Football.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3705, 28 August 1906, Page 3

Football.

THE WATCHORN-STIEES CUP FINAE. A HEATED CONTEST. AN ABRUPT CONCLUSION. HUIAS WALK. OFF THE FIELD. The contest for the above Cup at the racecourse oli Saturday last was spiritedl) r fought out between Huia and Awahou—so spiritedly arid heatedly in fact that Huia’s skipper elected to order, his men to leave the field in preference: to accepting the ruling of the referee just about eleven minutes before call of time. While the matter is still sub judice it may be unfair of us to offer due criticism, so, pending the meeting of the Sub-Union to-morrow night, we will not deal in this issue as we may wish to with the affair, the outcome of which is already causing much speculation. As to the game, there was some hard and heated play, though only hard enough to merit warnings being administered without any ordering off. It cannot be termed an interesting game from a spectators point of view. Rather the reverse, if anything. Huia had apparently the best individual fifteen, but they lacked condition, whereas Awahou—though including many juniors—were all in great form and bore evidence of that fact as the game progressed. For the first half hour Huia had much the best of the struggle, but after that condition told its tale, and Awahou kept Huia busy defending their goal-line. Awahou should have scored on several occasions, but for over-eagerness on the part of their members. Once Jeffries did ground the ball over the goal-line, but the referee ruled the ball fairly held and a scrum resulted. As it was, the Awahou team won by six points (two unconverted tries obtained by Jillett and Sbadbolt) to three points (a penalty goal by Tom Napier). The trouble is said to have been caused through an alleged forward throw-in from touch by Awahou. The referee evidently thought otherwise, while most of the Huia team foolishly waited for the whistle which did not blow. This allowed Awahou to go on and score a try practically without 1 opposition—a try which the referee ruled as genuine. Then the Huia team, with the exception of three of their number, left the field. And thus the game ended abruptly. Mr Sutherland refereed, whilst Messrs Frew and McDonald acted as touch judges. Auckland defeated Southland on Saturday last by 48 to 12.