FOOTBALL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 672, 27 May 1914, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

TE KUITI, 8 v. NEHENEHE 0,

OTOROHANGA 15 v. ONGARUE 0.

Ths fixtures under the auspices of the Maniapoto Rugby Union were continued on Saturday when Te Kuiti met Nehenehe on the local ground and Otorohanga journeyed to Ongarue to meet the players of that centre. Te Kuiti defeated their native opponents, after a good bard gatne, by 8 points, while Otorohanga ran up 15 points to nil against Ongorue. The junior competition was inaugurated on Saturday, and the Nehenehe second grade fifteen met and defeated Te Kuiti second by 3 points to nil. The contest was fairly even, but was mainly confined to the forwards, and tha superior weight of the native team made itself felt. Mr 11. Rothery rsfereed in his usual efficient sty la. In the senior game there was considerable speculation as to the probable outcome of the game both sides having keen supporters. From the cutset" the game resolved itself into a succession of forward rushes, only now and again any concerte back play being set going. Te Kuiti got going first with a rush, but Brown at full back for Nehpflehe, saved in good style. T«> Kuiti returned to tha attack in which Schramm figured prominently, but a farce resulted. Good following up by Meares and Hunt saw the game back in Nehenehe territory and Kennedy dashed over tha line, but lost the ball. A hard ground luck and fast following up by the Nehenehe forwards relieved the situation, and play centred for a time. Smith, with a good run got to Te Kuiti's line but a free-kick gave relief. Play hovered in Te Kuiti quarter until Msars, McKinnon, and Matthews took the leather to Nehenehe territory. D. Gray picked up and passed to Boles, who drew the defence and Bent out to Schramm. Tha latter made ground and transferred to Grean, who just beat Browr> and scored. Boles added the goal, making the score, s—o, juat as the first quarter ended. Opening the second quarter, Nehenehe Bet up an attack in which Tuheka got away, but was Bent into touch at the 25 flag. Give-and-take forward play occupied a considerable portion cf tha quarter neither side gaining more than a momentary advantage. Towards the end, however, good work by Tuhekn, T. Anderson, and others, placed Te Kuiti on the defensive, and a rush in which Griffiths was prominent, threatened the line. Crean saved smartly and a line kick by .Kennedy brought relief. Half-time sounded without further sore.

Upon resuming after the spell some good kicking on both sides took plane. Matthews and Cole then carried the leather to their opponents' line, the latter nearly scoring. A counter rush by ths Nehenehe forwards beaded by Hira brought relief, and Brown and Hikaka mode a dash to the corner. Te Kuiti forwards worked the leather hack to the centre, where play hung for a considerable time. Te Kuiti endeavoured to open up the back play, but the passing was somewhat wild and the "handling faulty. Nehenehe rush to the line looked dangerous towards the end of the quarter, but the defence was well sustained, and no scora resulted. Changing ends for the last quarter the Maoris made a dash which was only stopped on the goal line by Hunt marking. Give-and-take play etisutd until a passing run by Te Kuiti backs brought play to the centre. Loose play followed and Boles snapping up the ball made an opening and transferred to Kennedy, who sent the leather out to Schramm. Tha latter outpaced the opposing backs and scored. Cole took the kick and failed, the score reading, B—o. Play became somewhat slow with Ta Kuiti acting on tbe def3nsive, and from this out neither side gained material advantage, the game ending— Te Kuiti 8, Nehenehe 0. Mr P. Mora refereed in a highly efficient manner.

NOTES ON THE GAME. The full back play on both sides was good, ihe fielding and kicking being clean and true, while rushes were stopped in good style. Brown's effort to taelsle Crean when the first try was scored was not hi a best form, bnt he was at a disadvantage in barely reaching his opponent. It is rather a pity this pl&yer is not placed on tha three quarter line where his scoring ability would be useful to his side. The Te Kuiti three-quarters showed to better advantage than their opponents as an attacking combination, but evidently require practice in the passing game. The same remarks apply to the fiveeighths, but probably the rough nature of the ground affected all the players in this respect. Kennedy, at half, played a useful game and sent the ball out when opportunity occurred, as did Bolea, who showed his old cleverness in making openings. The Nehenehe backs got few opportunities in attack, but with players like Tuheka, T. Anderson, and others in their ranks, will improve considerably. They all defended well. Hira and Griffiths, on the wing, were responsible for some good dashes, but the former is still prone to offside play. Among the Te Kuiti forwards titers was little to chos-, but Meares, Hunt, and McKinnon were frequently noticeable in the rushes, and did 3ome good tackling. The Nehenehe vanguard worked hard to a man, Rehi, Smith, and Heke being well supported by their club mates.

A regrettable feature of the game was the manner in which some of the supporters and players of the losing side took the referee's decisions. As a matter of fact the game was remarkably well handled by the referee, but even had that official made mistakes, there would have been no excuse for a demonstration such as occurred at the conclusion of the game. It is to bo hoped the Union will deal with the matter.