FOOTBALL NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 16, 2 July 1920, Page 9

FOOTBALL NOTES.

;w . * R* SHIELD MAXCHES. INVERCARGILL (13) v. STAR (8). Great interesfc liad been aroused by this le^" match as.Bhies were so narrowly defeated Jast game by the Star, supporters opinixig that their defeated side had experienced the fcown of Fartune, w.hile Star's solid backing ■visualised their team could do even 'M' better than in tbe game before. Well, this — feeling of keenness got into some of the Maclf, Players several incidents unworthy of ' inter-clab games oocurred in the above fixture, man-handling being fairly fxe- : quent, and punchmg not being unseen. """" The game was hard enough in all con^«2i( science, without introducing the "dirt" ■S «cek into. Who was to bamle? should be 'f St4 a qnestion for the S.R.F.U. executive, who might very easily speed-up in noticing this - wretched state of affairs. It was thought tthej ; tbat, after "Onlooker," had lashed , |fj ^ it in last Satuxday's "Times," there might ] „ot be a betterment. The wind behind Blues did not prevent the Star forwards from getting quickly to work, but sur,e, if slowp ish, work by the defending full drove them E!i back.; The crowd rnbbed it-s eyes when Star began to pass; bnt the men were sadiyl out of pra-ctice even in the third round of the Galbraith Shield Competition, and Blues attacked. Wave and return, wave of forward play, with hopours ' P^: easy (except when Blues packed, Lilley's ■■ kicking not being up to standard against . the wind. The Blues were not using the high ikick, many of their passing rushes : proving merely tiring to themselves, their rwtia second five not handling well or not rejs jEiij ceiving so as to take cleanly. Probably the backs were over-anxious to hand it on — when they should have used the wind in : i kicking for position. Agnew did some left a good spoiling and heavy bumping, and - generally cramped Blues. From a line , scrum Star secured, C. Oughton passed to Murray who fed Agnew off-side and I.F.C. 0lir j found relief . Blue forwards broke through,

Webb, Rice, and later Miller being prominent, Whittaker taking a dash afterwards. 'emkm lined f ree saw Blue secure and feed very ;j/iw,.i(}martly, - little Irving's foot carrying him left U?ver Iride. I.F.C. 3. Miller's kiek had been is u®llot good enough, but a free for off-side e ofctijflf8 landed by him a moment later, and ju^j.F.C. 6, was recorded. Persistent back : mad Attack of not good quality continued, Blue , p, vvoacks appearing nervous, Star break-aways proving fast and well-spread. A set scrum allowe'd Davidson to feed Cleland whom e jt,,.. winger Agnew eharged, the Blue iu'st five atei.y dropping a four which just got over, | I.F.C. 10, Star nil. C. Oughton then showed up in good defence taking and oulJ kicking, the spoiling of his side being the ... : only other outstanding play against strong Blue forward att-acks, when from the middle half Oughton sent to Murray and the I.F.C, backs, too ashonished to dive, let him jink to -the line, when O'Byrne came 3' across with a lovely low tackle, and scrum followed in front of Blue posts, the ball rai,J being sent out well down in Blues' cor,si ner. Here the forwards cleared easily, the spell ending' with the ball out at near- — . ly half-way, and the score I.F.C. 10, Star nil. With the wind behind them Star : began to boot high, Agnew getting a few J lamb >ood skiers ;n £or jjjg Speecly men to fol.ow, but luck favoured Blues with two A® -fences. The whole Blue team, with the 14. ai 'full -back omitted, had a bad attack of i* jr; oerves and it looked like a Star victory. Blue full tried to find the eastern line, but . -he wipd caught the ball and blew it back, almers Geggett coming up with others to secure ( Rctr-; >h the south-east corner. Lilley kicked orniaa; 1 great goal. Blues 10, Star 5. I.F.C. ltral ^en Put in two good passing rushes, heland's work being neat, the latter scorng close to the northern posts. An easy V hot failed. I.F.C. 13, Star 5. The Blue orwards then began to pack.and to do as bey liked in the line work, the crossing >f the dribbles between Miller and Webb ^.eing excellent, and Star not appearing to >e able to hold a line. A fine back moveifltf6'' llent of Blues saw Sutton refuse to pass ^■au unmarked man, .and he was tackled, " 'S ^ l°st. Several more bouts irns' ' ;,y thl attacking backs showed spectators . :i- ,ow backs can come around for the extra iass, ihe backing-up being really good; ut Star pushed every attempt towards B side line where Lilley at last cleared 1 M°'Wrne who kicked with judgment i,.3ie (hack tp half-way. Agnew fed Lilley, but )oth He and Murray were on the stand, ( 10 all Ihe Star backs got from the transers was dumping, Fraser finally ending* ;ke silly thing with tackling Barraclough. : hilley up at first five tried to open up the ;ame, but he lacked knowledge, going too 'ar or crowdiag to the side-line or hesit;i.ting. Lines were still easy for Blues and Star back kicking gained little ground. The two teams trying passing made the jame more showy, Lilley being unlucky in , bis attempts to cut in, as the Blne backs ■ were tackling well and hard. Star were " ki mid-field play, their opposing - 1

five-eightli line being poor on ground defence. Irving on the wing stopped two Star dribbles, clearing well what arpeared to be dangerous ru?h- C. Ought-. ■ came through well and t? ing pac.is saw his back as he was two yards from the line, where O'Byrne excelled himself with a long dive which carried the Star half ont. Blue forwards easily cleared from the line out; but Star came again into attack from a long line and Aitken broke through in possession. Blue full was well out of the running, but Webb came out of tbe pack and tackled the other forward around the carried ball, pushing him out half-a-yard from the corner, he himself knocking down the corner flag. The line umpire not being in a position to see/ the referee had to rule the ball in-goal. The play swayed across to the eastern line, whep from a set scrum C. fed J. Oughton who scored well out. I.F.C. 13, Star 8. Froin the 25 Star set up an attack, but the Blue forwards, though tiring, managed to clear to about half way, the whistle leaving the score at : Invercargill 13, Star 8. Blues -have a match to play with Athletics to finish the third round of the competition, and Star lead by 3 points in the Shield Games. There appears to be some doubt of a fourth round being played. ATHLETTC (31) v. WAIKIWI (3). The wind and Whyte kept Athletic defending mostly by force through the greater part of the first spell • during which Vv hyte fell on one for his side, and Mapletoft retaliated with a fine try for Athletic, the wing -forward receiving a pass to run 30 yards and cross at the corner. Although this player ran around well, the kick failed. The first spell ended with Waikiwi — Athletic 3 all. With the strong wind in the second spell Rya-n, the Athletic half made his backs come up for tbe ball, the feed being plenteous and well timed. Kerr showed a fine turn of foot, 8 tries coming in this spell. The new wing-three, White, gave signs of good football and Roche tried to rival Whyte in smashing efforts. It was a one-sided affair, Waikiwi having only one back of merit — Dawson. When the procession ended the score may have been Athletic 31, Waikiwi 3.