FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1920, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

THE RUGBY GAME. 4 Wellington beat taranaki. A SPLENDID GAlii. (By Wire.—Special Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. ■•»,?? Taranaki Rugby representatives met Wellington here to-day in better weather on a ground of liquid mud, and before a very small crowd. The match was the beat and the fastest seen on Athletic Park this season. It did not teem witJi bright incident, but for all that the paco was so terrific that at times the players ran themselves to a standstill, faranaki did not expect to win, but they went in to do their best, and worked with such a will that they were a little unlucky to lose. Fino defence and a shade of luck stood to Wellington when the Taranaki forwards, time after time, swept down upon (he home goal.

Wellington, however, is the better team, and its backs are immeasurably superior to faranaki's. Their combihed work with the grc«sy ball was high class. The magnificent forward rushes of the Taranaki vanguard stirred the crowd to a great pitch of enthusiasm, and had Taranaki woil their victory would have beeji very popular. Masters played a remarkable game in leading the forwards' attacks, and on to-day's game is one of the greatest forwards In loose work we have seen here for years. West also played magnificently.

Tarana 1 ;! kicked off, and by good forward work, took play into tho Wellington twentyfive. Wellington were hard pressed for a while, but Taranaki kicked toe hard, and Wellington forced, When play was resumed Taranaki again attacked. Their forwards were getting much the better of matters, and they drove Wellington right back to their line and kept them there Play had been only a few minutes in progress when Taranaki lost the services of C. Brown, who had received a kick near the eye They kept a place open for him awhile, but then replaced hlra with McKay From a forward scramble on the Wellington 25 the ball was got out to Wilkinson, and the Taranaki wing fooled the opposition and scored a good try. R, Roberts kicked a magnificent goal.—Taranaki 5; Wellington 0.

This rather served to awaken Wellington, and after holding Taranaki for some time, the Wellington 'forwards came away with the ball at toe. They reached the Taranaki 25 before they were checked, and then E. Roberts got possession and made a good attempt to run through, but R Roberts grassed him well. The check was only momentary, for the Wellington backs got possession again, and a bout of passing between R. Roberts, Aitken, and J. Tilyard ended in Tilyard.scorlng—Taranaki 5; Wellington 3. »

For a time Wellington out-played Taranaki. and during this period the city backs showed great cleverness Various attacks by the Wellington rearguard were just stopped, but Rangi Wilson whipped the leather out to Algar, who sent it on to Aitken, who scored.— Wellington 6; Taranaki 5 Taranaki revived surprisingly, and for a solid twenty minutes had the blacks in trouble, attacking desperately right on the Wellington line Taranaki looked to have a great chance of scoring, but when the ball got out in the open E. Ryan, by clever side-stepping and a good kick, sent Taranaki right to the other end of the field. More back passing followed, and Aitken registered another good try, and E. Roberts goaled/and at halfw.ne the scores stood —Wellington 11; Taranaki 5. Taranaki opened the second spell with dash- ; ing forward rushes that swept Wellington to I their goal line. They got right through, but Wellington forced in bare time to save a score. Fine work down the side line by E. Ryan almost ended in Wellington scoring, Bade again came the Taranaki vanguard in a ser'es of splendid rushes, but the defence was sound. The game now became very fast, and each vanguard drpve through its opponent in rushes that were a treat to witness. One particularly fine rush by the visitors took the leather from the Taranaki goal to the Wellington goa', and just when Taranaki looked sure to score the ball hit the referee and a halt was called. A moment later Taranaki were over, but the ball went over the dead ball line Hlckey made a beautiful opening for his team, but Wellington repelled the attack, and the battle raged at half-way. Wellington worked Taranaki down over the 25 E Ryan, getting the ball in the visitors' 25, side-stepped several of the defenders neatly, and scored a clever try. E. Roberts goaledl Though their forward rushes now became (more terrific than ever Taranaki could not score again, and the final result was—Wellington 16; Taranaki 5. Mr. A. C. Kitto was referee.

THE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. / MIDHIRS^(S) DEFEAT KAPONGA (3). By defeating Kaponga by the narrow margin of a converted try to an unconverted try, Mid* hirst, on Saturday, annexed the junior championship of Taranaki The match was played at Eltham in bitterly cold weather, a strong wind blowing up the field militating against accurate back play. Midhirst proved superior in the forwards, and to this and also to the fact that Kaponga did not make sufficient use of the wind in the first spell, they owe rflielr victory. Kaponga backs were superior, but they seemed unable to get going. Midhirst forwards had the better of the opening stages, playing against the wind, until a long kick by Kilpatrlck transferred play to their 25, and then from a free-kick Scott made a fine, but unsuccessful, attempt to goal. Kaponga pressed, but Yickeri was safe at full-back, and then the Northern forwards took charge until checked by Jones marking, failure by Carroll to take the ball let Kaponga through, and James set his backs moving, but the tackling was good and Midhirst cleared. Up and down play followed, mostly conflnfied to the forwards, until a high kick compelled Midhirst to force. A little later they were hamimering at Kaponga's line but without result. Briggs neit put in a fine run for Kaponga, and from a free kick Scott had another resultless shot. Kaponga backs essayed passing, but could not get going and interception gained ground for Midhirst. Up and down play ensued, and then Kaponga gained the upper hand. Carroll just picked up in tiune to avert a score. A moment later James made an opening, and Carroll, failing to gather up the leather, McCarthy, who followed up fast, scored. Scott failed to goal. Halftime sounded with the score:— i Kaponga 3 j Midhirst 0 With the wind in their favor, Midhirst were expected to do much better, but the opening stages saw Kaponga gain the advantage, Furvis being prominent. A long kick by Vickers changed the scene, and Midhirst charged to attack. An infringement spoilt them, and Scott 'headed Kaponga to mid-field, but another rush placed Midhirst in a handy position, where their backs opened out nicely. But Carroll got in front of the ball, and this, combined wall good play by Briggs, brought relief. Midhirst still pressed, but could not score, and Kaponga rushed play right to the other end of the field, where Midhirst were forced. The Northerners .came again In great style, and Wright was nearly over at the corner. Then Briggs intercepted a pass and cleared, but Midhirst charged down again, and after a series of scrums under Kaponga's goal, Fowler shot the ball to Vickers, who scored, and his brother Les. landed a nice goal. .Rain now came on, and frcan then until the end of tho match Midhirst had the upper hand, but were unable to Increase their ecore, the game ending:— Midhirst 5 Kaponga 3 Mr. F. Juliai> was referee. CARBINE SHIELD MATCH.

STAR (11) BEAT TUKAPA (3). Star and Tukapa juniors met on the Recreation Grounds to decide the holder of the Carbine Shield, and after a good contest Star proved the winners. Playing with the sun, Star attacked at once, and from a high kick tho ball was kicked over the blue line, and fast following up resulted In Falwasser touching down just inside tho dead ball line, within a minute of the start. Tukapa attacked hard for some minutes, and from a penalty Morrison had a Shot at goal, whiofa went under the bar. Star had slightly the better of the play for the rest of the spell, but although both teams were dangerous on occasions, no further score ! resulted I With a deficit of three points to wipe out, Tukapa attacked hard on resuming, their forwards beating Star badly in the loose and line-out play, but the Star backs' defence was solid, and they kept their lino intact; although very sorely pressed at times. After about ten minutes play, Morton, for Tukapa, placed- a fine goal; making the scores even. Play continued up and down the field for some imlnutes, with both teams attacking hard at times. With about 15 minutes to gn. Star backs got under way, and the Tukapa rearguard being out of poslton, Carey raced over with a good try. Sims converted: Star 8, Tukapa 3. Play continued to.be of an even nature i until just before time, when weak play by the [Tukapa full-back resulted in his kick being I charged down, and Falwasser got over from a**- iiooUer was riferee.

THIRD GRADE. LEPPERTGft (15) v. HIGH SCHOOL A (5). At Lepperton on Saturday, the local team completely turned the tables on High School A, whom they defeated by 15 points to 5. Tho strong wind militated against good play, the match being played in four twenty minute spoils. Lepperton played a fine, clean game and thoroughly deserved their win. At halftime High School were leading by 5 points to 3, but in the third twenty minutes Lepperton made the utmost use of the wind and added an additional twelve points, there being no further score in the final twenty minutes. PRIMARY SCHOOLS MATCH, SOUTH TARANAKI PLAY. The following team has been selected to represent the South Taranaki primary schools against North Taranaki in the match to be played next Saturday as a curtain raiser to the Grammar School-High School imatch: — Full-back, MeCullum (Manaia); three-quarters, Forbes (Normanby), Bradford (Auroa), Hansen (Manaia Convent); five-eighths, (3. Patterson (Kapuni), Cooper (Eltham); half, Taylor (Eltharti); wing forward, .1. Patterson (Kapuni); forwards, Andrews (Normanby), Gower (Eltham), Rutherfurd (Plhama), Keheley (Kaponga), Slater (Eltham), Hill (Aurca), Hayward (Okalawa). Emergencies: Backs, Penny (Auroa), Ellason (Kapuni); forwards, Adlam (Te Rotl) and Shaw (Eltham).

MANAWATU BEAT WANGANUI. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Palmerston North, Last Night. , A representative match, Wanganul and Manawatu, was played here on Saturday and resulted ,1a a win for Manawatu by 12 points to 8. The game opened rather dull, but the second spell produced good football from both sides. The homo forwards showed to advantage, and the passing of the visiting backs demonstrated their superiority in this department. The scores at half-time were Manawatu G, Wanganui nil, and the final scores were 12 to 8, in favor of Manawatu. SOUTH ISLAND COUNTRY TEAM'S TOUR. Rotorua, Last Night. At Rugby, Bay of Plenty defeited the South Island country teatp by 22 points to 15. The first spell was fairly even, the score at the end being Bay of Plenty 15, South Island 12. Thereafter the visitors otil£, scared a try, while the Bay of Plenty team added eight points, their scare being six tries (two converted) and a penalty goal, the Southerners getting five tries. CANTERBURY BEAT WAIRARAPA. Chriatchurch, August 21. The Canterbury Rugby representatives defeated Wairarapa to-day by 9 points to 5. Play was mostly confined to the forwards, and for representative football the display was disappointing. The visitors were slightly superior in looso forward work, but they had no attacking combination among the backs.