HIGH SCHOOLS MATCH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 61

HIGH SCHOOLS MATCH.

Teams representative of the Otago and Southland High Schools played a match at Carisbrook yesterday afternoon. The game was viewed by a fairly large number of enthusiasts. The opening }>lay favoured Southland, and for some minutes they had the local boys penned down inside their twenty-five. Effective kicking brought 1 about -a clearance, and then Otago had a I turn at attacking. Nothing came of their , efforts, and they were again driven back. The visiting bojs, however, were not handling the ball too accurately, and they failed to make much impression on Otago's defence. Play was not of a particularly at- j tractive nature, but Southland were hay- | ing slightly the better of it. their forwards j appearing to more than hold their own in ' the scrums and tight play. Towards the close of the spell the local team infused , some additional life into their play, and a fine forward rush landed them at the enemj's twenty-five. Here the backs got j into motion, and after some passing Thompson crossed the line. Cuthill failed to convert. Otago attacked once more, and Deehan was thrown into touch at close quar- j ters. The spell ended without further incident, j The second spell was a great deal more !

interesting . The local boys got off the mark promptly, and after a slight reversal penetrated Southland's defence, Thompson putting in a dodgy run and scoring alongside the posts. Bannerman did not convert. Another local rush followed, and Thompson repeated his performance of a minute or two previously, running round the Southland backs, and touching ''own under the posts. Bannerman converted. Faulty handling of the ball by the visitors let Otago away again, but merely a forcedown emanated from it. Southland were still unable to get past their own twentyfive, and Thompson cut in and kicked over the line, but failed to touch down. The kicking of the Otago forwards, especially Denniston's, at this stage was too vigorous at such close quarters, and another force-down occurred. By a well-judged piece -of passing, in which Brown and MacGibbon figured, Southland cleared to past half-way for the first time in ihe spell, and then fast following up by Mac Gibbon caught the Otag-o boys in their own territory. Southland were Boon forced back to their own quarters through a long kick by Black. They responded with another effort, and this brought them well past halfway, but Thompson unexpectedly cut off a pass, and proved too speedy for a Southland mail who essayed to catch him, and scored under the posts. Bannerman converted. A centre kick and fast followingup by Thompson again placed the visitors on the defensive, and from a line-out Cook took the ball, and ran in practically unopposed. The other players were apparently under the impression that the ball was not strictly in play, owing to the line umpire not immediately putting down his flag. Bannerman failed to convert. Southland then put in some spirited work, and bore down on local quarters, where from a free kick Smith placed a goal for Southland. There was a retaliating rush by Otago, from which Cuthill almost crossed the line, and the game concluded with the scores: Otago .... « 19 points. „ Southland . ... 3 points. The play of the Otago boys was too good for the visitors, their work being characterised by more decisiveness and finish. Southland, if anything, had the better of things in the opening 6pell, but_ the play was not altogether inspiriting. In the second spell Otago had matters pretty well all their own way, Southland being really dangerous only about twice. Towards the close of the first spell Stead (Southland) retired owing to an injury, and Hawke replaced him in the second spell. Thompson (Otago) was easily the best back on the ground. He had quite a day out in the matter of tries, scoring four in all. Black and Baxter also played well. The best of the forwards were Cuthill, Thomson, Mawson, and Bannerman. Of the Southland forwards Carmichael, M'Queen, and Hewat are deserving of mention, while Baird "and Wilson (full tack) were the most ! consistent pf the backs. Mr H. Harris i controlled the game.