FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 388, 13 May 1910, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

SENIOK GKALE. TUKAI'A (10), ELTHAM (13). Tukapii journeyed to Eltham yesterday with a team slightly stronger, probably, than that winch it furnished last season, jiitharn put a strong combination in the held also, line big forwards and most of last season's backs. The weather was tool, but a drizzling rain militated somewhat against accurate play. Nevertheless tlie game was fast and strenuous, and at intervals there were Hashes of good crisp football, several of the scores being the result of fast concerted movements. Unfortunately the game was marred by a regrettable accident, resulting in Bert Stohr, the popular Tukapa wing, sustaining a broken collarbone, just beiore the end of the first spell. Moir declined to allow Mynott to replace the injured player, and the town team played throughout the second spell one-] man short. The score is a very fair indication of the merits of the respective teams, Tukapa's lighter combination being compensated lor by better condition.

Porter kicked off for Eltham against a slight breeze and drizzle. The first ten minutes' play was tame, forwa.ru rushes and line kicking being the only style of play attempted. Mynott got a good cross 'kick to Webster, who raa out near Eltham's corner. From the throw-in a forward .booted too sneiniously, and Eltham forced. Tukapa now attempted to open out, 'but smart centering by the magpie backs kept their lines intact. Jack Stohr attempted to pot, his kick being charged, and jsitnam set out on a solid forward rush, until stopped for an infringement. jack Stohr kicked a fine goal from halfway. Tukapa 3, Eltham 0. Eltham niovoa oil' determinedly. Some fast play ensutd in Eltham's twenty-five, and eventually J. Stohr picked up and got close to the line, where Steele secured and dropped across. Stohr again kicked a fine goal from the line. Tukapa l'>, FJthaii: 0. The Eltham forwards now took charge, keeping the ball very close, a id soon were swarming within striking distance of the visitors' line. From a scrum the, ball was smartly heebd to Cooper, who sent to D. Moir, and the laU-;.- to Fotier. Potier sent it over <,ae line, where McLean, who was throughout the game in close proximity to the ball, pounced on it. Dive failed with the kick. Tukapa 13, Eltham 3. Hard but uninteresting play succeeded; • ■li.* Eltham i.irwnrds keeping the Blues' hands full for some time. Towards ..he end of the. spell renewed life was iniiwd into the game, and during some stannous play Bert Sto'hr received a neavy bump frcm| Moir just as he took rli3 ball, and had i to retire.

The Eltham forwards opened the second spell with a do or die chirgo. ia:d soon had the weakened *i3iting backs in trouble. When the forwards failed to cross the backs toon a haul, anC. from a scrum the ball passed quickly through the hands or Cooper, Moir. Live and Potier. on a snai>;jily executed movement. Potier converted. Tukapa 13, Eltham S. Magpies' kepi up their attack, which soon spent itself, however, and Steele, Love Hire and McAllum were instrumental h shifting tile vcmi:. In Eltham's twenty five Ihe backs took a hand, and Mynott potted from a ligat corner, kicking a poster. Centre play followed, somewhat in favor ri the eltham forwards, the ga-ue having now largely become a trial of physical strength between Hie contending vanguards. Jones was conspicuous by a good dash along one line, and then Webster on the other. A penalty a»ainst Eltham let the visitors into a handy position. Another penalty gave Stohr a kick at goal forty yards out, and he made no mistake. Tukapa 10, Eltham 8. Soon after the kick-out Jack jstohr broke through to the full-iback, but the forwards following 'him overran the ball, and JEltham got out of . likejy trouble. Scrums were few —a feature of the game being the absence of unnecessary whistle—but from most of then Eltham got the ball quickly. The passing of the blacks-, though crisp enough, was generauy nippea early, however. Bigger 'kicking would have been of more assistance to them, and have also saved their heavy forwards much aimless running ajiout. When they did resort to kicking they speedily gained ground and penned the visitors up. From a passing rush in a good position Dive held on a second too long, but from the succeeding scrum Cooper snapped the ball smartly and sent to Moir, to Potier, to Dive, who dived under the goal, and converted. Tukapa 16, Eltham 13. The possibility of defeat now seemed to galvanise new spirit into the blue forwards and, assisted by big kicks by their backs, they gave ihe Magpies a warm time for a few minutes. Moir and Glentworth, however, were' very alert, and at the first opportunity) sent the hall flying to the ot'Uer end, J Over-eager, however, the backs got out of position, and Mynott, dashing up to I a line out, secured and shot through at top —and he still can move somepassing to McAllum when he was confronted |l>y the full-back. Mac finished a 50-yard dash just ahead of the pursuing Eltham backs. Sto'hr's kick narrowly, missed. Tukapa 19, Eltham 13. There were only a few minutes left, but Eltham iorwards nude the most of them. Their rushes, though "gingery/ lacked judgmeiit, and the game ended as-above. Mr. Spurdle's decisions were never questioned.

STAR (42) v. IXGLEWOOD (5). There was a very fair number of spectators at the Recreation Grounds yesterday to witness these two teams in contest. The result was a runaway victory for Star, who put up 42 points to their opponents' 5 (a goal from a try). The teams were about an even weight all round, although the Star back division appeared on the light side by comparison. However, they were decidedly the faster' combination, and the whole team was better trained than their opponents. This was plainly to be seen during the game, as of the '''casualties" Inglewood claimed almost the whole. The game itself was iuit particularly notable as an exhibition of Rugby, the players on 'both sides being yet somewhat raw, while the ground being damp and the leather difficult to handle added to the uncertainties. ' Star were very •keen on the ball, with the result that frequently they overran it and penalties for this offence were frequent. This was shown by the fact that during the first spell only Inglewood were awarded as many as thirteen free kicks to Star's two or three ?,t the most. As to the game itself, a simple account of the scores registered will be sufficient. Shortly after Star kicked off, T. Grant scored from a passing rush, the ball coming nicely from a scrum, and Whitaker placed a neat g0a1.,(5—0.) Brown potted a goal from neutral territory and raised the score to 9—o. Inglewood then shook up and G. Nicholls got over, F. Srown registering the major pointy

C. Brown, for Star, scored' shoiv.y afterwards, no goal resulting, and then from a serum the leather passed thr< the hands of Brown, L. Grant air' i»',U, the latter making good. (15 —",. Ijt&c kept up the attack, and some L "v.? go--.u play wa- witnessed, but the sp' ; «du'. without further score.

On resuming, play settled . Lv.ew.ood's 25, and Hill scored at the »rne.". (18—5). Star were forced—quit-, probably as a sort of a change f'-r-v. :he monotony of things called points- -an-d then T. Hopkins made a name for hiu> seu by scoring after I. Grant had dor ■ a lot of battling on his own. (21—L,). Now Star were revelling in their vorV. and when Inglewood attempted a ;>.. .- ing rush—it promised well—N. Grani bowled over the second opponent to handle the ball, and in the exchange of hostilities the oval was forgotten, but Hill came at a great bat, and fielding nicely, soon cut out the 25 yards to the line. The goal-kicking was wretched at this stage, and the score read 24 —5. From a scrambling rush Robinson scored (27—5), and Ross almost immediately afterwards, by following up, well placed the ball behind near the posts, thus enabling Bullock to add the goal points. (32 —5). Boeker then ran in between the posts aften an opening by I. Grant, and Ross' kick was success. (37—5). But there iwnjs more to follow, .as N. Grant scored on the call of time, and his brother raised the score to 12.

Inglewood were completely outclassed, but battled well. In a beaten pack L. Olson. MeGee and Bol.lt (forwards) and Kennedy (back) were most prominent in well-doing. Mr. W. Roeh refereed to the satisfaction of all parties. STRATFORD (3) v. CLIFTON (0). These teams fought out their opening match of the season yesterday at Stratford, in dull but dry weather. A good number of enthusiasts witnessed the match. Both teams played full teams, and in the forward ranks were strong. The home back team was without the services of Cameron, who is suffering from a strained ankle. Clifton's rear division will need a lot of strengthening to make it worthy of the pack in front of it. Sampson at full played a hard sterling .game, as did Sid. George at centre. Had it not been for the services of these two in getting down to the rushes and stemming the onslaughts of the home front division, the score would have been much larger. The threequarter line of the visitors was decidedly weak, Tait particularly being off form. However, there is plenty of time for improvement. The game was vigorously contested for a first match, but a great deal -of aimless play was indulged in. The teams were:—

Clifton. —Full-back, Sampson; threequarters, Goodwin, S. Jones, and V. Taitj five-eighths, H. Bond; half, S. George; forwards, W. Kyle, T. Crowley, A. Bernsten, M. Cain, W. De Blois, -I. De Blois, A. Loveridge, It. Thomas, a:id T. Jones.

Stratford. Full-back, E. Tich'oon; three-quarters, Burgess, Burgham, and L. Tocker; five-eighths, Dixon; half. Bonner; forwards, Marchant, Burgess, Melville, Abbott, Murphy, A. Smith, E. H. Young, B. Harkness, and E. Boon. Stratford kicked off, Clifton having the advantage of a light wind. Pkv speedily centred, and consisted of hard, willing line work and scrums. An interchange of kicks looked like more interesting play, but the'forwards got possession and the ball was kept close. Stratford vanguard swarmed along the line to the visitors' 25 territory, but Clifton secured .and sent the leather toneutral ground. Clifton shook matters up, and invaded, but the home frontrankers broke back and with a nice dribbling rush took play back to the visitors' 25's, but were penalised for offside play. Operations went to midfleld, where the order was scrum and live play. The visitors pressed again, but Stratford speedily relieved and transferred play to Clifton's territory, the visitors having a few anxious moments on the defensive. A free kick eased the pressure. At half-time the visitors had invaded their opponents' 25's, but the oval was kicked too hard, and Stratford forced.

j On change of sides Stratford's vanguard made merry play, and soon had .the visitors defending their lines. Tail; missed an easy hall which Murphy snapped up and got well down the line before he was grassed. The home team pressed riwht down to the comer flas, where a serum followed. The visitors broke back and pla- settled at centre for a. spell. The home vanguard shook things up, and again carried the oval down into Clifton's 25's. Tait mulled an easy hall, and Dixon, securing, sent out to his wing three-quarters, who was run out. A scramble on the line followed, Marchant eventually getting over the line. Dixon's kick at goal failed. Stratford 3, Clifton 0. The homc_ forwards quickly set up an attack, giving the visitors a very busy time defending. Kyle, the brothers De Blois, and Thomas in the forwards, and Sid. George and Sampson in the back division, played excellently for Clifton on the defensive, the latter stemming rush after rush by cutting in and transferring the ball to safer territory.. Stratford had a shot at 'goal from a "mark, but the ball went wide. The home forwards continued to aggress, and time and again were stopped in the nick of time. Had Cameron been playing to take advantage of the many openings, he would have rattled up half-a-dozen tries. The visiting pack, headed by Kyle and De Blois (2) took'the game in hand for a short time,, and took the leather into Stratford's 23 zone, but their rearguard failed to support them, and the home forwards quickly put the play in safe ground. A bit of' open .back play ensued, in which Bond, Sampson, .and Tait indulged in a nice passing rush. Tait was grassed, however, and Burgess (who. played a very reliable game on the home threequarter line) secured and screw-kicked to centre. ' An interchange of kicks gave no advantage to either side. Give-and-take play followed. Anxious to equalise the score, and with only eight minutes to "O, the visiting pack invaded and did Tro'jan service. Their backs, however, and' .particularly the three-quarter line, failed to take advantage of good openings, and plav fell back to centre. Fast loose plav succeeded, Stratford being forced thrice in quick succession. Play ended without further score. Mr. J. Way controlled the game.

JUNIOR GRADE.

STAR (3) v. INGLEWOOD (22). \t Tnglewood yesterday the local first iuniors 'easilv accounted for their Star opponents bv the respectable score of •22 to 3. The game reeds very little description. The Star team were practically outclassed from the start, and despite the plucky efforts of some individual players, could make' no impression on the Inglewood defence. The Inglewood backs, for all the greasy nature

■of the ground, held the ball well, and ■;ii the vlu'e put up a very creditable nerfovmancc. I'hc local three-quarters especially are a fast combination, and their pace served them in good steaj ti:n.' and again. All the forwards wirked hard, perhaps the most -brilliant i;eii:j lvarak'.s. The scoring honors fe'l it .Mi.'Don3!d (3 tries and 2 goals), Ka*aif.3 {•? t'-ies), and Say well (1 try), while Bulk,;- Mcked a goal for Star. Stars pi/■•;.:.' /. r.j.;. L'-ort throughout «s

■.'•:■:: (6, t. Stratford (3). ..;-j CiiiCC-ii k-.ii-.l Stratford £v?i juniors .niCL. at Waitara yesterday, a'ii-1 a wi'llloughi g,<uu-» .-"ful-ed i>! a mhi for Clifton by 8 poi.ik (t.v, j i-ica) to ,'; points (or.j try). For ike winr.e.-s toW -yens scored l-j N. Poppex-ili ia tie Si;: :-\MI and by H. Hicks Ja i-jo wci:'. jpi ! 1. During the >sacond spell H. .xV:>w:ri'.l was ordered off the field by 'fclw :yrt'.•?■>, ior rough play. Takii:g inio o:nrfid::.h'.;::i. this being the 'first gaiio of ;"ln f,c:xs-;:-, both teams put up a very performance. Mr. W. Woods K:"-;r;;>:,l and gave general satisfaction. ELTHAM (ID) v. TUKAPA (5).

The above- teams met on Western Park, and after .?- close contest the game ended in a win for Eltham. It was a poor exhibition of football, the forwards making all the play. Tukapa had the best of the play during the first spell, and lost several good chances through over-eagerness. Early in the game Honeyfiekl landed a goal from midfield, but it was disallowed, owing to the ball having touched one of the-Eltham forwards in its flight. There was no score in the first spell. Tukapa attacked strongly at the start of the second spell, and from .a forward rush Dines scored a good try. Honeyfield converted. Play became much faster, and both sides got near scoring on several occasions. From a forward rush by Eltham, Fake snapped up the ball and scored in a good position. T. Glentworth converted. Tukapa now livened up and attacked strongly, but bad passing ,and mulling laniong the backs enabled Eltham to clear. Eltham forwards were playing with more combination now, and as a result of a good rush Fake scored again by the posts, T. Glentworth again converting. There was no further score, Eltham winning by 10 points to 5. Mr. A. Smart was referee. Eltham played one man short.

SECOND JUNIORS,

STRATFORD 111. (8) v. CLIFTON 111 (C)

This match was played at Stratford yesterday, and resulted in a victory for Stratford by 8 points to G. The winners scored and 'converted a try and kicked a .penaltv «n*l. Clifton's score was made up by two penalty goals. Star third .played Inglewood third on the "racecourse, ami were victorious by 9 points to 3. Stockwell kicked three penalty goals for Star, and a try was scored by the visitors. Eltham third defeated Tukapa by 11 points (three tries and a goal) to 5 points. The losers played only thirteen men.

* ASSOCIATION GAME.

■Stratford and Neiw Plymouth teams met at Stratford yesterday, when a drawn game was played, each team scoring three goals. The game was vigorously contested. Mr. Clarke acted as referee.