FOOTBALL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7907, 24 August 1905, Page 2

FOOTBALL

AUCKLAND Y. TARAHAKI. VISITORS ISIS BY 6 POINTS TO 5. k ikm GATE. The conditions were in every way favourable ior the Taranaki-Auckland maich, which took place on the racecourse ground 011 Thursday afternoon. The weather cleared up during the morning, and the sun shone out bright, and clear. The great interest shown in the meeting of the old rivals was demonstrated by the large attendance which lined the ground. Despite the fact that the racecourse is not a popular ground with the public, as it docs not enable the spectators' to witness the contest to anything like the same advantage as on the Recreation Ground, there was a crowd oi about 2500 persons, the gate receipts totalling the handsome sum of £ll3. The attendance included visitors in force from all parts of the district, the extra train service being largely availed of. The provision of extra seating accommodation was 'much appreciated by the comparatively few spectators who were fortunate enough to secure seats. The presence of one of the town bands might with advantage have been seen to by those responsible for the arrangements. The match, though keenly fought, was only a fair exhibition, and not up lo the standard of some of the previous contests between these old rival teams, who each recognise the oiher as "foemen \vorthy oi their steel," and at times excitement ran high. It was prophesied from the start that the contest, woald be a close one, and the prediction was fulfilled to the letter. Though 1K , Taranaki team was not the formidable combination of old, and Auckland did most of the attacking, the issue was never quite beyond doubt, and it was only in the last quarter of an hour that the supporters of Taranaki resigned themselves to defeat. The teams were constituted

Taranaki Fullback, Coleman (Hawera) ; three-quarters, Nicholas (Patea) ; wing, Hardgreaves (Tulcapa), centre, E. (Waimate) ; fiveeighth, Thomas (Stratford) ; half, Frewin (Tukapa) ; wing forwards, Guy (Opunakc), Rothery (Star) ; forwards, Osborne (Stratford), • ttil:;on (Hawcra), McKay (Waimate), Crowley (Okaiawa), Ryan (Star), J. Young (Stratford), Hamerton (Patea). Auckland : Fullback, Newdick (Thames) ; three-quarters, Twiname (Parnell), Magce (City), Wynyard (North Shore) ; five-eighth, Todd (City) ; half, Kiernan, captain (Grafton) ; wing forwards, TVler (City), Frascr (Waihi) ; forwards, Herring (City), Dunning (Ponsonijr), J. McGuire (City), Trcvarthrn (Newton), Francis (Ponsonby), Bonella (City) McGuirc (Grafton).

THE im As the teams lined out li was seen that Taranaki had rather the advantage of weight. They also secure.l the choice of ends, ami elected to play, with the wind at their backs and th..sun in their faces. Auckland kicked off, sending the ball well up the field to the Taranaki 25, and Burke returned, putting the leather .out of touch near the half-way flag. After a few exchanges of kicking,, without material gain to either "side, tiurke again lifted out of touch. At this stage Osborne received a nasty kick, which seriously affected his play for some time, but it wore off. Auckland forwards made a great rush a red carried the play into the home team's territory, Thomas relieving by a smart kick to centre. The Bluo forwards again came rushing into l'aranaki's 2d, where they were penalised for offside play., burke made a long kick down the field, and Guy smothered Twiname's return, but owing to the failure of his pack to follow him his efforts were wasted, and from a succession of serums in which Auckland had all the best of it, Todd kicked the ball away over the heads of the crowd. Play continued in Taranaki territory for some time, Auckland's strenuous efforts to score being frustrated by the go.d work of Hardgreaves • and Thomas. Then tlie visitors instituted a smart passing rush, in which Magce and Frascr were,prominent. Burke marked, and Twiname fumbled in Mb return, but recovered and booted out of play ijust -in time. The forwards now began to make things lively, Guy and Crowley putting in solid work. The Auckland pack was outclassing' the Blacks altogether in the scrums, but the Taranaki wings were too smart for their opponents and snapped up the ball repeatedly just as the Auckland forwards had cleverly shot it out of the serum. Burke put in some good kicking, but his propelling power was far superior to his judgment. From a scrum in midficld Taranaki got a free kick allowed ior handling, and Hardgreaves made a shot at goal. The effort was fruitless, and Auckland again pressed hard taranaki's line, but Burke relieved. Hardgreaves made about the first run for the local back division, and gained a lot of ground, but was not supported, and when he got to Auckland s 25 was blocked, so he booted out of touch. McGuire, Francis and lloiiella headed a great Auckland rush and soon shifted play into the Taranaki quarters, but Thomas, Rolhery and Guy got on 3., dribbling rush and put Auckland on the defensive for some time. Hardgreaves kicked, but r laser intercepted and cut for the other end of thp lipid, Play for the next few minute* -.was of an uneventful nature. Coleman had a narrow escape by mulling, but quickly recovered himself and kicked out when the Blue vanguard was. threatening. The Auckland fullback did the same tiling a little later, fumbling four or five I times before at last he got hold of 1 the ball. Auckland now became more ■dangerous than ever. Up till this they had had all the hest of it, and several times looked like scoring. Taranaki had several lucky escapes one of these occurring when Wynyard, Todd, Twiname and Kiernan successively handled the ball in a smart run, but the ball was kicked out of Play, and "touch in goal" resulted. Hamerton Was disabled at this juacjure. He mafic a tjive for Francis just as tile laftcf got rjd' of the ball, and struck his )]eaj| very severely on 'i PPPOupflt's knpe. Ij was §oon seen that he would bp upablp tp continue, having received slight concussion. He was removed to the hospital. Auckland maintained their advantage, and by good line work and a series of scrums worked close to the line. Kiernan marked and kicked across tli-o field, lite ball returning to him, ho lan across and passed to Todd, who tiansferrcd to Wynyard, and the latter player being missed by Guy, made a fine dodgy run and scored right on the flag. Thp kipk at gpa| failed. Auckland '6 Taranaki p ' IwHh STm" 18, Taranaki got to work [wun a little more vigour, but Twiname s topped the forward rush bv a ;smart kick out of touch. Auckland wue using ti re time to some advan- ! tage, and gradually decreased thodis- 1 linp * kT" lhe !" an<l thc coveted , JS; A ICI at goal by Francis went wide the player allowing too miich i -with * r"'i , » ar Wes' ?ctu"n !i ' 'Witli a gi a " ( i klc k. This player was far ami awaf abfivp (he test; of Taranaki s back division wjth the 'exception of Thomas, who plavcd a sterling game though h c was not thc Jo B Thomas of ojd. The Taranaki foi'j wards werp unable tf> do much with their opponents in (Jie open, (hough when the game closed up they had ft i

[better ei;a;;ce. .Roihery speculated at a rolling ball, which re-bounded from an oppusing front-ranker to liardgreaves, and his kick re-bounde<l away; past his tuilback, who gave the 'iaranaM supporters an anxious time as he . seemed 10 tumble when the Auckland \anguald was last approaching, but ' he cleverly got his kick in, and saved. 1 . A desperate attack by the Blues was 1 Islaved off by Crowley, Guy and loung. Krasei seized the ball and put in a strong run, only to be grassed by 'J'nomas in a dangerous posi- ' lion. Kraser, Todd, Wynyard, Kiernan, 'lyler and iVlagee played up prominently during the remainder oi the nrst spell, which ended with Taranaki playing hard on the defence. (Jn changing ends, the Taranakl formation was altered, in order to replace Hanierton, Hothery (wing) played in the pack, and Guy was commissioned as a sort ol rover. Even with this change the loss o( Hamerton was sorely felt, as he had been following up splendidly and playing with a dash that was not seen in the rest of the pack. Todd and Wynyard oy, smart dodgy passing runs, got dangerously near the line, but Hardgreats saved with a line speculation nick as the ball came rolling from a tcrum, but Taranaki was soon busy again defending the line. The local men were forced. Then the spirit that has so long pervaded the forwards seemed, to assert itself,; and the Blacks forced the visitors back to their own territory. The crowd became more and more enthusiastic and the excitement found vent in a series of delighted yells and frantic waving of hands as Hatdgrcaves dashed over the line and notched first score for Taranaki. It was a fine piece of work. Thomas made an opening, and, after a short run shot the ball on to Hardgreaves, and this player dodged and squirmed his way through his opponents until he had achieved his object. Taking the kick himself, he placed a fine goal. Taranaki ... " 5 Auckland 3 Play was now more willing than ever. Kiernan got a nasty kick on the knee, and Wilson suffered similarly. Auckland penned the local men in their own 25, and but for a few dashes by which play was shifted for a few moments at a time to tho Blues' territory, they had a great advantage right up to call of time. There was nothing brilliant: Magce notched a try for Auckland. He secured the ball from a scramble and sent it on to Todd. This player soon got rid of it, and the toll passed through the hands of Fraser, Kierand Todd again, and back to Magee. He took the ball with'one hand when going at full, and knocking the local backs over like ninepins, got over the line near the corner flag. Todd's kick at goal fell short. In the remainder of the game there was little Incident, except that the crowd gradually encroached -on the field of play and |'it\cnled the reporters irom viewing the game. Prominent in the defensive work done at this stage were Guy, Rothery, Young and Crowley in the forwards and Thomas in the back division. The game ended Auckland g Taranaki ... " 5

MOTES ON THE GAME. The scores can hardly be taken as a criterion of the game. Taranaki's defeat will cause some speculation as to the reasons which led up to it. The kernel of the matter appears to be that Taranaki severely feels the loss of the men picked for the English team, while Auckland, "With a larger number of first-class men to select from, can creditably fill the places of the Home team. The combination, although minus the service; of "Scobie" McKcnzie (Grafton) for tins match, and Cootc (Waihi) and Hayward (Thames) for the whole tour is certainly a hard nut for anv of the other provincial teams to crack.

After the retirement of Hamerton eauy in the first spell, the question arose as to filling his place with Masters (Stratford), the first emergency in the forwards. Although the two skippers were willing, it was decided, in lace of the controversy raised on this subject, not to play asubstitut and from thenceforward Taranaki played one man short, a serious drawback, as it interfered materially with the combination of the team The handicap weakened Taranaki's forward work. The local scrum workwas much inferior to that of the visitors, despite the former's apparent advantage in weight. The front row jailed to 'hook," which is hardly to be wondered at when it is noted that one ol these men would keep his head above the scrum instead of watching the ball. Wiison, as a front-ranker, hardly showed up to "rep.;' form. The referee was slow to note the frequent handling of the ball In the scrum. Thc visitors were the chiel offenders in this respect. In open work Auckland also showed to advantage, the local men as a rule appearing to lack the dash and vigour which for years past has been assocjated with the Taranaki vanguard. Taranaki's back division had not the chances of their opponents' rear rank, and were kept pretty much on the defensive, in which their display was not overstropg, with the exception of one or two men. Nevertheless, they worked hard in a long and peisistent struggle in their own ter- » iT' j, * r ° r P 4 ® 6 an(l combination Auckland s back lino was certainly superior, and working behind a \fillmg pack, they got numerous open- " certainly does say something foi Taranaki s defence, rather by brilliant individual effort than combination, that a larger score was not made by Auckland. The collaring was pretty effective, hut when will some of the Taranaki footballers to collar low 7 Taking all things into consideration, Taranaki who have not had practice together', put up a fair performance. For the winners thc best -backs were Klicrnan, Todd, Wynyard and Twiname, who played a good aMacl.im' game. The best forwards were McGuirc, bonella and Francis, whilst Tyler and Frascr both playtd well as wipgs, •

laranaki's backs who showed up were Hardgreavetf and Thomas, witnout whom the team would have been lost. The former's display was equal to that of any man on the ground N'cholas was not up to the mark.i and Burkt( lacked judgment in his kicking. Frewin was not at his best, though his was a solid game. Rothery and Guv played right up to form. The forwards were dull, Ryan, Crow2'.' jT g r^ U , d McKa >' b ««S about the pick. Coleman, at full, was superior to Newdick, the Auckland fullback.

m!hi. J V of Palmcrston North, relcrecd the match, and the tne umpires were Messrs Spurdle (Taranan,) and Young (Auckland). 1887 ri-i i !" atchcs P |a >' w! sinc c tvTr Auckland lias novr won 10, and Tafanaki 5, while Jrhree draws are reeordei): T|rai)jtki wpji j n 1903 i, y g PiSWiK! yw at

Star 111. A ?• Hawera 111. The match between Star 111. and tho Hawcra Juniors, pl a y w l 011 the racecourse on Wednesday afternoon, resulted in a win for the visitors hv L p ? in „ ls X Scored fo? Star in the fust Isilf, and Brown socured a try for l-iawera about ten minute before call of time Nivcn converting, ■ - ■ ■ wl

Association Hepresentativcs. On Thursday, 17, u lc Corinthians (Auckland s champions) will play a. match against the local Association Club at the Recreation Ground. On the following Saturday they meet Witara, at Waitara. On both days the. kick-off is at 3 p ni. Bash Uniw Pat Dowb.

I nv r p„c<.f, Association.) PALMERSTOiN N., Aug. 33. Maiiawalu defeated the Bush Union I to-dav by 2fl points to 8. The visitors were outclassed iu every depart* ment.

Deism Deltits tin Aistiiiiais- , (Per Press, Assjciatiou.) NLLbON, Aug, 23. For the Australian match the . weather was line and the ground perfect.. About three thousand spectators wcra present. The local team, including players from Nelson, Marlborough Kent Coast and Buller Unions, lost the IOoS, and had tho disadvantage to play against a strong wind in tne lirst spell. It lulled down during the second. After being forced down iselson were penalised, and Wickham kicked a goal for the Australians, then Boon (Nelson) secured a try,' Which was not converted. This equalised scores.

In the second spell,. Comes (Nelson) obtained a try, which was converted by O'brien (Marlborougn), and Smith (Nelson) secured a mark which was also converted, Nelson thus won by ia to 3.

I lie visitors were entertained at a dinner to-night.

Wellington Seat Hawie's Bay. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 23. The Wellington "reps." beat Hawke s Bay to-day by U to 8. The game was played on a wet muddy ground, and was really a forward scramble "om foeginning to end. Canterbury i SoiiJland.

(Per Press Association.) INVERCARGILL, Aug. 23. Canterbury defeated Southland by 4 points (a goal from a mark) to nil.