THE FINAL MATCH. A DECISIVE WIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 59

THE FINAL MATCH. A DECISIVE WIN.

Tho Otaio goJdfic-lcU team concludes its tour on Saturday, wi.pn it met South Otago at Balcluthn. 1 lie priourtl was m condition, -m-l the weather was evccf-dirgiy waim. 'Iheie were about 400 pro;.!' prf-^' ;it Tlu* Ota^o team was ■-ti' •i<rtl:"i»J in tl' • inclusion of S. C'a^y, \, ho rani" '<ov, n fioin Dunedin to take tbf plvcf of Leiili, who had to return to his en.i;lo\ m'-nt after the match at Lawreiifp. Williams (fne-r»ighths), Ptill suffer- , mi- fioin an injury to hia leg, sustained in ' ih? opsninjr match, was not able to play. 1 Tho t"ani= were as follow: 1 Otago. Full back, Scott: three-quarters O'Sullhan, Hurley, and Mar*ton ; five'jightha M'Dougall and Wilson; half back, Sutherland; forwards— Ca3ey, Pollock, Paton (two), Mitchell, Graham, Clarke, and Ivimey. Sovjtii Otago.— Full back, Clarke (Milron); three-quarters — Sutton (Owaka), Reid (Milton), and Tobin (Owaka),- five-

, eighths— Douglas (Kaitangata) and C^ Lane (Milton) ; half backs— Hughes (Kai* r tangata); forwards — Gooper (Owaka), Han* - sen {Kaitangata), J T. Ramsay (Kaitangata), W. Hislop (Milton), M'Kenzia I (Clinton), W. Eamsay (Kaitangata), Kean« , (Clinton), and Gregory (Milton) l Otago won the toss, and played with % j fair breeze behind them in the first spell< . Mitchell centred, and the forwards, follow* ' ing up smartly, had play in opposition territory. O' Sullivan overran the ball at 1 an opportune moment, and the South ! Otago cleared to half way. Douglas put ' in some effective dribbling work, but Scott * saved well. The Blue forwards then took ' play right to the country team's line. ' Off-side play withhold Otago, but Wilson . returned, and found touch inside the l twenty-five. Hero the backs got away, i and some effective in and out passing i ended in o' Sullivan scoring at the corner., Scott failed to convert. ' Otago. ■ ■ r-.. 3 points. ; South Otago ".. "... Nil. Marston was instrumental in placing th« Blues on attack again, and from a lineout H. Paton marked and Ivimey placed; a goal. \ Otago 6 points. South Otago Nil. , The return from the kick-off beat Tobin, , rather badly, and the Blues swarmed into the Colours' quarters. The forwards - j. opened out the "game, but the bail went , t over South Otago's line, and they forced. Otago continued to press vigorously. From a scrum outside the twenty-five Sutherland! " sent the backs away, and a splendid exhi- ', * bition of passing culminated m O'Sullivan ,v, v ! breaking through" tho opposition and ' scoring under the posts. Ivimey kicked *■ ■ : goal.' 1 Otago 11 noints South Otago Nil. : The Blue forwards quickly broke up t. 1 threatened rush by the opposition, butt ' both Scott and Wilson failed in handling; 5 the ball, and South Otago got into tha - Blues' territory. The Otago backs started ' passing^ from their own twenty«five, but * O'Sullivan was tackled before he could 1 gather way South Otago returned play, but Scott was equal to the occasion A kick by Ramsay was mishandled by Wilson, and the Colours pressed vigorously, t but Wilson put in some effective tackling, and H. Paton cleared well from a free > kick. The South Otago baoks returned i again, and "illegal tackhng gave J. T.. > Ramsay a shot at goal, but he failed.-' ■ H Paton marked, and faulty fielding^ by Sutton le( Otago into their opponents" ; quarters. The Blues pressed warmly, and 1 H. r*aton had a fruitless shot at goal from p riisrK Knid and M'Kenzie were chiefly, responsible for shifting play pash half-way, bur a little later the Blues* captain got : the ball away from a line-out, and passingbv the backs ended in O'Sullivan scoring _ his third try Scott failed to convert from a difficult angle, and half-time wat called with the scores — Otaao . ... 14 points'. South Otago ' .... Nil Wilson opened out play at the begin* ' ning of the second spell, and a nice exhibi. tion of back play ended in O'Sullivaß being thrown into touch at the corner flag,*M'Kenzie shone on the succeeding line-" out, and then a hard kick down ths field - by Cooper led the Colours into the Blues'' t.wonty-five. and Scott got in a weak return. South Otago had an excellent opporrunity but failed to make anything of it, and Casey, Mitohell, and Graham cleat ed From a scrum at the South Otago twenty-five Sutherland initiated * passing rush, O'Sullivan scoring at the. corner with two men hanging to him. H. Paton did not convert. O'azo ... 17 points. South O.ago .. Nil. The Blue 3 still pressed vigorously, but them wa? a sudden reversal when W. Ramsay, from a throw-in close to hii own line, secured the' ball and passed to Douglas, who made a long, kick which tound to:ich right a: the corner in Otago territory. Some hot work ensued, bub the Blues quickly cleared their line. Sou'h Otago wi>re so-n busy defending, and another passing lush by the Blues enabled Ma mm to score. The same playaC failed to kick a goal. Otago . •• 20noints South Otago . . • . Nil The Blues' forwards again showedmarked superiority, until a long kick byGregory landed play in O'ago's twenty* five. Scott «-ai taking mattsra too coolly, j and his return did not travel far The. i Colours pressed warmly, and Lane, charging clown M'Douprall's Jtick, got within a.- ! yard of the line before he was tackled by Scott. Otago had a few anxious moments,, j but Casev r-leared to the twenty-five J.Ramsay had a shot at goal from a mark without success, and Graham's return wasalso marked. This time J. Ramsay kicked an unmistakable goal. Otago - . . 20 points. > South Otago • 3 points. Shortly afterwards the Otago forward* hroke away, and Wilson made a nice j opening an'l then transferred to M'Dougall. ! Tlarley received the ball next and scored I rather easilj Marston did not convert. Otago . ... .-• 23 points. South Otago 3 points Marston nan-oak missed bringing off another score immediately after resuming. AViNvjn and Graham engineererd play close to South O;a<ro's line, and then the ball v.-ert to ivimey, who passed to M'Dougall, uho ©cored wit!. oat being opposed, Ivimey; tonvei ting. Otago ... 28 points. South Otago . ... 3 points. Wretched fielding again placed South Otago in .s^riou« trouble, but the call of time a minute or two later brought them relief. Ihe final score? were — Ota-zo ... 23 points. South Otago . 3 pointe The Blue tc-am showed undoubted superi* onty f/i e\ery department of the game^ S-'oatn Otogo put into the field a tall, raking lot of forwards, but they were- na match for the Blue pack The Otago team, went on to the field with the intention of making the game a forward one. The Blue pa-ck worthily carried out the task entrueted to them, and time after time w^hen they had penetrated to their opponents' twenty-five, the game was handed over to the baoks, who broke through a somewhat ragged defence without much difficulty. The Otago vanguard made tho pace very warm. They excelled in every, department, and it was rarely that the country pack had any say in the scrums* The country backs, as a •whole, gave *• very indifferent exhibition, and in eomr

oases the defence. was wretched.' i: There was no pretence at tackling, whereas <:. fin tkis respect the Otago men were very \ eolid. The country team was really trouble- - isome on only about three occasions. : Among the Otago forwards Graham, R. 'Baton, Casey, Mitchell, and Ivimey were ■ ever prominent, while the other forwards rwere not far behind them. Sutherland, ' : -, behind the scrum, engineered some very I effective moves, and was very quick to ; get the ball away. Wilson, as inside fiveeighths, played a rather attractive game, and M'Dougall and Harley took their share \ in every move with credit to themselves, I iwhile Marston at times put in good work ;;; both on attack and defence. The " star " jplayer of the day was O' Sullivan, who [ scored four tries, in dashing style. During p the tour he has proved nimsetf a -very fast and determined wing, and a dangerous flooring man, while his fielding has at all f times been perfect. Scott at full 4>&ck gave a very good exhibition, though - towards the close he was disposed to take ';' matters too coolly. Of the country for- \ wards, Cooper, Gregory, M'Kenzie, and . t Hislop were about the best, while among j the backs Hughes' (half) and Douglas (five1 eighth) were of most service. Mr C. j _ Hislop was an entirely satisfactory referee. Recobd of the Totjb. j Against Maniototo. — Won by 33 points to |»il. Against Vincent. — Won by 6 points to 3. ' 'Against Tuapeka. — Won by 14 points to 3. > Against Tuapeka South.— Won by 19 points to 5. ** Against South Otago. — Won by 28 points *to 3. ?. Matches played 5, won 5. Points for 100, points against 14. . The members of the team returned to '-' Dunedin on Saturday night. Before reach- , ii ing town Mr J. £mg, manager of the J I team, was presented by those taking part : y in the tour with a tangible mark of ap- I r " preciation of his efforts on their behalf. i Mr Sutherland, as captain of the team, I .made the presentation, and spoke warmly I of Mr King's untiring solicitude for their \ best interests. Several other m^nbers ? endorsed his romarks, and Mr King rej suitably.