A 15 POINTS WIN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 207, 21 August 1908, Page 4

A 15 POINTS WIN.

TARAjNAKI DEFEAT WELLINGTON.] PLAYED IN HAD WEATHER. I AN INTERES'mG GAME. | Willi the wet weather prevailing and tlie bail taste in tilie public mouth as : the result of the two previous repre- | tentative matches in New Plymouth,no ; one expected a large crowd at the ! Welliugton-Taranaki match yesterday. About 2000 spectators lined the terraces. The ground was wet und sloppy in places, but a huge improvement on what we would have iliad oa the same ground a lew years ago. Taranaki's win was unexpected bv tiie majority, and it was obtained because the team play-ed far beyond expectations. The forwards showed a hug.' improvement, putting a bit of dash into their work, and the backs handled the ball with wonderful precision. The Wellington team was not the strongest that that province can product', ltoberts and Tresizc being the principal absentees.

THE TEAMS. WELLINGTON (Biack and Gold). Full-back: 11. Rvan. Three-quarters: Eveason, Mitchell, McLeod. Five-eigntlis: Magee, J. Ryan. Half: Green. Wing-forward: Dewar. Forwards: Hardham, Alexander, "Rangi" Wilson, Rush, McKellar, Hamilton, O'Brien. TARANAKI (Amber and Black). Full-back: Hardgraves. Three-quarters: Dive, Cameron, C. Sheehan. Five-eighths: Hunter, Mynott. Halt: Frewin. Wing-forward: Colman. Forwards: O'Sullivan, Rotbcry, Crowley, Pukere, Tamu, Whittington Cain. THE PLAY.

Wellington won the toss, and elected f to defend the southern goal. Colman set the ball in motion, Magee returning | to touch in Wellington's 25. The Wei-1 lington forwards showed the greater I pace at the start, and crushed through i the Taranaki backs. Cameron booted , well npfield, McLeod marking and finding the line at half-way. Whittington set up a passing run, in which Mynott, | Hunter and Cameron took part, Cameron kicking to centre, where Hardlia'ii secured the ball and returned to ha.fvay. Considerable play followed, each line ending in Wellingtons [ favor. Cutting in, Hunter kicked Jo the Wellington full-back, who fumbled

badly, but got in his kick just in time to sixve. From a scrum Green secured and passed to Ryan and Magee, hut Magee'* kick failed to And the line, Hardgraves returning. After some scrum play Cameron got in a long kick into the visitors' 25, where the bad went out. Play centred in front of the Wellington goal, where. O'Stillivan and Rothery set up a dangerous-looking rush, but Taranaki was penalised for off-side play. Magee, Cameron, and M. Ryan indulged in some kicking, a line kick by llagee eventually linding the line at half-way. From the line-out a scrum' ensued, and Hardham and

"Rangi" Wilson pressed through, but Mynott found the line-out with a sharp kick. Mvnott made a nice opening, and passed to Hunter, who sent on a wretch-' ed pass to Cameron, the ball striking the ground at his feet. Mitchinson ami Hardham were on it like a Hash, and they chased up the field with the bail at "toe, Cameron's exceptional speed enabling him to distance them and force down. Shortly after resuming Dewar, the Wellington wing-forward, was penalised for off-side work at the scrum, and Colman kicked out. Rothery burst j through the. next scrum, but kicked a little too strongly, and Evenson chnnjr- | ed the scene, kicking high up Hie field.« Wilson followed hotly, and got the ball oiit at Taranaki's 23. Rothery ant, O'Sullivan effected temporary relief by herculean efforts in the loose, and Cameron took a hand, but lie held too long and was grassed, Mitchinson again sendin" the ball up to the home team's end oftlie field. A scrum was formed, Whit-

tine-toil plugging through, l>ut Magee at ftve-eig'hths got in-a counter move, kit-king to Dive, who started a nice movement among the Taranaki backs, a forward pass nullifying the effort. T'ie Amber and Black' heavy brigade now secured the upper hand, Crowley, Rotherv. O'Sullivan and Cain leading m some that kept llitcliinson and Magee busy defending.. On one occasion llagee fumbled and fell, and the Taranaki leaders over-ran the ball. Before the Tank and file could close on it .1. Kyan picked up and lined just as Column got him low. Wilson, Bush, and llardham took charge from the next line-out, but llardgvavcs got in a magnificent kick, finding the line oil Wellington's side of half-way. Another chance was missed by Hunter sending a i'ault> pass to Dive within Wellington's i">vards' boundary, and the Black forwards, headed by Wilson, swept down the liehl. Hunter got the ball close to the line, and showed some hesitation, which ended in his being pushed nut. Wellington pressed hotly, Whit-. lington marking and giving llardgraves a chance to relieve. Sheohan attempted a run, but crossed the field without gaining ground. For hugging the ball 011 the ground a Wellington forward was penalised. Frewin, llunter, and Mynott put in a nice run, handling the slippery ball in. line style. They were backed up Will by the forwards and seemed to have a" score assured, when they were called back for an infringement, which was evidently not seen by the crowd, for they set up a prolonged hooting. A rush by Wilson and a smart run and kick to the line by McLeod placed Taranaki 011 the defensive. A miscalculation by llardgraves let the visitors up to within five yards of the goal line. A scrum was formed there, and things looked serious for Taranaki. Out came the ball to Wellington like clockwork, but. before Green could get hold of it Mynott and liothery were on top of it, shifting operations, llardham speculated, and llardgraves settled the result nf that invasion bv kicking out at halfway. Offside work about the scrum cost Wellington a free-kick, and Colmav sent a liieelv-judged kick to (he line near the visitors'" 25. From the lineout the ball was knocked back to "Marree, who, being hard pressed, lifted a short kick to Cameron. He made no mistake, but. set out for the. line, cleverly making his way to within a few yards I of the goal line. Mynott came up on the inside and Dive on the outside. The Stratford ilier passed to Mynott, and he got over lwliind the posts, scoring a well-merited try. _ Cameron put the finishing touch on his work, lifting an easy goal. Taranaki Wellington 0 The halfway kick was smartly returned by Cameron into touch, Taranaki becoming aggressive. I'lay was ol a more open nature, ami .Mynott was seen a good deal in lite ranks, lie was penalised for playing the ball illegally, and after an interchange of kicks til" I ball found the line in Taranuki's end of the field. The line-out brought play I still closer to the luime goal, and the

ball iifliiin wont out. Colnnui threw in, and the Anilicr forwards bunched, bat. tliev band-balled anil Urecn marked. J. It van had a shot at the posts, but the bill went wide, Cameron seeurin.j: aul putting in some quick work that plated Taranaki in a more comfortable position the -ball aoing out at luidfie! From the throw-ill Wilson rut through all 011 his own, and dribbled to HarJ»raves, who speculated and the ball went out quite as a matter of course. Sheeliail and Crowley were responsible for removing play to the \\ e lm-lon en<l, some very willin" loose play le„,Ui,,,r in Whittington «- | 7';1 1 . u ! , / ,|, r " into touch. Here a ''ouple ot W elin - ion men ;:ot a nice trick on to the loc,l mt»u throwing (!'«' Iwll N ' l i„.r f„r a line-out. .Milchiiisoii »!rwM , M rthe line. ahum it and oiiUide ,t. pa,l tho lino «n»p' llv * wll ° Mr |

breach, and the crowd protested again. A hot kick down the line followed. 1 Amidst cheering, llardgraves cleverly ] prevented the ball from going out, and | kicked out at halfway. Just then the I lino umpire gave llardgraves out, and Ithe crowd gave the former a pretty bad time, the Taranaki captain also protesting to the referee. ISv this action Taranaki lost about 25 yards. As though I resenting this treatment, the Amber and lilack puck infused considerable dash into the next few moments' play, with the result that from their own I territory they rushed right down to the Wellington line, where Ryan forced. Hesinning, the locals kept up a hot attack, . and Tamil narrowly missed scoring oil' i a good passing run by Frewin, Cameron, . and Hunter. Dive snipped up the bail . and kicked out "to the wing, but Mit- ; chinson intercepted and kicked, Frewin - marking. Wellington continued to plav a on the defensive till hnlftime was . called, but no further score was regis-

tered. J Resuming after the interval, Wellington kicked oil'. Within a minute the visitors were playing on the defensive, and only once during the next twenty minutes did they succeed in getting past the halfway line. The home forwards were giving a taste of their quality, winning in the loose, and breaking up rapidly from the scrums to smother the other backs, and initiating line drib- | bling rushes. The ground was now becoming mightily greasy, and some of

the players scarcely recognisable on account of the amount of the Recreation Grounds attached to them, yet the home backs were handling remarkably well. Several times Hardham, Rush, and Wilson got away from line-outs, but the fielding and tackling of the home team was too good, and they seldom got far. Oftentimes their over-eagerness landed ' the ball in the vicinity of "Shaver," and as often lie booted it away back over their heads, finding the line in almost every instance, some of his work being up to his best previous exhibitions. Not once was he asked to tackle a man. Taranaki was centering a good deal, and their opponents marked on every possible occasion. The visitors made a line dash from near their own goal, bill

overran the ball. The Yellows closed up their ranks and shoved the city representatives back into their own territory. Frewin got the ball away to Cameron, who kicked hard into the centre of the hold and sprinted straight up the line to put his forwards on side. Crowley got the leather and made for the lino, which seemed fairly accessible, but he was penalised for waiting oilside, and Wellington cleared with a free kick, Cameron's return, however, compelling a renewal of their defensive ta> 1 tics Dewar kicked to Sheehan, whose return fell short of the line, and Even- I 1 son gathered it in. Cameron took hnn ( by the legs, but he wriggled his kicker free and got a boost in. Sheehan was chasiin', and the ball rebounded from him, and tight play ensued. Mynott caught the ball as it shot out from the | labyrinth of legs, and punted high to goal but Ryan beat him to the spot ■ and forced. Wellington's kick-out was ' returned by Sheehan to touch m the ' visitors' 25. From the throw-in the ' I ball was passed to Green, but Pnkore

slid through and took the leather from the little chap and passed to Rothery. The latter was collared and dropped the ball for O'Kullivan, who scored. Hardgraves failed to add the major points. Taranaki ® .Wellington u Just after resuming time had to lie allowed for Column and Dive, who were temporarily injured. Wellington forwards essayed to break through, but Crowley marked, llardgraves lining .almost at the goal line, where the de-

fenders were relieved by a free kici. Hardwaves hail an unsuccessful sliot at •'oal.luul Wellington forced. The home team still confined the Wellington team to its own end of the iield, and Harl«raves essayed to pot, but the heavy ball failed to rise, and Wellington forced A nice piece of work by D' v e liiarked the recommencement of play, enabling llardgraves to kick again close up to the visitors' end, but the ball did not go out, and Tamil, who chased hotlv, looked like scoring. Dewar relieved. A series of kicks and marks "live neither side advantage, until AA lison, Rush, and another Wellington forward gathered speed and charged up to I midlield. where Taranaki was awarded | a ''free." They pressed home this ad- ' vantage, and penned the visitors down bv their goal. Magee tried to ease the . pressure, but. his kick lacked force ami ' fell to Hunter, who screwed through a couple «>!' giips of his own making una then passed to Sheeha'n, who beat Eveason and another before passing to Cameron, the latter just getting over. He made a line shot at goal, but missed the direction. , , 11

Taranaki 11 Wellington Colman, Tamil, and 0 Sullivaa soon showed out in a headlong rush, a.uL Colman had hard luck in losing l&e ball near the line after a nice piece ci follownig-up. Taranaki was now working scrums better, often pushing clean Uarough them. O'Sullivan gave Wellington a free-kick for oil-side tactics. Mynott marked and Hardgraves lined at* the visitors' 25, whence play was removed by Rush, and a mis-kick by jslieelian let Wellington over the niiitli.'ld chalk-line for the first time since the actual opening of tile 'second speil. With a lead of eleven points the Am Ijor and Black forward brigade seeme.l to ease oil' a little. The backs, however, put in some nice work, one run in particular by -Wyaott, Hunter, OKullicajt, Cameron, and Dive stanuing out as a line performance with a wet ball ,",11 a greasy ground. A long kick by Mitehrnson from his own 25 just failed to reach touch, and Hardgraves sent the ball back to him, but this time U went out. From the throw-in Colman, Kothery, Crowley,, and O'Sullivan kept UII2 play close, and Hunter cut in, dodging through his opponents withra ten yards of the goal, where lie drew practically the whole team around him and then passed out to Dive, who neatly potted a goal. Taranaki xi> \\ ellington 0

Tlhe visitors now became mors aggressive, J. llyan, Dewar, Hardhain, Wilson, and Rush being responsible iu the greater degree for the cnange, Wilson repeatedly breaking away ijuite on his own, and giving altogether a remarkably line exhibition of the forward game, ilagee missed an opportunity to mark in front of the goal, and a serum ensiled on the .spot. tireen got th? ball, but 'he was too slight, lor the XaranaKi onslaught, and fthoehau "speculated" down to }i. l{yan (full), who fumbled and was penalised for playing the ball on the ground, and Wellington \va» again forced to defend. Mitchinson set out on a run, but Hunter brought him. Later, he dribbled the ball right through the Taranaki vanguard and made things look interesting, but he over-ran the ball. Wilson wis penalised close [up to Taranaki s goal for unaeeessariiy "playing til? man,'" and liardgri vskicked to half-way. A determined | \'i»:i by the Amber and Blacks got thrombi ;iil but the last line of ck-t'enee, bin Kyan was equali to tn'4^' and he booted upheld, dipped out with tile ball. -Uewar jasi dropped the bail back into canning the Yellows unawares, fi«d w ciJiugton again invaded the home 25, play settling in a very muddy n iyA mid the ball went out. .Not straight, seruui. -Mynott misled tile line, and the return from the Wellington full I was equally unsuccessful, but liaiM-l ! graves made no mistake. Well: iif, vj made desperate attempts to »c >•:«*, ;\;i ii Sullivan got the ball at his foot .wl the lellow forwards closed round linn, and pressed through their oppi.enti. right on to Kyan as he* kicked, and tho rebound went out. Green kick) i copii the side-line, and Sheehan fell c..t with it. the line-out enabling the visitors to again invade the southern cud. I'uket » was first to cintfrge from i'i»e ruck, and he passed tlhe ball to Ko< evv, who transferred to Tamu, but he could not hold it. Then the ha ks took a hand in the business. Shu-tun ending a strong run well thrown by Dewar in midlield. Cameron too* tin ball from an opponent, and with a iru and a smart drop-kick, bustled ilyan, who carried the 'back over his Jim?. Thi-n thi' whistle sounded "no si I ■ with Hi.* final store:

Tfirjnm ki 15 U'lilli-iglon 0 l'"<>r {lie wiii'jHMs it may woll ir» s«iv lli.it rvcry m;»ij phtyocl np to l'qnv- n

tativc form. To individualism, ii.ini graves gave one uf liiis liaesi ijisp'a vo as full-back, his line-kicking buju;»" (lie of thv f?atures of the gum\ Hi* collaring powers were not calle.l i jU re quisition. The preceeding se.i s ■ .c: demonstrated tiie soundness of tlh; de-f-meu of the three-quarter lin/:, ,vdo were equally good oil the defer: '. Ire accurate tnanaiug of the ball oj ibem 1 and the other backs being little iesa than astonishing under tne cireimstances. Cameron was undoubtedly

| tiie pick of the three-quarters 011 the 1 ground. yuoeluin, though good oil deI lence, was at times disappointing. Mynott overshadowed Hunter as five - eighths, and he was right 011 his game. Hunter did some clever work at .tinu'S, but in

between the Hashes Uiis light was low. l-'rewin had few chances—it was no game for a lialt-back —but lie did his ■work cleanly. All the forwards showed improvement on their two previous displays, and were hardly recognisable as tine same team which met Manawatu and South Canterbury, O'Sullivan, Crowley, and Whittiugton were about tiie pick. Column was uncommonly successful on the wing. I'liis is his right position in the Taranaki team.

Of the visitors the best backs were J. Ryan, Magee and Mitehinsou. The full-'buck was not too safe. Mitehinsou was the best of the three-quarters, some of his footwork being particularly good. McLeod, at centre, played a sound, useful game. Magee, ai liveeighths, played a reliable game, liis tackling being safe and his line-kicking about the best on his side. Green, athalf, had few chancos, being too light for the ground, "llangr' Wilson was one of the finest forwards on the ground, being at head of every Wellington rush, and doing great work on the line-out. Hardham and Rush were the best of the remainder.

Mr. L. Bassctt, of Wanganui, was the referee.

THE BRITISH TEAM. (By Cable.—Press Association. —Copyright.) Sydney, August 20. The British football team played fi match' against the Northern District's Rugby Union representatives at Newcastle*. The Britons won by 32 points to nil. The local men were completely outclassed.

The Taranaki junior representatives to meet Auckland on Saturday sailed by the Takapuna last liiglit. The Taranaki teain to play Auckland for the lianfurly Shield on Saturday week will be the same as met Wellington yesterday, with the addition of Tom r Shee'han and S. McKay, who have been included as emergencies. It was not I considered necessary to pick an emergency back, Cohnan being available to fill any position. The team sails by the liarawa next Wednesday night, in charge of Mr. Dan Malone. Says the Wellington Times:—Professional football is getting a bad advertisement in Sydney. Some speculators took a team of misguided Maoris ova; to Australia in the same way that some of our hot sports sometimes take over a team of racehorses—for. the purpose ol making a little money out of them. But whereas the horses are always fed. groomed, stabled, and well looked alte.. the Maoris have been left to forage for themselves, and eertainlv they are making a very had job of it. Ihey have ' praeticallv hooii existing oil cliiuity-foi ! the last few weeks, and' just when Sydliev was congratulating itself 011 seeing ' the last of them, ..tlic precious 1110b of mountebanks have suddenly converted ' themselves into a liaka party, and pro-

pose to make a living by pulling faces and making horrid gutteral noises at the American fleet. As a portion of the ileet lias scon more ugly faces and heard more loud-sounding things in the Haeremai " line in the vicinity of Auckland than it wants to witness again, the paltry demonstration of the disgruntled professional footballers is likely to fa.l fairly flat, ami the liat is certain to be sent round once more. Ail the amv teur football teams that have gone to Australia heretofore have reflected more or less honour and glory on the Dominion, but this sordid and dismal crowd of mendicant cash-ballers is weN 011 its way to bring Aolearoa and Waiporinanm into derision and contempt.