FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 300, 12 May 1913, Page 8

FOOTBALL.

WELLINGTON MATCHES. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. gt . Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon j made the grounds sodden, and often like • m quagmires, yet practically all the j matches in the various games were! played, .Senior Rugby results: —Petone 11, beat Melrose nil. The early portion ! of the game was well contested, but the Petone backs were too good, and nullified Melrose's forward work. Wellington 3, beat Victoria College nil, after a good game, the score coming in the closing stages, Oriental 20, beat St. James 12. w This match provided spme good displays of football, despite the increasing rain. 1 °' Athletic won from Poneke by default, j c< AUCKLAND RUGBY MATCHES. j M Auckland, Last Night, j Unfavorable weather conditions pre- ' vailed for the opening of the Rugby football season, the games being played at I a intervals during the afternoon. City and | p Ponsonby played a drawn game, each! v scoring an unconverted try.Marist Bros., S last year's champions, defeated Parnell f by 9 points to nil, and University beat I College Rifles by 10 points to 3. ROVERS (8) v. OKATO (3). « The opening of the Saturday football competition was not greeted in very kindly fashion by the weather and the Rovers journeyed to Okato in \very heavy rain, which continued until after 3 p.m., the time set for the commencement of,the match. However, by about ' 3.30 p.m., the rain eased up, and, for- , tunately, kept off during the match, only to teem down at its conclusion. The ' match was keenly contested, yet withal in a friendly spirit. Considering the rain that had fallen, the ground was ' in good order, but the ball soon got ,very greasy, rendering accurate handling very difficult. It was. not a brilliant exposition of the game, still it was not uninteresting to watch. The Okato forwards were superior in the tight, but their backs were very patchy, whilst the Rover backs were yery safe, their live kicking being a feature, whilst their forwards also held their end up nobly, particularly in loose work. They well deserved tneir win, though there was an element of doubt about the second try, yet they had a few moments previously been robbed of a certain try through the referee' imagining the ball past the dead ball line. Mr. J. Johnson refereed capably. The local team was captained by Malone, and the visitors by Thompson. Rovers kicked off, and almost immediately the ball was forced. On resuming, play was fairly even, until off-side play by Eustace gave Rovers a free kick and Lusk made a good but unsuccessful attempt at goal. Webster returned the kick-off to the ]ine at centre, and a nicely judged kick by Thompson, a liltic later, found the line at the earaer. Carey and Co., however, cleared bravely, but were driven back by good line . kicks by'Stohr and Thompson. Okato held the* advantage in- the ensuing tight ■' work but could not get beyond half , way, Eustace'and Hawkins being prominent in a loose forward rush, which Rcid, checked. A "clever mark by Turner neutralised matters, but' Malone did not make much use of the kick, and ' Brown, Newell and Crago heading a , great rush, saw Larsen just force in time. Not to be denied, Rovers pressed, and Malone hesitating with kick, was tackled. He lost the ball, and a speculator by Larsen failing, allowed Brown, who followed up fast, to score in a handy position,, and Thompson added the major points. The Greens again returned to the attack, and Okato were forced within a couple of minutes. Forward rushes by the local team were counteracted by the line-kicking of the * visiting backs, and a piece of off-side play on 1 the part of a green, which escaped the referee's eye. This saw Okato hotly defending. A fine rush by Sullivan and Carey brought play into . Rover's twenty-five, where Larsen mis--1 scd a likely chance by failing to gather r up the ball, and Rovers had worked the " ball back, compelling Malone to force, just as half time sounded with the score Rovers .5 Okato Nil With a freshened wind behind them, Okato got moving from the start, and a breach by Rovers saw Malone pilot the leather nicely- over the bar. Enlivened by this success, the yellows res doubled their efforts. Surgenor putting [_ in a nice piece of work, carried play j to Rovers' twenty-five, from which a , long line kick by Grant removed it. V Carey came through on his own, but I Crago forced him out of bounds. Ma- , lone had a shot (resnltless) from mid- |, way. off a mark by Hawkins. Rover backs now took a hand, and Grant, 3 Webster, and Stohr ; looked dangerous, e until driven back with a line kick by Surgenor. Carey was playing a great {fame, continually breaking away, but the green backs were 1 there, though Stohr was once caught in a tight cor- , ner from which he cleverly extricated himself by passing to Webster, who lined. Drake and Lusk were instrumental in shifting the venue to Okato's twenty-five, and a scrambling rush saw Webster over the line, but the referee unfortunately thought that it was over the dead ball line, which was decidedly bad luck for Rovers. Play now travelled up and down the field, until Grant lined right at the corner. From tight play under Okato's goal, Loveridge scored, though it appeared that Malone had collared his man on the line, Thompson failed with the goal. The fortune of play varied up and down the field, but tin; whistle sounded without any alteration in the score, which read Rovers 8 Okato 3 OKAIAWA v. OPUNAKE. Okaiawa and Opunnke tried conclusions at Opunake on Saturday, when a drawn resulted. It was a good go, and the game throughout was well sustained.