POLO MATCHES AT NGARUAWAHIA.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 242, 1 February 1898, Page 2

POLO MATCHES AT NGARUAWAHIA.

On Friday afternoon, January 28th, two teams representing the Wamgaro Polo Club rolled up at Ngaruawahia to play against teams from the Auckland and Ngaruawahia Polo Clubs respectively. WAINGARO 11. V. NGARUAWAHIA I. The first match started at 3.15 p.m , Waingaro 11. v. Ngaruawahia 1., and was played in spells of 10 minutes with five minutes' intervals. About two minutes after the ball was thrown in, P. Bull scored a goal for "Waingaro, the home team being scarcely prepared for the fast game which the visitors Btarted playing. Beforfc the first spell ended 6. Eyro added another goal to Waingaro's total by a good hard drive. In the second spell Ngaruawahia made a much h&rder fight for it, and very nearly scored, "Waingaro being aho handicapped by the absence of their fullback for several nvnutes owing to his breaking a stirrup iron and almost immediately afterwards one of the stirrup bars in his saddle. However, the spell ended in neither side scoring. In the third spell Waingaro again pressed, but owing to want of combination more than once missed goals they should have got. As it was, "Waingaro managed to get one more, G. MacMillan giving the final hit. In the fourth spell, Ngaruawahia played very hard and brought the ball repeatedly up to the visitors' goal line, but luck was against them and no score resulted, and the match ended in a win for the visitors, 3 goals to love. For the home team O'Grady and Roper were the pick, and F. Bull was conspicuous among the viators. The teams were as under :—Waingaro II : "W. Seavill (capt,), full-back : E. Eyre, No. 3 ; F. Bull, No. 2 ; G-. MacMillan, No. 1. Ngaruawahia : Cavaoagh, fulb-back ; Latham (capt.), No. 3 ; O'Grady, No. 2 ; G. Roper, No. 1. Waingaro i. v. Auckland. At 4 30 p.m. the Wamgaro team, No. 1., began their match against the Auckland representative. These latter, though not the strongest team which the Auckland Club could have sent, were all good men who thoroughly understood the game, and besides were a'l well mounted. All the spells wire fast ones, hard galloping being the order of the day, or rather, hour. The first attack on the Waingaro goal was unsuccessful, and as the spell went on the Waingaro men, though repeatedly having to defend, got more confidence, and did not let the Aucklauders have it all their own way. Before the spell ended, however, the town men scored their first goal. In the second and third spells the Aucklanders again scored one goal each time, though the Waiugaro men were greatly improving and playing together a great deal better, resulting in their getting their first goal, Upton being the scorer. In the fourth spell Auckland scored twice and "Waingaro once more, the play being very ev-pn. The good play of Gordon, the Auckland full-back, alone prevented Waingaro from scoring on several occasions, the ball being often dangerously near the Aucklauder's goal. In the fifth spell Auckland scored their sixth goal and Waingaro their third and fourth, the games being very fast and even. The sixth spell was like all the others, very fast, but not qnite so prolific in goals, Auckland scoring once more, the Waingaro score being unchanged, the match resulting iu a win for Auckland by seven goals to four, each of the Waingaro men scoring one. The teams were :—Auckland : W. Gordon, full-back; W. H. Wynyard (Capt.), No. 3 ; M. Wynyard, No. 2; C. E. Purchus, No. 1. Waingaro: A. Upton, full-back; J. M. Stevenson, No. 3; H. Bull, No. 2 ; B. Hewett (Capt.), No. 1. The game throughout was well con* tested and entirely free from all disputes or unpleasantness of any kind, and resulted much more favourably than the Waingaro men expected. A team from Waingaro will probably go down to play a return match with Auckland at the end of February. Mr Jack Harrison, of the Warrengato Polo Club, made a splendid referee in both matches.