FOOTBALL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 678, 17 June 1914, Page 5

FOOTBALL.

TE KUITI 21 v. NEHENEHE 0. OTOROHANGA 20 v. ONGARUE 3. The games under the au3pices of the Maniapoto R'jgby Union were continued on Saturday last, Ongarue journeying to Otorohanga and Te Kuiti meeting Nehenehe on the local grounds The game between the local teams was chiefly confined to the forwards, the Btate of the ground militating against fast, open play. A lot of give and take play followed the kick off, the first bit of excitement coming from a strong rush of Te Kuiti forwards, headed by Dslaney.who kicked hard and followed up. The ball was rushed over the line and in a scramble Hunt dropped on the leather and scored. D. Gray's attempt at goal proved fruitless—3 —O. Play hung in the centre for some time till Tutieka by fast following up smothered the return and the Te Kuiti quarters were invaded. A Nehenehe rush, headed by Wallace, sent the leather out at the corner. From the throw in a scrum was formed on the lire, but a free Kick to Te Kuiti tarought relief just as the first quarter ended. The second quarter was practically a repetition of the first, the ball being kept on the ground most of the time. A rush by Meares took the ball over the line and Hunt scored again for Te Kuiti. Eoles' kick at goal went wide —6 0. Before the spell ended a try was scored by (?rean, who snapped up the leather from a kick to the open and dashed over near the corner. D. Gray again failed with the kick—9 For a short time in the second spell Nehenehe pressed Te Kuiti but could not pierce the defence. Boles broke away with a rush and Delaney picked up the ball and clashed over, the shot at goal again failing, making the score —12—0, From this out the scoring was rapid, Crean, Boles, and Hunt scoring tries,none of which were converted, and the game ended —Te Kuiti 21—Nehenehe 0 Mr Hazelman refereed in a very cap able manner.

NOTES ON THE GAME. There is little to be said about tho backplay on either Bide, there being no concerted movements and the defence consisted chiefly of rush stopping and The reason is to be found chiefly in the fact that the forwards do not possess the faculty of heeling out cleanly from the scrum, and until this is acquired the games must be of the scrambling order. Another factor is the nature of the ground, which is heavy and operates against fast back play. It will be advisable for the players, however, to devote their attention to open play as that is tho scoring element in the game, and without the scoring ability many a good team gets beaten. The on both sides played havd. For Te Kuiti Hunt on the wing, Delaney and Meares wer6 often prominent, while the latter again Bhowed the value of dribbling as against hard kicking and losing command of the bail. All the others worked hard. The front rankers often got the boll in the scrum but the leather failed to come out quickly to the half back, tnd this ig a fault which should be remedied. The Nehenehe forwards put a good deal of dash into their work but failed to sustain *heir efforts. They should try to play more to their backs. Rehi made good use of hia weight, and Griffiths was frequently seen in the rushes, as were Wallace and I Heke.

Prior to the senior match the Nehenehe juniors defeated Te Kuiti juniors by 9 points to 3. The winners had some advantage in weight and used it to good effect. Mr Hazelman was referee,