FOOTBALL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2595, 1 September 1909, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

(Notes by “Full-Back.”)

The ordinary club matches , having been suspended, both Thursday and , Saturday last were occupied with re-Se&entat-ive matches. The Wairoaangatu game on Thursday was a very poor exhibition of football taken all round, although the ground was in .splendid order and the weather -conditions absolutely perfect. The display of the much-talked-of Wairoa team was -distinctly: disappointing, and although a few of the players showed considerable individual merit, there was not a semblance of combination. . Mangatu-. were unfortunate m being unable to put their strongest fifteen in the . held, but had the assistance of Witty and Donnelly.; The former!? was apparently suffering from ennui, and Donnelly, whom I-regard as a sterling forward, appeared to be just, out for an exercise gallop in view of Saturday’s contest. Redmond, jin the Mangatu forward division, was just about the best forward on the field. He played a hard and heady game all through, and with V shade more knowledge, would tower above his . fellows in nne<xut work. / Lynch"/ the Mangatu skipper, was about the best of the back division, and, with. Bust and Romeo Rep a,’ got through a good deal of hard defensive work in a satisfactory manOn*Saturday, when pitted against the

Poverjty Pay. representatives, v> airoa put up a much better fight, but good football was absolutely out of the Question on account of tho most adverse •Breather conditions! Tho game was played jn' pouring iairi, accompanied by squally gusts of wind of great strength, and although the Poverty Bay ' backs got going time'and again; many chancesof scoring were ' unavoidably . lost through the impossibility of handling the wet ball. - _ Payne, the old Hawke s Bay who led Wairoa, was the best ] back amongst the visitors. , By his • clever work he made many openings, ; but, in several instances, nullified his efforts by failing, to .pass, soph enough.. . Green, "his companion: 'five-eighths, also ; showed good form, as did the old WestEnder, Wi Frjday, while Tuawhenata ■ shone out splendidly time and again with sound defensive tactics. In the . brothers* Lambert, and. Kiele, Wairoa ( havo three forwards who would not disgraco any team, but. the remainder of th© forward . .division were rather mediocre." . d i . Th© Poverty Bay back division did -very well considering the greasy ground and ball. . Fitzgerald, , at full, made no mistakes, and 'was very safe, while the three-quarters all, played a sound game. Hyland showed/some dashing work, and •filler also gave evidence of improved •form, his taking and kicking' . being good, while he'also', took his man well. Tocker, as usual, got through a lot _of solid work,' and was the!’saviour of his side on two of three occasions. Tho fiVe-eighths. were Watchorn ami Makaore: the latter replacing Kaipara. - Watchorn-did not./play ; up .to his; best form, and. although, lasting tho came oiit, was 'visibly suffering from the effects of:the injury to r his leg which he i - received./while; on. ..tour. Jdakaore, pn the Ptfcer liandk played a. cleVer game and gained a lot of _ ground by his feinting runs. His display was marred .by a decided inclination; to fishne&s. ' .... /Bowman, at. half, was very solid on -defence, and, got the hall away well to his backs, fie was- perhaps -so <‘nippy”- as-'usual.- hut clearly demonstrated how valuable' his services would have been to the representative team -on tour. . / , , ' , . ~ The forwards all grafted hard m the -closing part -of the game,-: but earlier 4id' not seem to realise what was want--4sof themv■ Towards, the finish / .they dimply bverraii'/tbeir opponents and. put in some splendid loose rushes. 0 SulliTOH ie easily the best wing-forward we $ 4- > h J* £ - v £■ i*->: *

. \ . ..• 1 •' ' - : have seen in- Gisborne for a long time, and gave another good display on Saturday. It * would be unfair to single out any of the other forwards for individual potlce, but Nicolas deserves a special word of praise for a very clever dribbling run in the first spell. Mr. Williams was not remarkably strict in his rulings, and wisely (in some instances) let things go, which helped" to make the, game more open and attractive than, perhaps, ; it otherwise might have been. The third-grade championship has been won by the Defence Cadets, to whom I tender my congratulations' on their victory. At the same time I .think the losers, on a dry day, would just about have won { as their combination was much superior to that of their opponents: Bravo 1 Y.M.C.A. on your plucky displays throughout the season. May you have better luck next time. The Thursday competition is in an in-teresting-state, and the issue practically lies between the City and Gisborne Clubs. A good deal of feeling has been caused by the appeal of. the former club to the New Zealand Rugby Union in connection with one of their games. -It will bo that on this occasion Gisborne boat City by 2 points, but the latter. had. a goal from a try disallowed by the referee.on the gl-ound that the placer’s hand was- On the ball when the kicker kicked it. The matter was the subject of an appeal to the local Union, thel Management: Cppi-, mittee of which body had no alternative but to.dismiss, as there was no law dealing with the, subject. Thereupon the City club further appealed to' the N.Z.R.U., and after the matter had been considered by the N.Z. Appeal Council; the decision was sent back, allowing the appeal, and reversing the referee’s decision. It simply then remained. .for the local body to do all that they could do in the matter and consider the match a draw. The result is that City have now . a lead of one point, and with Star' and Alhambra to meet, stand an excellent chance of annexing the Lysnar banner. Gisborne has also to meet Star and Alhambra, and one can never tell how things will go until the f last game is played. (The attitude of the City club has been rather adversely commented upon, but for my part I think it to be a perfectly just and equitable one, and if they win the trophy they , will be thoroughly deserving of the honor. The question of sentiment has been brought in, and it has been mentioned that in an early match Gisborne allowed City to play several men who had not been put through the Union as members of the City Club. Many of the supporters of the Gisborne Club are of the Opinion that under the circumstances City ought to have , acted in what they call a more “sportsmanlike” manner, and that .the match should have been replayed. I cannot agree with this view, and consider, as I have already said, that the action of . the City Club throughout the incident has been thoroughly fair.. When the first appeal from the City Club came before the Union it was accompanied by a request that the match should be replayed,, but when that appeal was thrown out, aud the matter, went further, all .question of re-placing the game was necessarily at an end, and now the matter has been decided by a" higher tribunal and that decision must stand. The point in dispute was an interesting one, and the incident, however regrettable, has not been without its usefulness in throwing light on;; a. . point.. hitherto clouded in obscurity.

TO-MORROW’S MATCHES. The Thursday competition will be continued at Victoria Domain termorrow afternoon, when the following matches will be played:—Gisborne v. Star, 1.45 p.m.; City v. Alhambra, 3 -p.m. - ' *. The Gisborne team to play Star will he picked from the following: C. Hepburn. R. Campbell, J. Ityan, W. Neill, J? Pollock, G. Neill, H. Henderson, W. Flatman, H. Harrison, F. Seymour, F. Delaney, J. Lyons; T. Henderson, J. Newton, R. Morse, W. Brown - T. Swain, J. Weir, A. McConnell, C. Pollock, R. Flatman, A. Pirie, and W. Collins. ... - SATURDAY’S MATCHES.

The Rugby Union matclieo to be plkyed on Saturday , will take place at- Victoria Domain, as follows: Challenge match, thirds, Y.M.C.A. v. Makauri, 1.45 p.m.: senior championship/ first round, Kaiti-City v. Makauri,. 3 p.m.;' iunior championship, first round, Y.M.C.A. v. Kaiti-City, 3 p.mi . . , ' • • ' . ,/ - The following will represent the Kaiti-City juniors against Y TVI.C.A; 'on Saturday: Full-back, Stubbs; threequarters, O’Neill, Pollock, Fromm;five-. eighths, Oman And Huston ; half-back/ Hargreaves; forwards, Jackson (wing), Exeter, : Bristow, Whitfield,}/: O’Neill, McConnell, Roche, i McKennie. Emergencies: Whitfield, and Morell. The above mentioned players are.requested to meet at the Royal Hotel to-day, at 7.30 p.in., for practice. f ' AUCKLAND DEFEATS WANGANUI.;

TPbb. Press Association.! ’ WANGANUI;- August 31. The representative football match between Auckland and; Wanganui was played on the recreation ground this afternoon. Rain 'fell most of the time, and the: ground was heavy. Auckland were heavier than the local men who, though . they -played .well, were almost all the time on -the defensive. Auckland won by 15 points (five unconverted tries) to 3 points (one try). Auckland’s score was made by Wilson. (2), Francis (2), and Renwick. The try for Wanganui was obtained' by. Aitken.

TROUBLE IN LONDO/N. . t -•> . ... ■ * ■ ~ United Press Asrociation—-CorTßiony LONDON, August HO. Serious trouble, lias . arisen between the Football Associations arid the - players, many of whom, contrary to the Association’s orders, refused tb 'resign from the players’.Union, which is back-; bd by the .general'/federation of thb Trades Unions. Some league-matches fixed for the opening day have been cancelled owing to th® clubs concerned suspending many players from belonging to the Union. WALLABIES V. KANGAROOS. . (Received... Sent.:.!,. 1-7 a.m.),_; :. Sydney; August.3L The following Wallabies have been selected, and,agree, to play agamsvth© Kangaroos: Hickey, Knssell, Mandible, Fansworth, McCabe; ‘Murtrie,//Barnett, Mclntyre;. ;P. Burge.

McCuo, A. B. Burge, Gavin, Craig,! fThe Kangaroos were the Northern Union- team which visited England. Hie Wallabies were the Rugby team which toured England at the same time.]. *• ; .