FOOTBALL.

Shannon News, 30 September 1924, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

POWER BOARD y. COUNTY COUNCIL The match between the Borowiienua County Council and Horowtflenuu Power Board teams, played oa the Le- . vin Domain on Saturday decided a long-standing argument as to the . e[a--4 tive merits o-f teams from the two local _ bodies, resulting as it did in a ■win lor the Power Board by six points (two unconverted tries) to five. The teams were pretty evenly matched m weight, and contrary to the opinion expressed in some quarters, carried no/passengers. All oi the players on both sides were either members of local teams, or ex-members Qi comparatively recent retirement. The game, played under ideal conditions, was .therefore, a very oVen one, aim , towards the end, exciting. Both, teams were out to win, and where they were not brilliant (there were many'flashes ol' first-class play) they, were at least extremely hard working. The County' 'Council team took the initiative from the start and penueci

up the Power Board representatives

in their own 25 in a style which gave * the impression that they had only to go in to win.' It was a. case of brawn against brawn, without any great attempt at' science, and beneath the sledge hammer attacks of Gole, Udy, and Broughton it looked as ii the Power Board team would crumple up. St. Clan* relieved at the end of a quarter hour’s hard going. Working the blind side of the scrum tie shot out, but kicked when a straight run might have achieved more. Play came down to half way and from a throw-in, the Power Board sent the ball well down field. Ferris mulled, but Udy saved, and Dan Cole, following up well, took the bail to within filieen yards of the objective before bqing run out. From the throw-in Hector McDonald kicked the half over the line hut was. beaten in the race ' i'or possession, and the County Couhcil missed what looked like a winning movement. The County men were still pressing •.•■hard, until, from a fight on Che line Grotty got the ball and jumped through the County forwards, me backs, with the exception oi Ferris, were out of position, and a spectacular try was a possibility. In side stepping JFerris, however, Grotty fell and a long spell of (hard but unexciting play followed in mid-field. WUson (Power Board), broke the monotony with a fine piece of dribbling, but at the end, kicked too hard 'and Henderson forced. „ • The Power Board were now beginning to take things into, their own hands, and from this until, the end of the spell, forced the play. Udy was hurt close tot half-time and (had to leave the field, Broughton,, junior, taking his place. There was no score at half-time. • Ten minutes after the- commencement of play, Rangi Broughton, who in the first half had played a disappointing game, got over from ?h opening made by McLeayey, scoring in a handy posiA»n. H. McDonald converted. GounJy Council 5—Q. The Power Board were still pressing and in this half had definitely -the best of the game. It was half-way through the spell however, before Grotty registered the first score for the side, and right qn time when Wilson scored at the .corner from an opening made by Poad. Both kicks failed, leaving the final score 6—5. Mr R. Sloan refereed. IK THE “LAND OF OUR FATHERS.” ALL BLACKS OVERWHELM FIRST WELSH TEAM. SWEEPING VICTORY CAUSES SENSATION;. (Received Sunday, ‘6.35 p.m.) London, sept. 21. In the face of oredictions by English critics as to what would happen when the All Blacks met the Welsh clubs they not only won handsomely at Swansea to-day, but put together the highest score of the tour so far—- “ Fine weather had returned, and with a bright day and warm sunshine, the New Zealanders were at their best on the dry ground. The very large attendance was estimated at 30,000, and the spectators gave the visitors a tumultuous and enthusiastic reception. N.ZjJs Crack Team. Full-back.—G. Nepia. Three-quarters. —F. W. Lucas, H. W. Brown, J. Steel. Five-eighths.—A. E. Cooke (2), M. -- F. Nicholls (1). » Half.—W. C. Dailey. Winger.—C. G. Porter (captain). Back row. —A. H. West, A. White. Supports.—M. J. and C. J. Brownlie. Lock. —I. H. Harvey.

Hookers.——W. H. Irvine, Q. Donald. Swansea Beaten in Twenty Minutes. The All Blacks attacked from the jump and in twenty minutes had the opposition well beaten. Nicholls failed to obtain a goal from a mark, and then Nepia, with one of his spectacular dashes from full-back nearly ran through the Welshmen. A promising attack was opened up, but spoiled at th e last moment‘by men getting offside, and in the same way later on Slteel lost what seemed a certain try. By this time, however, it was apparent the Swansea side were no match for their opponents, and a score was only a matter of moments. ; ‘ Mark Nicholls Pots a Goal. It came when Nicholls, taking a reverse pass from Brown, side-stepped his man and' dropped a . beautiful goal. New Zealand ...... 4 Swansea • "0 The backs kept hammering away at Swansea’s goal-line, and from a movement initiated by Porter, the ball passed to Brown,"then to Lucas, and the latter got across. Nepia failed with the kick at goal. • “ New Zealand . ..... . 7 k Swansea ........ 0 A Doubtful Try. Again the backs got going, but in endeavouring to take the last pass, *which would have landed him over the 'line, Brown lcnocked-on and the 'chance was lost. Irvine scrambled over at the corner, and was allowed a try. The referee’s

decision, however, was badly received by the crowd, which shouted derision. Nepia’s kick was a poor attempt. New Zealand ...... 10 .Swansea 0 Combination Too Superior, The New Zeala'nders nearly always gained possession of the ball from the line-outs, and their combination, both fore and aft, was much too.superior for the Swansea backs. The latter showed poor defensive qualities, and were evidently nervous. Their play was quite bad, especially in tackling, as they went for their men too high. There was no further score this spell, which ended: — New Zealand 10 Swansea 0 DEBACLE IN SECOND SPELL.

N.Z. 29, SWANSEA 3. In the second half the game became a mere debacle. The superior sjpeed and weight of the New Zealand backs pulverised the local defence, • which was still worse than in the first period, and became almost contemptible. Dailey Leads the Way. Dailey shone at half and consistently fed the men behind him. They indulged in almost contiguous successive passing rushes which ended in repeated scores. Seven .Tries and Four Goals. Steel made his presence felt in the team by putting three tries to his name. Brown, who was playing a brilliant ga T '"\ got two, and M. Brownlie and Cooke one each. From these Nicholls kicked four goals. Swansea Score but do not Cross Line. The only compensation the Welshmen got was the satisfaction of registering the first score against the All Blacks. This was 'from a penalty incurred by Nepia for holding on to the ball too long. When Parker succeeded i’n landing the ball over the bar there was great applause. The game, therefore, ended:— ‘ New Zealand 39 Swansea ....... 3 N.Z. Carry the Scrums. In, this game the New ""Zealanders carried most of the scrums and secured possession of the ball, the “loose head” troubles noticed in previous games having disappeared. v General Criticism. The Swansea backs, when they did obtain the ball, ran blindly and passed erratically. , / One of the weak points of the New Zealanders' play was the place-kick-ing, which again failed signally. The most conspicuous players for the All Blacks were Cooke, Brown, Dailey and Nicholls among the backs, and M. Brownlie, Donald and White among the forwards.

Despite their big total, the New Zealanders lost at least a dozen tries by faulty handling and injudicious kicking. With cleaner work, therefore, they might have largely added to the total. Surprise and Concern in Wales. The result of the game created a tremendous sensation. Swansea’s weakness in every department demonstrates the terrible depreciation in Welsh form. Local critics are confounded at the' result as the Swansea men have been training together every day for a week. )The Welsh Union officials are surprised and concerned at this sudden and unexpected display of the All Blacks’ true form.

THE HONOURS BOARD. ALL BLACKS’ INDIVIDUAL RECORD. The New Zealanders have scored 91 points in their five British matches; Player Points Tries Goals Brown, H. W. .. 13 3 2 Cooke, A. E .... 12 4 Nicholls, M. F. ....12 Parker, J. H. . 9 3 —• Steel, J 9 3 Brownlie, *M. J. ... 6 2 Donald, Q ® '2 Irvine, W R. 6 2—• Mill, J. .'. 6 2 Nepia, G. ........ 6 Lucas, F. W. .... 3 - 1 —■ Svenson, S. K. ... . 3 1 A <*One potted' 91 23 *lO WELSH CLUBS UP AGAINST IT. Swansea and Newport are among the clubs handicapped by the absence of players with the British team in South Africa, and of players who have given up the Rugby game. In regard to the latter, there has been somewhat of a sensation at Home by the decision of some players to go over to the professional code. Among these players are some Welsh internationals, and, although it is reported that the Welsh clubs are likely to make the All Blacks sit-up and take notice, some difficulty may be experienced in finding players as capable as some of those who have gone over to the Northern Union ranks. Melville A. Rosser, of Penarth, and J. Jones, of Swansea, who were both capped for Wales last season, have joined up with the Leeds Rugby League Club. Both are centre-threequarter backs. Jones was top scorer for Swansea l&sV season, and Rosser was invited to accompany the British Rugby team to South Africa.

In addition to these losses, Swansea and Newport would be minus the services of other prominent players for the matches with the All Blacks. Rowe Harding, Swansea’s star threequarter, is with the British team In South Africa, as also are two of Newport’s star forwards —Neil ‘M’Pherson and Dr. W. J. Roche. It will be remembered that those two Newport players were concerned in the trouble created by the Scottish Rugby Union in objecting to the presentations which were made to the members of the Newport team in appreciation of it s unbeaten record in : 1922-23. Both are outstanding international forwards, .M’Pherson representing Scotland and Dr. Roche, Ireland. The Irish Rugby Union followed Scotland’s action, and put Dr. Roche on the mat, too.

Another notable Newport absentee on Thursday will be V. Griffiths, the

Welsh international fly-half last season, referred to below. He also went ou the the Cape with ’ the Britishers.

As pointed out" in our Rugby, notes on Saturday, Swansea of recent years is a much inferior side to Newport For last season, 1923-24, the respective performances were: — P. W. L. D. For Agst. 1 Newport 41 29 8 4 620 209 Swansea 40 22 16 3 280 221 It would be a poor look-out for the All Blacks could they not decisively have beaten a club team which won only 22 games out of 40. LATTER-DAY INVASIONS OF WALES. Swansea Goal-Line Impregnable. Swansea did not play the. original' Springboks, but here is the record of Dicky Owen’s famous team in the other three tours preceding that of New Zealand’s 1924: 1905, All Blacks defeated Swansea by a potted goal to a try. 1908 —Swansea defeated Wallabies by 6 points to nil. 1912 — Swansea defeated second Springboks by 3 points to nil. That will probably stand as a record for all time. The three colonial teams, which won 81 out of the 91 matches they played failed to cross the famous Welsh Club’s goal-line. How have the mighty fallen! No wonder the record of Wales last season was the principality’s most disastrous in its international championship history—when such a club is beaten by 36 points! THIS WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. NEWPORT AND LEICESTER. Newport, famous for its unbeaten record of 1922-1923, and the Neil Macpherson affair, will be the All Blacks’ next opponents. The match will be played on Thursday. On Saturday the New Zealanders play on the splendidly appointed Leicester but whether they meet the club or county, fifteen is not disclosed by the fixture list. The only English clubs on the itinerary appear to be Oxford and Cambridge Universities, so that the October 4th game is pretty sure to be against Leicestershire.

REPRESENTATIVE football. HORQWHENUA y. KING , COUNTRY. On Wednesday last at Otaki, Horowhenua sustained its refutation lor consistency by losing to'King Couritry by 6 points to 5, after a game which was, . however, the best performance put up by the local men this season. The weather was atrocious and the ground in very bad condition, miniature lakes being dotted all over the ground. A strong breeze throughout aided’ first Horowhen.ua who played with it at their backs in the first spell, arid later King Country, and was a decided factor in the game. In the first half, Horowhenua,, aided by the breeze had the opposition penned in their 25 practically throughout, and it wda early in this spell that Stoker, Who played and outstanding game of the day, gained the try for his side from a pass by Hakaraia. Jacob goaled. The visitors were playing a fine defensive game .and towards the end of the spell made a determined attack on the local, line which resulting in a free kick, 1 enabled Raleigh to goal for King Country, the spell ending 5—3. In; the second spell, King Country took the initiative, whilst Horowihenua started with wild passing which lost them several opportunities. Half-way through Nikora, assisted by Carlson scored a good try. the kick failing. Score 6—5. The play was very even from this on,, both sides making repeated ■efforts to ’score which failed through deadly tackling. The game ended without alteration in the score. Mr T. Parata was referee.