokau team, being engaged in a practice game at Aria in view of the Mokau-Nehenehenui match to be played next Saturday, were not available. The teams were as follows: —OTOROHANGA. -- T. Clarke, J. Clarke, P. Turner, T. Cumpstone, Tarrant, Tiwa, B. Clarke. W. Clarke. N. Prime, R. Holden, T. K'mery, H. Gray, D. Tomer, R. Symes, C. Gar .e. MANIAPOTOBrown. Tuheka. Black. Ron Rata, ?pr;i"s:e, Turei. Vacse. Rothery, Bell, Ajhb'y. Hira, Williams, I. Ker*. Gray. T. Anderson. otorohanga kicked off and for some little time the play was confined to scrum work in the centre of the field. The Maniapoto forwards getting possession dribbled up the field and comndled Oto. to force. From the kick off the local forwards again matte a dash for the Oto. line, but found a stumbling btock in Tiwa, who cleverly saved. Tuheka getting possession made a fine run into the Oto. territory, nnd for a short while Oto. were kept on the defence. Bell securing the leather dashed for the line and scored i for Maniapoto, but no goal resulted, i From, a passing rush the ptay was car- , ried into the Maniapoto 25, and J. Clarke gathering up the ball scored for the visitors, the kick being fruitless. After the kick off monotonous forward work in midfleld was retieved by a strong rush by the Oto. forwards, ; which ended in Symes scoring.the shot l - at goal again failing, the greasy bait . being found hard to negotiate. The Oto. forwards wet* keeping the local men on their mettle, and another good rush on their part was well stopped by , Vause, who with a good line kick ear- | ried play into the Oto. 25. The local ' team were awarded a free kick. j Spragge taking the shot at goaf, but he failed in the attempt. The Oto. ; forwards by degrees worked Te Kuiti into their 25 and when looking danger- \ ous Tuheka gained oosaession. and raced up the field and putting in a fine > line kick relieved matters. The Oto. forwards again getting to work compelled Te Kuiti to force. Half time : was called wih the play in the beat 25. ! From the kick off the Oto. forwards | again asserted themselves and a strong j rush on their cart was welt stopepd | by Turei, and sotid forward work in ; mid field followed. Vause broke away with the ball at toe and gained j ground. P. Turner, picking up. cleared cleverly. The visiors had Te Kuiti ; hard pressed for some time, and when a score seemed imminent the bait was kicked too hard and was touched down. Shortly after Black getting the leather ( passed to Turei. who transferred to Rou Rata and th« latter seemed certain to score, but the greasy ball slipped past him. The local forwards for a while had the upper hand and

kept Oto. penned in their 23. Vaase marked, but the shot at goal went wide. Willing ptay in the 25 followed, but the Oto. forwards getting possession carried play into the Tc Kuiti 25. Vaase saved cleverly, when the local team was in a tight comer. At this stage of the game an Oto. man was ordered off the field for rfu-

putint; the referree, but nothing daunted, the Oto. team kept up a hot attack upon the Te Kuitt c'tadel. The Te Kuiti men, with bait at toe, Spragge in the tead. dribbled down the field into the Oto. 25,©nly to be carried

back almost immediately by the Oto. forwards into the Te Kuiti 25 where. from a scrambte. J. Clarke scored the third try for Otorohanga. B. Clarke. with a splendid kH« added the major j points. This livened up hte local men. j and from a good passing bout the ball ; was quickly transferred from Turei to j Spragge, to Black and then to Rata i the latter scoring. The shot at goal t failed. The Oto. kick off was nicely taken by Brown, who passed to To- \ heka, and the latter with a strong kick , took play into the Oto. 25, and the local forwards pressing compelled Oto. to force. Shortly after this with play in midfield no-side was called, the scorae standing: Otorohanga II points, Maniapoto 6 points. Notes. The game from start to finish was a keen one, and was fought out in a sportsmanlike manner. Nothing in the way of unduly rough play was noticeable, yet there were no "by your leave" or *beg your pardon*'abo«t the tackling. On both sides all were triers, an t it is perhaps unnecessary to particularly mention any player. Should one individualise, perhaps P. Clarke, T. Clarke, D. Turner and Tiwa, were the moat prominent among the Otorohanga team, and in the Maniapoto team Rothery, as usual, was always on the ball, or on bis man; Black and Spragge were always there when wanted, and Tuheka po-wibly played the game of his life; he is a player that has of late shown decided improvement. The Otorohanga forwards showed undoubted superiority over the T« Kuiti men, not only in pushiujt nearly every scrum, but nine times out of ten they got possession of the leather in the scrums and heeled out well. To prove effective against any decent team the local men must learn to heat out; they have good backs behind them, but until the pack learn to heel out,their mtn behind will not have a chance to >how their full capabilities.

The visitors were entertained by the Maniapoto Rugby Union at a smoke concert in the evening, when a most enjoyable time was spent. The following toasts were honoured: - "The King": "Visiting T«am," proposed by Mr Young, president of the Union, and responded to by Messis D. Turner and N. Prime; "Army and Navy/' by Mr Sharpies, replied to by Captain Nieholson; "JLocai Team," by Mr D. Turner, responded to by Messrs Rotnery and Keetey; "Maniapoto Rugby Union," by Mr Botes, responded to by Messrs Lusk and Gresham; "The Ladies," Mr Fatwasser, responded to by Messrs Moore, Vause and Howartb; "The Visitors," Mr Young, responded to by Messrs Bell, Roontrte, and Heron; "Tbt Btfcm," Mr Symes, ree-

ponded to by Mr Elliott. Ifosical items were contributed by Messrs N B. Losk, J Ctayes, Roontree, H. Pcutawera, D. Heron, Jarokt on and others.

The Taomaronoi football team visited Hamilton on Saturday last and was defeated by 19 points to 3. The visiting forwards showed to better advantage than their opponents, but the Hamilton backs proved too good and showed greater scoring abiltiy than the King Country men.

The Maori football team in Australia suffered another defeat on Saturdaylast when Australia beat them by 16 points to 13. The Auckland representatives secured a win against Poverty Bay on Saturday last by 12 points to S after a close and exitcing game.