FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 52, 10 June 1910, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES. '- ■" "TM?IHUnder yesterday's weather conditions' football was foolish. It was a game of chance, for none knew where the heavy, slippery thing called a football, was going to go when kicked, or whether or not to attempt to catch it. Clifton was generally reckoned to be too good for Tukajxa, particularly as the latter club had given of its 'test to the New Zealand touring team, ibut a drawn game was played. Star put up a good fight against Eiltham, and was 'beaten by only a small margin. Stratford had a runaway victory from Inglewood.

FIRST GRADE. ELTHA'M (5) v. STAR (0). The Star seniors journeyed to Eltham yesterday, and suffered defeat by 5 points to nil. The game was played in pouring rain throughout, and consequently anything in the nature of scientific ■football was out of the question, as both the iball and the ground were very greasy. The Eltham team were much the heavier, and had slightly the better of the game. Time and again they stormed the Star citadel, but the defence was very solid, and it was not until the last five minutes of the-game that they succeeded in scoring.' A'good deal of speculating was xton<mon«|bot-h sides, and in the majority it came off. Eltham wouldipL'ftliH'My have won iby a more substantial majorat?" had' they kept the tell at of endeavoring to ■passnafti£r<tqisnt!j-r ( as they did, although on. o^t^ef,;occasions Moir, Dave, got on some very cr : estable 1 - r ,p i/ ass,ing rushes. The game auj' detailed report; in ■fa*t,i4p^mg: 7 mo].s, > ''(|f •the second spell the players w,e,re. ) so ? ered in mud that it wa*];ab,pijs.yhnppajsible to individualise. 'JMy'.jii Eltham made a. dash for Star's line,'a,nd Potier almost got over, ,but Sfockrijan grassed him on the line.,- Several ensued, and shortly after Brown changed tfie venue to 25, where from the ttiro\V-in, firown passed to Hill. He attempted to ,j>qt, and a force resulted. From the kiq'k'-jjff Hill made a nice run, but was wel}, collared by Moir. Play hung about halfway until Moir and Cooper carried the iball downfield, where the former missed a nice chance by passing forward. Cooper, Moir, and Dive pressed again- .out Ross relieved by securing a mark. The play came down to Star's goal line, where the •ball went out. From the throw-in Malone obtained possession and kicked hard and followed up. Had he been speedy a score must have resulted, but the ball went out about halfway. Eltham forwards, headed by Levieh and Charteris, took a hand, but Coker nicely stopped, Free kicks were fairly numerous, Eltham being the main offenders. The first spell ended with no score. On resuming, Charteris kicked off, and play remained about halfway for a while, tout Eltham soon brought it down, and play hovered round Star territory. Eltham hacks again passed, but did not gain much ground, and Dickson broke away. Soon after 1 Potier ran and beat two or three men, but hung on too long, when two men were waiting for the pass, and an almost certain score was lost for Eltham. A free kick brought Star relief, but overeagerness on the part of the forwards nullified this. From the scrum Eltham nearly got over, and two or three forces resulted. It was now raining hard, and ■play was very scrambling. It ultimately settled in front of the Star line, where Eltham were making desperate attempts I to score. Star forced two or three times. From a kick-out Workman returned to Brown, who kicked down the field. Eltham forwards brought it back, and Potier, picking it up,' scrambled through and scored the only try of the ,mateh. His kick at goal was successful. Star in the few minutes left made strenuous efforts to score, but were unsuccessful, and time ended with the score .Eltham 5, Star nil.

STRATFORD (10) v. INGLEWOOD (0)

The Inglewood seniors came up for their weekly defeat to Stratfprd, and it says a gren't deal for the spirit and enthusiasm of Inglewood that they should meet their engagements as they do, especially on such a day.as yesterday. Torrents of Tain fell all the afternoon, | and the ground was covered with pools, and speedily became a quagmire. Under the conditions, the match was a mud scramble, a "sport" into which both teams entered with zest and good-nature, the victim of a liquid mud bath joining in the joke as well as the spectators. Stratford held the upper hand all through, tries being scored in the first spell by Dixon, Bingham, Tocker, and Melville, Bingham and Cameron converting one eachT In the second spell Cameron scored a try. The game needs no description, as the only game was, "kick hard and follow up." Mr. Spurdle was referee.

TUKAPA v. CLIFTON. The Western Park ground held a deal of water —what ground did not'; The Clifton men played their full fifteen, a very solid pack supported by a bright and clever three-quarter line, imt lacking a good connecting link. Tukapa played, Thomson and Mulvey as substitutes for Storr and Mvnott, and both gave a good account of themselves. The game was more interesting than had been expected. In the first spell the local men had most of the defensive work. Their principal anxiety was caused 'by the lightning runs of Tate and Goodwin, the latter being very troublesome. More by. good \ luckTthan iby good management he was generally brought down, for there were few men in the Blues who recognised the value of tow tackling. That few. however, worked wonders when things came their wav. In the latter end of the spell Tukapa'had a couple of very narrow escapes. Clifton was beaten in the second spell, the forwards tiring very considerably. They were frequently penalised for offside and for illegal scrum tactics. They were exceedingly lucky to fceep the Blues out, and the latter '(fcould certainly have scored. On a dry ground they must have won. There was Ino .score. For the visitors Goodwin, Cain, and Crowley were the prominent players. For Tukapa, Ward was easily the best, and also the finest forward on the ground. McAllum, T. Jones, Bulrey, and Loveridge also did sterling work. .Mr. Koch was the referee.

SECOND GRADE. CLIFTON (6) v. TUKAPA (3). Despite the state of the weather, an interesting game was played at Waitara yesterday, the home team being victorious <by 6 to 3. The scores were made up of unconverted tries—Clifton two and Tnkaipa one—the latter being gained in the first spell. As might have been expected, the handling and kicking of a wet hall was faulty at times, but on the whole one or two of the back division fielded well. Clifton forwards were too solid for their oippononts, who were not shaping too well. For the winners the front division were all working well, al-

though some were flagging at times. Tukapa's wing forward ami five-eighths played a solid game, but the others were weak, Webster, perhaps, being the nest of a mediocre lot. Clifton backs were good, more especially Crowley and Eggleston, but both were prone to hang on to the ball too Jong. Mr. A. K. Smart satisfied both public and players with the whistle. -.''" '■ ■- ' ■

STAR 11. v. ELTHAM 11. Eltham beat Star by 8 points to nil. THIRD GRADE. iStar third forfeited to Eltham third. Tukapa beat Clifton by 3 points (a penalty goal) to nil.

Stratford fourth defeated Inglewood fourth by 13 points (three tries and a penalty goal) to nil. SATURDAY FOOTBALL. The following will represent Civil Service in their match to-morrow.-—Kuru-rangi, Chamberlain, J-Joneyfield, Copestake, Pfankuch, Loveridge, Boyd, Kennedy, Marcussen, Kent, Kilgour, Simpson, Touhey, Maxwell, Forward, Broadmere, Brabant.

The following will represent the New Plymouth High School in their matches against the Stratford District High School on the High School ground tomorrow:—Seniors, at 1.30; Crone, Martin, Grant. N. Little. Lusk, Clarke (captain), Adlam. Day, Goss, Billing, Grey, A. Little. Warren, MeSweeney, arid Bayly: emergencies, Bruce, Nobbs, and Marnier. Juniors, at 11.30: Weston, Bruce, Brokenshire, Pott, Sinclair (captain), Hamblvn, Linn, Monk, Throssell, Mander, Mullov, Richards, Newell, Skilton, and Bacon; emergencies, Burkhardt, (Jolson, and Thompson. The Taranaki Rugby Union Manage ment Committee meets on Tuesday evening next. '■ -j .i) •;! THE ROUGH PLAY CAMPAIGN. "* By Telegraph—Press Association. 'Melbourne. June 9. Football authorities are . continuing the campaign against rough play. Another prominent player has been disqualified, while at the Police Court two other players were fined £lO each for assaults arising out of a match. A movement is afoot to check the growing tendency to over accentuate the importance of inter-school sports contests as part of the training given in secondary schools, and to e'.icl the bitterness between .schools' which the niiiltiplVotion of inter-college contests has created.