THE FIRST DEFEAT. London, October 19.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 323, 8 December 1888, Page 3

THE FIRST DEFEAT. London, October 19.

The New Zealand "Football .'team left London on Friday afternoon, .for Birmingham. Thdy were met' at the'station'by^ Mr Scolt' who' had preceded thfettVby^ 24 hours, and procured comfortable quarters at line Colonria'de hotel, New-street. l Th'd Moseley Club, ' j against which the team 'played on Saturday, j was composed ,of very different materials to i Surrey or Kent. The latter fifteens wer'e in tlie main 'Varsity men and English gen- j tlemen, who, although anxious to win the game, were yet scrupulously fair as to the methods they employed to gain their end. Mose'ey, on the contrary, is composed of rough '-JTlrummagem Boys" without much conscience. They are known in the Midlands as the " Win, ! Tie, or Wrangle Club," and ' on Saturday they played woll up to their reputation. l"n the wrangling line, moie particularly, the Moseley boys proveithemselvesexperts, disputing every possible point in a most unhanUsotne and discourteous &tyle. Their mode of play was rougher, the Is'cw Zealanders say, than any they have previously experienced. Within tho ftrbt fifteen minutes, Willie Wnrbrick and Wynyard were badly hurt, and for the rest of the match the New Zealanders were two men fehort. Add tiD this that they had all bad colds, and were some of them feeling a little tf soft" atter their farewell festivities in London, and you will admit the colonists played a t gallant game under considerable difficulties. Tho Reddings, where the match was played, is at the entire south side of Birmingham, andfacce MoseleyHall.theseatof Mr Cadbury, of chocolate fame. Once again the clerk of the weather favoured Mr Scott, and the afternoon being splendidly fine the " gate *' was the largest ever known at a football match in tho Midlands. Es'imates vary as to the oxact number of persons pre&ont ; 1 should &ay between 5,000' and 6,000. It will be seen from the following detailed account of the match, from the Birmingham '{ Daily Gazette,'' thatthcplayof theMbbelcy men was so disgracefully rough as even to excite disapprobation amongst the local onlookers, whilstthe New, Zealanders thioughout showed conspicuous good temper and moderation : —

PARTICULARS OF THE MATCH. j The visitors won the toss, and cho.se th® bottom goal, having a strong wind ab thei 1 ' backs, but facing the rather steep hill which unfortunately characterises the Mdseley ground. The kick-oft was well returned, and &ciummaging followed in the cfentre. The Maori forwards came through tjie pack with the ball at their toes until Byrne stopped the rush and put in a useful run. W. Warbrick's kick was charged down, and the ball was taken to the front of the visitors' goal, where t A., Smith gave Mylius a capital chance of scoring, but the latter failed to pick up. , Ellison and TJaiaroa came away with tho ball at their toes in fine sbylo^and Wynynrd carried it further on ; i^VPfrying kick by A Smith being charged clown and letting ohe visitors into the home 25. i Both teams were evidently playing under considerable excitement, and the play was of a straggling aiid uncertain character. The Maori backs were not very, smart in picking up, several gopd opportunities wore thereby lost, but much of this was" probably due to their beitjig strange to tho ground. Moseley once more advanced to the visiting '25, but Madigan and Elliott soon brought the ball back. Gage, M. Smith, Taiaroa, and Ellison werenexb prominent tor the irrespective sides, and Lean brouahttheballthrough the pack in good style, though he neutralised the effort by kicking too hard. Ihimaira ("Smiler "'), who wa& playing without boots, made a clever run, and, the ball being taken up by Taare, the Moseley 25 was reached. Here, from a line out, Ellison secured possession, and ran in a grand try amidst cheeis, which were again and again renewed when McCausland converted it into a goal. Moselev next scored a touchdown, and shortly afterwards A. Rogers gained a try for Moseley after a grand bit of play by Byrne and A. Smith. The last named made the score level by placing a capital goal— the cheers of the spectators being very great at this success of the home team. Wynyard had some time before this been compelled to retire owing to a sprained ankle, and tho Maoiis were still further handicapped shortly afterwards by the full back, \V. War brick, sustaining a similar mishap. They were thus two men short, but they struggled manfully against the odds. The Moseley men again returned to tho attack, and J. H. llogeis claimed a try after p lot of wild passing amongst the home players. Those in a capital position lor judging held tho ball to have been " thrown forward" several times., but the referee allowed tho point, and A. Smith kicked another goal, Moseley at half-lime being a goal to tho good. Still playing two men short, the Maoris commenced the second half, aud they played up in a mo&t determined fashion. They kept Mosoley almost continually on the defensive, but were unfortunate in nob being able to score anything but minor points. At length Elliott, after a strong run, scored a try, but it was boo near the touch line to be further utilised. W. Warbrick hereabouts came on the field again, but ho was of very little use to his side owing to his injury. The Maoris still kept up the pressing, and, scrimmaging just in front of the Moseley goal, would have been certain bo score had nob Robb'ins resorted bo the not very sportsmanlike practice v of running back to touch down in ,order to averb the certain try. Soon after this one of the visitors ran in, bub bho referee declined to allow the try, and when bho whistle blew Moseley had j inflicted tho first defeat on the Maoris in j this country by two goals and one minor point to one goal one try and four minors. As. to the play of the two teams it is to be regretted we cannot speak in the same terms of both. The Maoiis came here with the allegation from some quarters, of having been unnecessarily rough in the Ken,t match. If Saturday's game beany criterion, then the charge, must rest on the most slender foundation. Throughout they played a most gentlemanly andsportsmanlike game seeking no mean advantage from the unwritten principles which , should guide the game. Their forwards "were very smart, always on the ball, and following up unceasingly. Ihimairq, Oage, Elliott, and Madigan were the best of 'the backs, ' " Smiler " especially playing a fine game in the best possible good humour. -Both- backhand, for- ( wai'ds, .however, have a lf lot_ to learn in the art of passing and combination, and they lost many grand opportunities through not picking up amarbly^and their inability to make " free catches." ■ As ,to>the Moseley men, with one or twoexcegbions,^.they were exceedingly and -unnecessarily Trough, arid* "play had 1 on several' occasions b6 be stopped: owing bo the temporary disablenierithof one or other. ,of, the^- Maoris.- 1 . Once* in '.the, second half; i one^of .the,- Moseley .backs, 'showed the utmost recklessness in ohavgin^. .Hip field v and /[jumping' , indiscriminately; right on top of two of the Maoris'/rwholwere. trying for a free catch, and thereby dis?, 1 , abliner one -of them. Had a Maori been'

. ' guilty pf the same jibing he .would doubfcles . have been uo,oted,off the^field'by the Moseley spectators.,, The spirit.alao which prompted. , one of the players to, run back .and touch down, so as to avoid a, certain try on ,tbe part of the Maoris was in very bad tastej and had- the new rules — which come, into force, on lsfc November.— been in operation at the would have been altogether fruitless.

DISCREDITABLE ROUGHNESS OF THE MOSELEY MEN. , On this point the "Birmingham Post,'' more especially, is particularly emphatic. It cannot say enough, too, in praise of the visiitori-s'. pluck and stubborness. The adverse state of the game only roused 't'he Maoris to fresh exertions. Although playing two men short, they at once asserted a superiority which they never for a moment lost. It is not too much to say that theMoseley men all through the second half only once looked dangerous. During the whole time they were kept almost entirely on the defensive. No reverse could abate the courage of the New Zealanders, who struggled most gamely up to the very moment of the call of time. Though beaten, thoy have won iresh honours. They played a acrupulously fair a honourable game — resolute, Lut not rough. They have shown, too, that they know how to contend against a persistently adverse fortune, and that they can play a lo&ing game with indomitable courage and without ill-cemper. One matter must still be touched upon. In the reports which have already appeared the Moseley men have been charged with undue roughness towards their opponents. The charge has been warmly resented, and a letter fiom an old Moseley player gives to the charge an emphatic contradiction. We very much regret that we cannot .see our way to confirm the contradiction of our correspondent. Our opinion was very strongly that the Moseley men, with some honourable exceptions, played a rough, and even savage game. The match was never a goodtempered one, but all the ill-temper appeared to emanate from the local men. We certainly saw Mr Brecden, the Moseley umjitre, btoj) one of his men ivho was rmiiintf a( a Maori player xoith upraised x fibt. An accident to ono of the Maori players during the second half of the game was distinctly caused by one of the Moseley backs leaping upon hint xohile, he was waiting for the ball. The charges cannot be met by ill - tempered aspersions upon the capacity or honour of the press, and our correspondent protests a litte too much. We notice, that in the report in yesterday's " Referee" it is stated " the locals showed unmistakable signs of roughness." That the Maoris themselves deny that any unfair violence was used against them is but an additional evidence that they play the game with a chivalry which their opponents forebore to imitate. We do not attach much importance to the matter — the roughness of the Moseley men was no doubt due to a natural over-eagerness to win— and we should not have referred to it if Mr Mitchell had not so brusquely challenged the accuracy of the press opinions.

TEAMS. i The following were the teams :— Maoris : W. vYarbrick, back ; Madigan, McCausland, Gage, three-quarter backs ; Elliott, Ihimaira, and Taare, half-backs ; Wynyard, Webster, Karuria, A. Warbrick, Lee, Williams,' Taiaroa, Ellison, forwards ; umpire, Mr X Warbrick. Moseley : R. Smith, back ; A. Smith, Mylius, A. Rogers, and E. J. Bryne, three quarter backs ; M. Smith and J. Bobbins, half-backs ; Lycett, Niccol, J. H. Rogers, Leau, Dawes, Mason, Jackson, and Boutcher, forwards ; umpire, Mr W. Breeden. Referee : Mr G. Gill (Leamington).

NOTES ON THE MOSBLBY MATCH. An expert onlooker furnishes me with the following notes on the Mosel&y match : — " The Mosoley team was obviously far inferior to the visitors, and only great luck enabled them to score at all. The New Zealandevs lost one of their best forwards a few moments after the commencement of play, and their full-back a little later, yet they managed to keep the ball almost entirely in the Home team's ground throughout die afternoon. The New Zealanders were, no doubt, somewhat disheartened after a time by the erratic play of the backs. I don't know whether it was owing to the new ball that the New Zealand backs misled it so often, but the fact remains that Goldsmith and Taare, usually, as you know, sure catches, seemed quite "off," as Arthur Roberts would say. One does not like to hint at unnecessary prejudice on the part of the referee or umpire, but really the local gentleman who acted in those capacities were, to put it mildly, somewhat eccentric in their versions. Moseley'o first try was, in the opinion of all iootballers present, no try at all, as the ball was knocked on over ten yai'ds, yet the umpire gave it as one. Their second try was fair enough. Throughout the afternoon tho umpire interferred with the game in a moat unsportman-like and improper manner, and both he and the referee made no secret of their earnest desire for the Moscleys team's success. In the opinion of the New Zealanders tho game was vefy fast, but they thought the backs on both side played indifferently, The star of the occasion amongst the colonists was unquestionably Ellison, whoso brilliant run secured the first "try" (from which McCausland kicked a goal), and who did all the work towards the second "tiy."' Elliott absolutely touched down on the last-named occasion, but the ball was passed to him by Ellison, who was collared when well nigh over the goal line. This "try" the Moseley men, with very bad taste, disputed, but their wrangling was a triQo too audacious even for the referee, and after several minutes delay the point was reluctantly conceded to the colonists. Creorgc Wynyard, one of the best forwards in the New Zealand team, was the man hurt lir&t in the Moseley game. His knee is badly twisted, arid' he will not be able to play for three weeks. Poor W. Warbrick is in a far woi'se plight. He had hardly recovered from the shaking he received in ,the Kent match, aud strictly speaking ' ought not to have played. When hurt he was on the ground, and should not have been touched, but one of the Moseley* men, apparently of malice prepense, literally jumped upon him, smashing the unlucky man's collarbone and .breaking a blood vessel in the thigh, besidos bruising him all over. He will not be able to play 'for six weeks at least, which is a great pity, as' in the Surrey ancVKent matches he showed .much smartness. Both \Vynyard and W. Warbrick are in bed and in splints. Elliott, was the,,, only!. back who .distinguished himself at Moseley. Madigan got no slipw t ,Tjpr did Qage,at J thr,ee T quarfcers. MoCausland had to, play '.full back after \Yarbrick's ajCcidejiti ,aud Taare to talse up a ne\y ( position ,oli the field". \, Of, the for-, wards' T4iaroa, Lee, and; above all,' Ellison did most' >york.,, ', V , -\, * .' ■■ ,- .

:t ; . BIRMINGHAM HOSPITALITY.-, | .glThere'was nothings" Brummagen" j 'about" ] the Birmingham boys hospitality. 1 ' 'A< large* i .conbigerib of f oobballets'me^ the'team^at thestafciori* and they 1 weredriveri to land 'from the' m'atehgrbund* iri^very r superiori breaks . draHvrtV'by four ' greys and "three ' 'boys , respectively. . . . .

On Friday evening the New Zealanders were taken to Day's Music Hall, and on Saturday morning they paid an interesting visifc to the famous eleefcro-plate factory and show , rooms of Elkihgton and Co. On Sunday ( evening they were present at a sacred concert.' ~ /,'.,,'' I almost forgot to mention 'Keogh'a cold was so bad he couldn't play at Moseley^and. that he was much missed by the threequarters. Williams played for the first time in England, and was fairly useful, and " Smiler " got warmly applauded for his undiminished good humour under several severe provocations. When this Maori does lose his temper, I pity the individual .he falls foul of. The Canadian footballers (Association game) played the Swifts at the Oval on. Saturday, before royalty and some 10,000 spectators. If Mr Scott is wise he will arrange some such swell occasion for the Maoris on one of the big metropolitan grounds. If the Canadians drew 10,000 to the Oval, the New Zealanders would draw 20,000. The northern football teams are evidently very rough. At Liverpool on Saturday a match between Everton and Notts, in which the former triumphed, ended in a free fight.

DEFEATED BY BURTOJST. The New Zealand Football Team, which is making Birmingham its headquarters till' after the match with the formidable Midland Counties Union to-morrow, left there for Burton-on-Trent at 11.30 yesterday morning. The weather was again magnificent, and fully 5,000 persons assembled afe the football grounds to witness the match. My representative has not as yet had time to send me his notes on the match, so I can only tell you what the Birmingham papers tell me. The team seems to have been a very strong one, but with average luck the Maoi-is would have won McCausland, for once, was quite off colour, and missed two easy goal a. Moreover, the umpire appears % to have mistakenly given the home team na* advantage which led to their winning the game. The New Zealanders met the local team at Burton-on-Trent. Magnificent weather favoured this intei'esting event, and some 5,000 visitors were present~to witness the match. The visitors won the toss, and. Burton kicked off with a slight breeze in their favour, and immediately carried the ball into dangerous proximity to the visitors' goal line. Madigan relieved, but Burton was not to ' be denied, and kept up the pressure for ten minutes, compelling the Maoris to touch down several times in self-defence. Taiaroa obtained possession and made a splendid run amid considerable applause, and passing smartly to Elliott, a try looked inevitable, but the effort only resulted in a touch down. Burton continued to hold the lead, wich minor points, and a good run down by the home team resulted in Sully taking a drop at goal, which, however, was slightly wide. Keogh and F. Warbrick in turn were applauded for pretty smart play, but the home backs tackled splendidly and averted any scoring. The Burton forwards carried the ball down,, and Surtees passed to Frank Evershed, who, after a dodging run obtained a try, when Sully converted, and when half-time arrived Burton led by one goal and five minors to two minors. Shortly after changing over, Ellison evading his opponents got behind, and scored a try, which enabled McCausland to equalise. After some give-and-take play, Gaze, who had been playing extremely well, got a free kick, which McCausland put in just under the bar. Immediately after this Elliott obtained a similar advantage, but again McCausland failed. Play was somewhat retarded by the Maoris repeatedly throwing in forward. Tom Richardson was next conspicuous by a good run, but Evershed failed at a drop kick. Elliott and Gage cleared and changed the venue of play, the latter being stopped by Sully, when he was dangerously near obtaining a try. The Burton forwards carried the bali well up, and it went into touch in the visitors' quarter; the Burton umpire erroneously gave the throw in to Burton, and this slight advantage was disastrous for the Blacks, for the ball was quickly parted to the extreme right, and Marsden obtainiug posses ion, got in and obtained a try, which was next to impossible to convert, and Sully failed in the effort. The Home team now held an advantage of one try and three minors, and only eight minutes to play. The visitors played up grandly, and made heroic efforts to wipe out this lead, the two Warbricks putting in some pretty play. Nothing further, however, was scored, and the game ended in a victory for the home team. Score : — Burton, one goal, one try, and seven minors ; New Zealand, one goal and four minors. Teams : —

Maoris.— Nehua (back), Madigan, MeCausland, and Gage (three-quarter-backs), F. Warbrick, Elliott, and Keogh (halfbacks), Ellison, Taiaron, Webster, Maynard, Anderson, Alf. Warbrick, Arthur Warbrick, and Lee.

Burton. — Eddie (back), Evershed, Sulley, and Marsden (three quarter-backs), Duckworth and Surtees (half-backs), Tom Richardson, Fred. Richardson, Mayner, F. Evershed, Bell, Hacker, Wright, Falkner, and 'Day kin.