FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 17 May 1907, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

| SENIORS. [ ELTIIAM (8) INGLEWOOD (3). These teams met at Inglewood. The ground was firm lint somewhat rough, and a cold wiiul was blowing. 'l'lie teams:

ELTIIAM. L. Moil*. c.. Lewis. E. Dive. T. GlentworUi. •T. Horse. K. lfro\vu. u i>ottsww!'' uT' A - w - smith, »■ Wilson, 11. Burke, F. Mac Donald. INGLEWOOD... ~ ~ . C.'. Miles. ' l - Hrtls ' T - Carroll. L ,le Laiinav. C. IV,(tier, 1,. '; lei-11 \\"l v. If. l'nrket.t. lulni.-tone. A. King «. Tayilor, 11, Wells, T. Knoflloek, L. Olson, A. Hopkins, .1. Lake. Hie game was keenly contested, . 7 . exw l'ting occasional Hashes of I individual back play by Inglewood and concerted back action by Ultham. it was nut an exciting exhibition. Two | Haiu-working packs were verc evenly , matched, Kltham working the 'serums to

better advantage during the first spell. a feature of the game iu which high-wood excelled during the second spell. Eltham kicked off against the wind. Elthani immediately setting up passin" rush. Dive finding the line in the Ma" roons 25. Potior cleared from a mark to halt-way, where Kltham was penalised. Morse relieved with a good dash taken ~p by the Blue and White forwards. lotier secured, but was grounded by 1.0w,5. Brown. Morse. Dive, and Uentworth handled the ball iu quick succession, the latter finding the. line, •mm the thrown iu, Greenway sent to ' ol ; ''.V a splendid line kick, shifted play right to the Eltham end. A scrum leas formed near the corner "Jig, hlthnm, m their eagerness to clear, being penalised, l'otier took the kick, and landed a beautiful goal. Jnglewood q Eltham '' ( ) After this incentive, Jnglewood infused additional dasli into their play but judgment was wanting, and Eltham had jo ioree twice in quick succession from long kicks l'otier started a passing rush, but the wings were found wanting Johnston, securing frrom l'otier, sent a ong kick to Moir, who returned weakly to De Launay, the latter making a dash tor the line. From the scrum' Eltham secured anil forced. Even nlav followed, Eltham endeavoring by means of passing rushes to equalise 'matters, tenalties for forward passing were frc. quent, and repeatedly allowed Potier to remove the ball from the danger zone. O'Carroll transferred play to Eltham end Were clearing after a clever mark Potier marked, and took a shot from half-way ,_ but missed, a like fruitless effort being made immediately afterwards from a penalty. After a spell of tight play in Eltham territory, Dive Morse, and Potts succeeded ill clearing the visitors' lines, but a penalty again enabled Potier to clear. Open play followed, with little advantage to either side, until l'otier set up a passing rush, De Launay, O'Carroll, and Curtis taking part, but the latter kicked too hard. McCraeken and Brown were next seen at the head of a rush, which was taken up by Dive, Morse, and Glentworth, the latter being thrown out near the Eltham line, l'otier relieved temporarily, but Lewis secured, and sent a long pass in to Dive, who made a great dash, transferring to Glentworth, who was smothered ou the line. Inglewood were penalised, Dive kicking a "poster." The spell ended after some hard but uninteresting play. Eltham now commenced to .throw the ball about more freely, and, long kicking, saw play near the Inglewood line. Elthani missed behind the scram, and tiie Inglewood forwards cleared with a fast rush. The Maroon forwards were now securing the ball in the serums, but their backs were not handling the ball with the same precision as their opponents/ and suffered by comparison. Morse secured ill midfield, and ran right through, being overtaken and held up"ou line by l'otier. Inglewood carried the scrum and cleared to half-way. After some even play, De Laii nay's return to Lewis was smothered. Brown picked up and sent to Morse, the latter transferring to Dive, who ran in and scored in a liandv position. Taking the kickDive landed a good goal. Eltham s Inglewood P, The Inglewood backs set up a rush, which was stemmed by Morse, lirowu was next prominent with a strong run. From a long kick by Moir, the Inglewood full-back missed, and McCraeken. following up smartly, secured and scut to Dive, who transferred to Glentworth, the latter shaking off all opposition and scoring. Dive kicked a poster. Elthani s Inglewood :i

Kltham hold the upper hand for some time, JJive having a good shot from a murk, ami l.ewis. almost ii!iincdi:iti>Jy afterwards, being <-o! Itreil on the Fnidewood line. Potior cic;irorl. but Lewis' return was niuHcd, and Inglewood forced. Potior, Oreenway, and O'l'arroll tried liard tn get away, but were ton will marked. Dive, sefuring from an Imrlowoud rush, essayed a "'pot,'' J Tic ball g"ing wide. The Maroons warmed up. -and gradually worked over the half-way line, mainly through the instrumental!) y of tin' forwards, and Potior and J)e Latin - ay. Fast following liji took the ball to the Eltiiam full-baek, but he dodged through, Morse seem ing ami uniting'in a splendid run. (ilentworth and Mac(Vacken took a hand, but were smothered, and Johnston cleared for Inglewood from the side of tile next serum. One of the Eltliam backs making a miskiek, Potior and Do Launav got aw,ay unexpectedly, and were only stopped on the goal line. Over-eagerness saw the aggressors penalised, Eltliam carrying 11 u; scrum and extinguishing the Maroon's last chance of equalising matters. The game was played in the best of spirit, and Mr Kivell gave satisfaction with the whistle.

The Xnglewood team is composed of a very even and hard-working set or forwards, but only Potior, de Latinay and O'Carroll are anywhere near senior form in tlio back division, Potior-standing out bv himself. Eltliam has a fast and even lot ill the forward ranks, the two wings. Potts and MoOraokcn. being particularly speedy. The backs are on the whole very light, but possess considerable pace, and showed good defence. Tito Brown, Dive and .Morse combination will probably be found very a effective one ere the season is much older.

CLIFTON' (») STAR (0). The Clifton anil Star teams tried conclusions at Waitara yesterday, and. after a. hard-lough!. though by no moans high-class game, victory rested with the homo team by live points to nil. It is a singular fact (hat this is the. first lime in thirteen years that Stars have been vanquished by the C'liftons oil the hitter's ground. Despite Stars' indifferent showing against oilier teams in successive years, a remarkable fatality seemed to dog Clifton's efforts, the Waitaraites, even when prominent in the premiership running being downed with persistent regularity by the New Plymouth

Stars, admittedly, had a weak team, being minus the services of Ryan and Whitnker. who wore incapacitated hist week. Courtney, TToskin. and Setford. Consequently several juniors bad to be renui.'.ifmned iind places readjusted. 'lbis evidently had a demoralising ell'eet upon the team, though all the substitutes played a useful game. Cliftons have *1 rough* reinforced their team this year. Rotherv. Pulford. MeAlpine, and Pukere being among the newcomers. From the start it was a forward game, indeed, throughout- the first half there was hardly any parsing worthy of the mme among the hacks. Clifton's advantage of weight in the vanguard was soon demonstrated, and before many minutes had claimed Stars were placed uu the defensive. The red and whiles were penning their adversaries down, when a iree enabled the blacks to clear. McLean was conspieuous in a Sta rush, and Thwn. kicking too bard, forced. Pulford. Pukere and Davidson came I down the field with a rush, but Pike, reliable and sure with bis kicks, relieved. 1 Smith also being handy when required. The Clifton forwards were in the ascendant for a time, but their backs, with the exception of Sampson, seemed unable to make much use of the leather. A smart return down the arena saw the Siars lacing for the ball, but thev overran their men. and one of the best (•bailees of the day to' weore. in a clear field, was lost by poor judgment. Then . Mc Masters and Lash started a bit of passing for Cliftons. but. a short pass was intercepted, and the play centred, t Stars were soon '•lmlloefced" down 1 bo : side line again, arid it was only by a I stubborn defence that they kept the red 1 and whites from scrambling over the . line. Stars' vanguard whipped the leather out of danger. Rothery secured

!'a mark within striking distance, and a fruitless kick by Sampson was a prelude to further scrambling near the line. ' Thomson slipped the leather out, and, I though the backs were at sea, the vanguard bore the opposition back, line kicks being resorted to. A .hard scrambling game was continued to half-time, Stars holding their own but never looking dangerous. The interval was readied without either side having scored. In the second spell there was a little more open play on both sides, and matters livened up from a spectator's point of view. Cliftuns were the first to make headway, and a scrum near the goal looked ominous. Pike found the line, and from the line-out Stars quickly changed defence into attack by breaking through A long kick saw a race for the ball. Ambury overran Itis mark, but one or two others arrived, and dribbled the, leal her down. Al the critical moment the necessary support was lacking, and the Clifton backs succeeded ill stemming a dangerous attack. Haskell, Sampson, and McMasters made a dash, stopped by Blown. Tom Smith put in some neat work by beating liotliery in a dasli for the ball, and touching down. Stars pulled llieniselves together a little after this let-oil', realising that they had all their work cut out to avert defeat.

From near half-way I'ukerc, a C.'iifton, lonvard, made a corkscrew run that promised well, especially as the attempts at. tackling him were ridiculously feeble, ile was at length gvassed, however, as also was Sampson, and some particularly exciting line outs and scrums took place right iu the corner. Had Clifton any brilliant men in the backs a score must have ensued, but the town men coiltested every inch of ground, and at length forced. Strive as they might, Stars could not get the ball past the half-way line. From this point liotliery saw an opening. Snapping up the ball he came with one of his bull-flog runs, reminiscent of his forcmr "rep." play and brushing aside those who tried to grass him, he scored a try in splendid style, touching down in goal. Sampson converted. J Clifton 5 ■Star 0 This reverse had a good effect upon the visitors, who set out determined t.o equalise matters. Give and take play followed, and then the red and whites were given a turn at defending their line. A free to the home, men eased olf matters at an interesting stage. Thomson tried to initiate some back play, and was well backed up by McLean, Smith and Pike. The improvement came too late, however, to lie of much service, the whistle sounding witli the visitors on the aggressive. STRATFORD (ti) v. TUKAPA (0). The weather was fine, but cold for the above fixture played at Stratford yesterday afternoon. A good number of spectators witnessed the. match. Tukapa did not present its strongest combination, some of the emergency men being called upon. Stratford won the match on superior strength, especially in the forward division. This team has un-

doubtedly one of the best packs in the ! division, ami should wore than hold its own throughout the season. Tukapa, on the other hand (with the exception of two ot three men), is anything but good in the forward ranks, although the back division is fairly solid. Stratford won the toss, and defended the eastern goal. From the kick oft' play was of an even, uninteresting nature for some minutes. Tukapa were awarded a free kick, and Hardgravcs had a shot at goal, but the ball fell short. From a scrum in neutral territory Frewin whipped out to Mynott, who put in a good run and transferred to Stannering, the latter nullifying a fair chance by running out. A lot of serum and line work ensued, the visitors having slightly the better of it. As the Stratford forwards wanned to their work they broke through time and again, but the visiting backs defended strongly, though the play steadily bore down into Tukapa territory. The Stratford backs got possession from a scrum and put iu a passing rush and looked dangerous, but were penalised arid play was removed to half-way. An exchange of kicks gave to the home team the advantage, their forwards again breaking through with the ball. The tension was temporarily relieved by afree kick to Tukapa, but before long the red forwards headed another fine rush, which was frustrated by the opposing backs. The visiting forwards here broke through and headed by Crowley (who played an admirable game throughout) reversed the scene of play. So aggressive was the rush that Stratford had to force to save. Tukapa returned to the charge, and from a loose rush Mynott secured and a few good passes were exchanged. Sluhr (Stratford) eased things by lindiug the line with a long range kick. Once more the visitors got to it, but hard kicking spoiled their chance. Fearon (Stratford's full back) relieving by long serviceable kirk. For the remainder of the spell the play was mostly confined to line ninl scrum work in mid-lield. the iirrtt halt of the game finishing without either side scoring. On resuming an interchange of kick's by the rear divisions ensued. Hardgraves getting in some beauties. From a throw iu, Stratford marked in front of the goal, but the kick went wide, (live and take play followed, during | whirl) Stratford again marked. Stohr I took the kick from nearly half-way, and I only just missed lauding a score. Tukapa

rallied, and I'm ceil their \v,iy down tin; line, where they were awarded a free kick. Ilardgraves attempted a kiek at goal, Iml the angle proved too difiicult. The Stratford forwards here put in several determined rushes, but through Uk'kiujr too hard, their efforts were nullified. They were soon again in Tukapa 25's. where Tukapa were penalised for oll'-side plav, Stolir took the kick, and placed a beautiful goal.

Stratford 3 'lukapa 0 More forward play on the part of the home forwards, with Tukapa all out defending. Stratford marked in front of the goal, and Stohr was again successful with the kiek. Stratford <S Tukapn 0 tin the leather again being put into phiv. Stratford again marked. Stolir, who' was kicking well, made another attempt without effect. Play centred for a term, and was of a fast order across the field and back. Out of a scrum Cameron for Stratford secured, ami was within mi ace of potting a neat goal. The home forwards, with .Toe Young foremost, shortly came along with a great rush, but hard kicking spoiled. Time and again the home forwards came through and a big score must have been ipiickly rattled up h;ul ih? men not been too eager. Tukapa backs here made a good clfort. Frewm whipped out the oval from a scrum, and parsed to Alvnoil, who transferred to Simmering. Stannering put ill his run? and passed on to Jfoneyfiekl. The latter, who had almost a dear run in missed rather an easy pass, and the chance of the day was lost. Stratford returned by high kicking and smart following up, Ilardgraves grassing his man splendidly right oil the corner. Willi only a few

minutes to go to (he home forwards tried hard to cross their opponents' line, but the Tukapa defence proved too solid, •lust before call of iinie the, visitors were particularly aggressive, and nearly got over oil tile corner, where Hardgraves relieved with a clever screw kick. Play ended with Hi- leather in Tukapa territory. Jlr. Proctor » iic game most sali^faelorilv.

SECOND GRADE. XT ATI (20) v. CLIFTON 01). Those teams met 011 On* New Plymouth race 'course. Tlic; visitors were very laic in arriving on the ground, and Hit* match did not start, till fully half-an-hour after the appointed time. Lined out. the Cliftoim looked much heavier than the home team. The visitors we™ one man short, playing without a fiveoiirht. Chances were all in favor of Clifton, and from the kick-off their big forwards made things lively. The visitors' avordupois carried all tlf scrums. There "was a good deal of line play. Stars using the boundary to good advantage, and gradually assuming the upper hand. The Clifton line was tlrst in danger, hut Pcllringor, playing in the new position of live-eight, sent hack a faulty pass, and the chance of scoring was lost. Poarce tried a pot. but the ball rebounded from the cross-bar. McCoy tried to catch the rebound, but just missed, and Clifton was forced. Two hot attacks on the goal line by off-side play by Pearce and Weller. I-Toin a free-kick Clifton forwards rushed, but hard kicking enabled Star- to force. .\ rattling forward rush, headed by Sangster and Crossman. brought the rods to hnlf-way. and off-side piny gave them a free kick, McKellar placing a lim* goal. The visitors had several narrow escapes, their full-back playing a fine game. The ' lithe backs of the town team, however, i played a nimble game, succeeding at last [in crossing the line, T. Hopkins notching ' first score. The kick at goal failed. Bell ringer now livened up to hi? game,

. and used the blind side of the scrum twice, the second time passing to Roeh, who scored. Stars continued Lhe at- . tack until half time, and opened the second spell by scoring two tries in rapid succession, Bellringer ami Walters dossing tile line. These seures were due to the neglect of the visitors to close their ranks after making an opening. Walters cut over again, bringing the seme to 15—3, Iml still the kickers failed at goal. From a passing run the Stars lost the ball to the Clifton full-back, but he muddled things, and McKoy scored as the result (if rapid following up. "Here's trouble." said somebody ill the crowd, as the h.-avy Clifton forwards got the ball at the foe, and rushed il down the.ficld. Weller got down to the rush, .and V. Pence and Bellringer turned the tables, enabling lion. Quilliam to get over th•> line. The red and whiles were by iimv nearly played out, and the Stars soon added another try, scored by Kennedy, (.'low landing the first goal, ami hriiiirii'if the total id ill—Clifton r. llied.'liut it Was all to no purpose, anil the whistle went without, further seore. Air (Jrif111.lis acted as referee, ami did Jioi pester the game with the whistle. TUKAI'A (1!)) v. STKATF(Hii) (8). These teams met at Western Park. The ground was iu excellent order, favoring fast play. The gime, though onesided, was interesting, last, and open, some good passing being witnessed. 'Hie I uke.pa man had an all-round advantage and ililed up It) points to their opponents' S. Tries for the victors were scored by Hooker, Stohr, McAllum, Webster, and .Mattheson, and two of these were converted by I'. Douglas and George. Mr. Spurdle was referee.

Ia'PIIAM (5) v. IX( ILK WOOD (0). (Special to '•News"). Eltham, May 1(1. At Eltliniii this afternoon, Eltham IT. defeated Tnglewood 11. bv 5 pointh to nil. .lohnsen scored for' Eltham after a short passing run, in which W. (llentworth and dc Launay took part. Johnson also added the major points. The game was poor. THIRD GRADE. The Star A (second juniors) v. Stratford, to have been played at Stratford, did not eventuate, owing to a mis understanding in the time fixed for the match. We understand the teams have mutually agreed to play the match on a date to be fixed. K.Z. RUGBY UNJOX. Per Press Association. Wellington. May 10. At a meeting of the management committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union to-night, a letter was received from the Hawke's Bay Union, protesting against the Wairoa sub-union being attached to (iisborne. Consideration of the matter was deferred for a week. It was decided that for the North and South Island match, seventeen men be picked for each team, allowing an emergency back and forward. For the New Zealand team to visit Australia it was decided to send 22 men.

NOTES. TV. Sangsti'T. who represented Taralmki from ldS7 to 181)5, with hut one year's intermission, took th« field yesterday for tlio Clifton second (■ram. ' He was soon recognised its an ''old hand," but the pace was rather hot for him, as he has of late years put on considerable adipose tissue. He sustained an injury to his shoulder during the latter pare of Thursday's game, and had to retire. The Star I. have an enthusiastic man-ager-lrainer-co.ieh in Mr. .11. -Stocker, and the "boys" have a wholesome regard for his counsels. On Tuesday they were practising, and prevailed ' upon their chief to play full back for them. They say Harry showed some of his old form.

Whitaker watched yesterday's football from the toucliline, recognising that his injured nasal organ was safer when he carried the line umpire's Dug than in facing the foe. Courtney was a noticeable absentee from the Star senior's ranks on Thursday. It is rumored that this most brilliant of last year's forwards has "given it best." It is a pity, for he would doubtless have secured ltis cap this year. Clow, one of the Star thirds, and Smith, second grade, oil yesterday's play, have every chance of promotion' to seniors before they have seen many seasons' service.

Crossman. a well known player of a few years ago. stripped for Clifton this season. The Clifton second team hails almost rntirely from the Irenui and I ruti districts, and some of the players had to travel fully thirty miles to take place in the Star fixture. D. MeKlimlan. an old Xew Plymouth player, was al*n in the team, playing at centre three»l«avti»r. He still retains his reputation as a goal-kickiM\ and it was his skill in this department that notched the only score for liis team. The Star-Stratford third grade match is to he played at the end of the present round.

From present appearances it is quite feasible that the Kecreation ({round's playing field will be ready for one of the later representative •matches.