FOOTBALL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2537, 25 June 1909, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

THURSDAY COMPETITION. The Thursday championship games were continued at the Victoria Domain yesterday in dull and bitterly cold weather. There was a fairly large attendance of the general public, many of whom had come, however, to witness the foot race. Gisborne succeeded in defeating City by a narrow margin, and Alhambra registered their first win in the competition bj T defeating Star. ALHAMBRA 3 v. STAR 0. Both sides took the field short, but Alhambra were reinforced in a few moments. They won the toss and took advantage of the strong south-westerly wind. Play was confined to the Star territory, and Casley and R. Somervell were prominent with good work. Good defence by Kaipara, Smith and Kokiri kept them from scoring, and a passing run of the Star back division brought play to Alhambra’s 25/ Alhambra came again to the attack, and a fine rush of their forwards, headed * Paaka Turei, Casley, and Clark carried the ball over the line, where it went into touch in goal. Half time was called with no scores. Owing to the teams being late in starting there was not the usual interval, and with the wind behind them, Star pressed hard, Kaipara obtaining several very clever marks. Kokiri, at full for Star, was playing very well, and his kicking kept his side on the attack. Paaka Turei a score against his side by kicking dead, from a rush by the Star forwards. . Even play followed, both sides pressing in turn. Paaka Turei and Newton on one side and Ferguson and Nicolas on the other doing excellent work. Eventually R. Somervell obtained and Newton, following up his kick, secured andscored amidst applause. Paaki Turei failed at goal and the whistle sounded leaving the scores Alhambra 3, Star 0. Mr A. Pritchard was the referee. GISBORNE 8, v. CITY 6. Even play in mid-field followed the. commencement of the game between these teams, but a few minutes from the start Puilett obtained possession in midfield and gave to Witty, who, in turn, smartly transferred to Tocker. The latter player put in a fine dodgy run from outside the 25, and scored between the posts. Luttrell sent the ball over the bar, but the. goal was disallowed .on account of some irregularity on the part of the placer. Aided by the wind, City had the best of the play and a series of marks and high kicks ended in their favor. From their own 25 the Gisborne forwards made a meteoric burst right over the City line, and Luttrell’s kick rebounding from the post Newton scored and added the extra points himself. Play centred in midfield for some time, and again the backs on either side indulged in a long interchange of kicks. The forwards were having most of the play, and Tocker saved .well on several occasions. City took another turn at attacking and were nearly over) Hut good work byPollock and Campbell kept them out and, like a flash, play was transferred to the City line by a combined rush, and Morse segred.' Newton failed at goal from! a difficult angle. Gisborne were attacking hotly when the interval was called. On resumption Gisborne continued to be aggressive, but the ball was worked back to midfield, where from a mark Puflett landed a beautiful goal, earning the applause of. the spectators. With only two points difference, both teams worked hard for a score, and some excellent work was seen on each side. City looked like scoring once or twice, ..but Gisborne held , them in check, and on the whole had the best of the game.' The concluding stages of the game were played in semidarkness, and the whistle for time was welcomed, leaving the. result: Gisborne 8, City 6. The game was controlled by Mr.. L. F. Williams. TO-MORROW?S MATCHES. The following tenm will represent Y.M.C.A. in the senior match v. Kaiti City:—Full-back. W. Rangi; threequarters. D. Mi.ler, R. Campbell, TV. Neill; five-eighths, M. Makaroa, Kainara; half, P. Kokiri; forwards, Pine (wing), Russel, Pewhairangi, Raul, Mead, Ellison, Brownlee, Perry. Emergency: Clark. ~ The following will represent tho United Juniors in their mnteh against Kaiti-City to-morrow:—Wyllie, Cockerill, Atkinson, 'Pollock. O sen, Smyth, Somervell, R. Somercell, V. Nicolas, Newton. Hill, Hickey. Petersen, Davis, and Corbett. Emergencies: Malone and Briscoe (forwards), Murphy (back). .

The following referees have been appointed for to-morrow’s matches: — To Kura v. Takitimu, Mr A. Pritchard ; Victoria Domain, senior match, Mr. W. Howard: junior, Mr. H. Carr; thirds, Mr. M. Osborne. THE AUSTRALIAN GAME. A number ,of players of the Australian game, met on their; ground yesterday afternoon, when practice teams were ] picked by Messrs Kuring and Wack. After an exciting struggle, in which some brilliant play was witnessed, Kuring’s team proved the victors.. The final results were: Kuring’s team, 4 goals 5 behiuds (29 points); Wack’s team, 3 goals 4 behinds (22 points). Owing to a slight error in the report of the meeting on Wednesday evening, Messrs W. F. Cederwar.’s and W. Lissant Clayton’s names wore inadvertently omitted from the vice-presi-dency fist. *rhe report in question was supplied by the promoters of the Australian game in Gisborne.)