FOOTBALL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4441, 12 June 1893, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

:■':;•' '[By Damooles.] '_•>'■ Masterton ut. Red Stars.

The long looked for meeting between the abo ve teams' took place on Saturday iasr, when they' met to contest tor the Senior Cop, on the Worksop Boad Ground. The after. noon was cold and bleak, and footballers had the unique experience of playing in a snow storm. The ground wascovered with a ooating of snow, making.it'extremely slippery and uncertain.' Notwithstanding the uupropitious state of the weaiher,' ; the spectators rolled up in rani ; force; showing without a doubt the popularity oTtbojgame, aod'thb artionnt of interest displayed in tho meeting of these local exponents. The'spectators experieucid far the' worst of the weather, aud : the dusters of:"barrackers" in different' portions: nf the field,, trying to keep oach other warm, were well nigh frozen before the finish of the game. Excitement, however, ran high throughout, and the'minda'of the crowd were : never allowed _,to wander to the disagreeableness ofthe atmosphere, but were kept thoroughly interested upon the'play arid player?. A cold wind blew straight down the field, driving a cold sleetbefore.it, and this no doubt helped the play of the team with their backs to the wind considerably. However,' both aides bad their turn with tho v storm, and made the best of it. Mr 0, A. Poivnall braved the elements to aot as referee, and Messrs Green and Yates as line.umpiies. , The Masterton team as it appeared on tho field was ahput ; the strongest they could .place, the only absentee being Fowler, W. Thompson ably' filling the vacancy. Their heavy and fast forwards seemed to be in. their glory, and a somewhat easy victory was unhesitatingly vouchsafed for them by their admirers, who fancied the wet ground would suit them in every respect. Their baoks, too, were considered strong, andgood enough for .anything. Agnew was placed full, D'Arcy, R. Thompson and Watson three-quarters, Willie Thompson five-eighths, and Holmwood and T, Thompson halves. Such a combination looked well enough in the field, hue they had met an opposition bank tcamqnitoonapar, if notsuperiof, to the old invincibles.; The Stars, on tlio other hand, were not considered strong, several emergencies being taken on, but as the game proceeded, it was seen that the team could hardly be improved upon; The Star captain had sent away in the morning to his ratu outside the town that the match ws'uld probably be postponed on account of the weather, and was therefore placed in a hole when it was definitely decided to play. _ However, the. Stars are fortunately poßsesssd of excellent substitutes, and so tho result proved. Pearse, Dorset, and Braggins were taken on in the forwards, and each certainly earned his place. The redoubtable Harry Wrigley was placed full, Hudson, De Joux and Cochrane took up their position as three-quar-ters, and Hansen, Yennell and Remeni halves. The milch does not need much description, as although for a wet day it was a grand exposition, there was a sameness about it throughout, loose forward rushes being the principal feature. This was interspersed with rare dashes of passing, and some excellent kicking. Maßterton hud the advantage of playing with the wind and snow storm in the first spell, and it was nothing short of a football miracle that the Star backs nullified their valiant attempts to score. The onslaughts were many and furious, and the repeated efforts of the Grajs, D'Arcy, and the Thompsons to croßs the coveted line were met with a Stubborn resistance, The only score was obtained by pretty passing between the Thompsons, right in front of the Star goal, ending in a beautiful pot by" Bob," registering a goal, admidst tremendous cheering. The Stars, although against the gale, more than held their own, and several times had the Masterton line in imminent danger, Agnew and D'Arcy were playing a splendid game, and the latter had several unsuceess' ful tries at goal. The Grst spell ended with Masterton leading by four point's, but it could easily be seen that when the Stars changed ends they would givo their opponents no end of trouble, And so it proved. Tho second spoil oponed with Masterton kicking ofi, and the Stars Boon had Masterton penned in thoir own twenty-five \ The combination of the Stars was seen to advantage, and the skilled play of each and every one was highly commented upon. Masterton was forced several times, and played purely on the defensive.. At lost, from a combined rush over tbe line, Gemini was awarded a try, and from a very difficult angle, Wrigley negotiated the attempt, amidst deafening cheering. Masterton again set to work as if they meant business, and for a short timo had the play out of danger, but some valuable and true passing between the Star backs, in which De Joux, Hudson and Hansen shone, once more placed Master-. ton on their mettle. By Smart following up, and intercepting a return kick from Agnew, Morris obtained the second try. for the Stars, and Wrigley made a fine attempt at goal but failed. This was all the scoring, leaving the result of the game, Stars seven points, Masterton four. < There was tremendous excitement at this, and the Star fanciers were hardly able to restrain thomselves, It was approaching darkness.when the referee's whistle ended the game, leaving the gallant Mastertonians vanquished on their mettle'and their own ground for tho first time for many years,

Tlie winners.certainly played the best game, going in more for combination than|l have ever yet seen them, and although every. man without exception played exceedingly well, Hansen deserves special mention, He played throughout with a judgment and earnestneßS which stumps him as one of the best backs the Wairarapa lias seen. Dcjoux also deserves a pat on (he shoulder/ as he played.. re«l football in a smart and plucky manner'. For the rest I? must heartily congratulate them npoii their victory, as bytheir individual training and sticking together they certainly deserve it.

The Masterlon team were beaten in combination, for. their.individual members -especially in the forwards —it would be hard to beat.' They had'the weight,'strength, and reputation in their favour, batnotthesmartness and eridnrance.i;;\Thpir;exceed" ingly, fine, set "of forwards worked their utmost, ahdthe'Grayß, flvWejch and Aatall, did'spleflclia wpik '.Even : 'thougutheir, ! ;bpponentß wore smaller tlie s6rp3.|wre .■ pretty even, but;their tall'men!shone' brilhe lineout,' wheretheyhtad adiatinct ad|whtaje;^h|b)i^^

not'shine, Agndw ■ and "o'Afcy §ems|j the best. .'The'/ latter' was dpizbt the hiV never missed or niulied /a 'single.' portuhity. His ous kicking;. wfta greaUy : admired.*? Without his services tie Maattrlbn'.v back division;. will be weak.'.Tbe::^ Thompsons did not get a:ehow, old; comrades;on the other -Mox watohing them very oloBeiy,; WaJ-§ pre.tiy goal-was a marvel, and was?;: about the best piece ,of;play of tbe'.i'-s [day. T. Thoinpson and Hplmwoodj| were overmatched by the oppooenig; bahes, Hansen, YeDnelUnd EemenijiTwho are indeed a smartVio.j;l hope; ,j to see a fine dry day. the these warns meet; and a real merry "X garaeimly be anticipated. ' .■

yennell and Hansen, of the Stars wot" straightened out "vduring the match, butpluckily. resumed playing, ; apparently not much the worse. Holmwood received a nasty knock on the.spine.towards the'end, and lam sorry to' hear he is at present in a, rather bad state, ,AlbfooJtbidh' ; r«-will; hope t'or>the speedy recoveM/ this clever little half.'., . J *

'Mastertoii'm'cet.Greytown atGrey.n town, next Saturday, when a tough struggle for'Buprem'acyVmay be expeoted," '■'-■• v ■■■■•••:'■ '..■'; ■'■<

,'.'. The Star first fifteen play the next eighteen on the Park Ovnl next Saturday. Filteen—Wrigley, Cochrane, De Joux, Hudson," Hansen, Renuni, : Venriell, Wilson; T. Welch, Pearse, MoKillop,. Kummer, 0. Percy, Dorset, Morris.

lli'e Star second Bont a wirelo tho Curterlon skipper on Saturday asking him to postpone their match on'' ' account of the -severe weather. It was indeed out of the question to ask . a team to truvel on such n miserable day. No answer was received, is not expected will attempt to claim the oircumstanctß, and the g»'mW|r probably be played next Saturday, as i neither team a™ engaged for that day.

The Masterton second meet Fea-. tberston at Cartel ton on Saturday next/

The senior cup contest between the Eketahuna and Pahiatua teams,whicli hosof late beon oieatiug no end oil excitement in the Bush district, was played on Saturday, and resulted in a win for Eketahuna by one gaol (five points) .to love. The game, although played' on a watery ground, was a splendid one from start to finish, and was fought to the bitter end. Pahiatua were the favourites.

The Mataiawa Club.played Greytown, on the Recreation fteserve last Saturday, and were defeated by five pointe'to nil. The match was played in the midst of snow and hail, and consequently was not a very fast one.

The championship match between Poneke andFetone tcamson Saturday was a draw, each Bcoring five points. Pudney and Pringle obtained tries for Poneke and Petone- respectively, and Baumber placed a goal from a free kick 'for the latter.. Ellison, converted Pudney's try. ; V

The Athletics team by six points obtaining a try and HylanTpotting a» goal.

The annual rep; inatoh between Wellington and Wftirarapa school teams was played on Saturday mora-' ing on No, 1 ground, Island Bay, The Wairarapa boys, beaded by Parker, took the play to the middle of the field, whore Lindop,getting possession of the ball, made a fine run Bud crossed the Wellington's line; Donald took the kick, but was unsuccessful, though he made a splendid attempt, Buddell and Wallace, (Wellington) then started a fine ■ rußb, which resulted in Carey falling over the Blue's line with several Wairarapaa hanging on to him. The ball was brought back and scrimmaged. Im. mediately after the Wellingtons' were allowed a free kick right in front of the Wairarapaa goal. 1 Wallace took the kick and placed & splondid goal. -Half time was called shortly after, the scores being Wairaropa 2, Wellington 8, .When play - bad again started, a rush with Ward in the lead took the ball into danger*, bus proximity to tbo blues' goal, Fraeer got the ball from* ierjmmage.»r/V; passed to «mH ; .V''. kick at goal was unaacoessful. Tbo bluee then woke up and Willis scored. The kick was taken by Burns who converted. No side was called shortly after, for tbo Wairaraps Liadop, Daysh, Willis, Gray and Rogera wore . the most prominent, and for tho Wei- / llngtons Wallace, Carey, Carter, Wellß, Drumraond and Fraier were, if anything, the best. The game was very even throughout. Mr Bee filled the office of referee satisfactorily, ■ and Messrs Beaglehole and Erskine acted as line umpires. After the match botb teams had dinner at the Boys' Institute, .