FOOTBALL.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 408, 5 October 1889, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

Ook representative team of footballers re- ■ turned last Saturday after a trip extending over three weeks and three days. Great things were expected from the team before it left, and great has been the disappointment of Auckland footballers and the public at the results of the most important j matches. Six games were played'altogether. Our men won three, drew one, and lost two, The provinces we have beaten are Hawko's Bay, Nels-on and Taranaki ; we drew with Otago, and were beaten by Canterbury and Wellington. This is not by any msans a good record for a team that was backed and at very short odds to win every match ; and many are the inquiries as to how it came about. "How did you come to the Canterbury match ':" and " Why did you not win at Wellington ?" are questions asked by everybody. The reply is " Hard luck," but unfortunately that reply does not get over the fact that these matches have to be recorded as losses. It is claimed that with a different referee the Canterbury match would have been counted a victory for Auckland. Otapo's victory on Saturday last shows that there must havo been something wiong in Auckland's defeat. \b the same time it must be admitted that the play of our men was not nearly so good as it should have been, and was a remarkable falling-oil" from that shown against the Maoris. Then when our men did settle down to hard play, their opponents stopped it in the old style of falling on and holding the ball. In Wellington the team had very hard luck in playing on such a wet day. The ball was thick with mud and played very dead indeed, so that the ru.-hes of the forwards were continually neutralised. The backs could hardly keep their feet, and Wynyaid fell once when past everybody but the full-back. Then Ellison got his try by loafing about 30 yards off-side. The ball hit about the only tuft of grass on the ground, and just touched Warbrick, so that- Ellison was put on side and dashed in, scoring a try. Then two inches higher would have converted Jorvis' try into a goal, but it is just these littlo bits of hard luck, as wo call them, that matches are lost and won on. The hardest match of the tour wag that at Dunedin, and the draw there was about the fairest result, though again hard luck dogged our men, for Elliott and O'Connor should both have scored. Tne Dunedin forwards weie a very strong, hard-working lot, but spoilt their game by picking up, a habit that was too common with some of our own men in one or two of the matches. The Wellington game was no doubt a tough one, but the wet day robbed it of a gooi deal of interest. The easiest game our men had to play was that at Nelson. From the first kick-off it was quite clear that the Nelson men were quite over-matched, and that the only question to be decided was — How many points can Auckland score ? The ground and weather suited our men to a nicety, and from the iirsfc the forwards played well into the hands of their backs, allowing the latter to do the scoring. The score, 25 points to. nil, put up by our men, makes a record in interprovincial football, and nobody was more surprisod than the losers. In the previous week they had played a very even game with Wairarapa. and Wairarapa is cons derod quite as good a team" as Wellington. Yet Wellington beats Auckland, and Auckland scrres 25 points against Nelson. A good deal of interest was excited by the last match of the tour, that against Taranaki. The Taranaki men beat Auck-' land on their visit here, and beat the Englishmen when the latter toured the colony, and were very confident that tliey had one of the best teams in the colony. They were known to bo strong, hardy fellows, with plenty of dash in them, and a big light was expected. However, want of combinntion told on their play, and in spite of rather a weak start, when the} had all the advantage ol wind and sun, Auckland won easily enough by 6 points to .nil. In the second spell the Taranaki men were fairly beaten, being kept close in their own 25 most of the time. Oiva consideration of the merits of the various teams in, the colony I ani still inclined to think, despite reverses suffered, that the Auckland reps, play about the best game all round. The' forwards, when play r ing their best, dribble better than any others. The Dunedin men pick up too much, while in Wellington they kick; too hard. Our collaring, too, is remarkably good among the forwards. On' the line;ou ( t the Dunedin men are rather better than ours, and tho Wellington men are hard to boat for fast following. In scrum work our men, ay« 'the equals of ,'any, meeting their toughest opponents in Dunedin. Jp. backs, taking thorn

all round, the Aucklanders are much befcte than any other combination in the colony. Jervis is certainly the beet three-quarter in New Zealand, Wynyard is very, hard to beat at centre three-quarter, and there is no cleverer Half than Rees. -Thomas may be a better, fullback than Lusk,.,but> he was not properly tried, and the question between the two has yet to be' 'decided.' For an allround back, Warbrick is a wonder, though he is now unfortunately lost to the colony, having left last Saturday fcr Brisbane. He makes mistakes when playing full, two of them having proved fatal for us, but at half or three quarter he saves the full a wonderful lot of work, and does his own as well. Then we met no half who plays with Elliotts dash. Lynch, of Dunedin, is a fine outside throe-quarter ; Dave Gage, , of , Wellington, is also a very good man ; and the three Taranaki three-quarters (jood, Hernptdn, and Bayly, play with lota of dash. Hobbs and Wilson, of the Christchurch team, played very well, especially in their passing and kicking. Harper, of Nelson, was a great disappointment as three-quarter, as he did nothing at all to bear out his reputation. Keogh, the crack Dunedin ■ half, would be very dangerous against weak collaring, as he is up to all sorts of tricks, but did nothing wonderful against our men. Mo3t of the other halves we met have too strong a tendency to play ofFsidc. In Christchurch they had their arms round Braund before ever the ball came out of the scrum. In this brief review I have paid little attention to the game at Christchurch and the form shown by the Canterbury men. My reasons will be sufficiently obvious. 1 Dunedin footballers are ahead of the other provinces in one respect, namely, the possession of a club room where meetings can beheld, papers are kept, and playeiscan meot sociably without the inconveniences of an hotel. The room is taken by the year and members of various clubs are allowed the ueo of it on payment of a small annual subscription, while dubs can hold their meetings in it on similar terms. The Auckland Union is surely strong enough to make an experiment on the same lines. It would be pretty sure to find great favour with athletes of all classes from the many advantage* connected therewith. The following from last week's "New Zealand Referee" will explain some of the disappointment of our reps with their visit to Christchurch :—": — " There is no doubt the Auckland representative footballers had good ground for their complaint (which by the way, was recorded in the Auckland journals) that the treatment they as visitors received while in Christchurch wa«« shabby. . With the exception of the Rev. ,7. Hontron, there was no official of the Canterbury Rugby Union to meet the Aucklunders on their arrival, and very few, if indeed any, of the local footballers seenud to bother themselves about looking them up at ajpy time aft* r they did arrive. Certainly dragn were placed at their disposal by the Union, but it was not till the day of the match that the visitors came in contact with the majority of the Canteibury team. This certainly can hardly be called a hearty welcome or hospitable. The only occasion on which Canterbury footballers gave the slightest approach to hospitality was at the smoke concert on the evening of the match when all, I understand, appeared to thoroughly enjoy themselves."