FOOTBALL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 9 June 1913, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

SATURDAY'S MATCHES. I I&ttsil weather prevailed for the commencement of the s?coiid round of the Wflirarapa Rugby championships. Once more there were surprises in store for followers of the game. It was gene rally thought that playing on their own ground, Carterton would d >r'eat Red Stars. Such however was not the eas*?, as after a good fast game the Masterton team once again proved superior to their Carterton rivals, the scores being five points to tliiv- 1 . At Gladstone the Unit3d defeated the local team by five points to nil. In the junior grade, the hitherto unbeaten Stars met thoir Waterloo at the hands of. Carterton by s!ix points to tlire. l . The result of the senior fames places R;d Star at the head of affairs, being two points better than Carterton and United. . The results of the games wera as follow:

UNITED o; GLADSTONE 0

Gladstone took the field minus the services of D. Thompson on the. threequarter line and "Jim" Hanley at half. United won the toss and played up hill, from th? kick-off play j hovered toboufc mid field for quite a i time, play being of a very uninteresting order. The forwards were well matched and several good rushes were witnessed; but lack of scoring ability prevented any scores from , being registered. The yellows played much below the form displayed the previous week against Carterton —there being very little or no dash in their play. The backs were especially off. Barron, a new plftyer, was wofully weak, and barely down to a rush, wliich made the forwards work doubly bard. A trood rush started by 0. John eon and Bob McLaren gave Gladstone a. good chance to score, but a force resulted. United were, compelled to force several times in succession-, but apart from several attempts at goal-; kicking it could not be said that the United'-s line was at any time in danger. The latter, mainly through th? good play of Brough and Goulder, put the yellows on the defence on several occasions". The sp?ll ended with no score.

On changing ends United kept up a fairly persistent attack, several loose forward rushes almost ending in disaster to Gladstone, and compelling B. Mason to force on more than one occasion. ( When thp spell had b'-'en going si bout ten minutes Gladstone forwards, headed bv Henderson «.nd Hodge, curried play bv a really good rush to the United line, where for a time a score seemed imminent. A penalty to the'yellows gave Spackman a chance to kick a goal, but the. ball went wide and a foree resulted in relieving the pressure. Gladstone wore soon attacking again and from a scrum near the visitors' line the ball went from Bourke to Ev Mason, who ran straight across and. drawing the odposing backp on to himself and Hickson at three-quarter, spoilt what should liave been a good" opportunity to score. Wheir.one or two of the yellow,backs learn to go, straight the good work of the forwards may be turned to .the side's advantage. This was practically, the only time the yellows were dangerous in the. spell. The only score, of the match came from,a loose rush by the United forwards, for which Brough and Goulder wera responsible. The Gladstone half made no. attempt to go down to the ball, which was dribbled slowly over the line, and although B. Mason bad apparently plenfv of time to force, Russell was the first to touch down. Saunders added the major points. Fjoni this out the visitors more than held thair own, although the yellow forwards tried hard to pull the game out of the fire, and the match ended with United leading by 5. points to nil, after what must be considered a very mediocre game indeed."" The Gladstone forwards, with one or two notable exceptions .did not play up to their usual form, but with the backs alone lay the- cause .of defeat. Of the latter B .Mason, *t full back, only made one serious mistake, which cost his side the match, while Strang and Bourke were also off, although at times responsible for gome good work. Barron, at half, was the weak link, while Edcar Mason showed no form at all. Hickson was playing his first game, and lacked condition. In the forwards the two McLarens worked hard, as also did H. Henderson and 0. Johnson. For the winners Broueh and Goulder stood out alone m forward work, while Russell, Tait and Saunders were the pick of the rearguard. Mr A. E. Booth wag a capable referee. STARS 5; CARTERTON 3. This match was played at Carterton and attracted a lot of attention, a large crowd paying for admission. At the last moment Ball decided to play for Stars and Duggan replaced >■ Darvill. Carterton were without the )

services Of one. or two of their usual players. The game throughout was fast and interesting, especially in the second spoil. About half-way through the first half C. Rosy scored for Stars Ball converting. Early in the second spell, in which play was of an even nature, F. Groube scored for Carterton, the kick at goal b>ing a failure. No other scores -weiv added, Stars leaving the field victors two pcii.ts. 'Mr E. McKenzie refereed.

JUNIOR

CARTERTON 6 ; STARS 3

Red Star juniors met their first defeat at the hands of Carterton after an uninteresting game, bv six points to throe. IN OTHER PLACES. <Bv T»l'(iraph - P•■'■*■> li».i»i«i'i'»'"u.) WELLINGTON, Last Night.

In the championship football matches vesterdav, Melrose i'B) beat Athletic '(6} ; Petone d9t bent St. James (13); Poneke (•')) dr>w with Wellington (3); Oriental (H) beat Victoria College (6\