West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 17 September 1900, page 6


FOOTBALL. THE AUSTRALIAN GAME. WEST PERTH V. PERTH. Whether it was the glorious weather or the fact that it was the last fixture of the season or that a fine contest was anticipated, there was a large attendance at the W.A.C.A. Ground on Saturday when representative teams from the West Perth and Perth Clubs met. Though the Wests had Barnett, Harris, and Grierson away they had rising juniors in .iiscutt (two) and Gillies to fill the vacancies. Perth were minus Hussey, Walton and Murphy, but their places were ably filled by Wilson and Anning (Subiaco), Wilkie (Banks Lacrosse Club). From the first bounce it was apparent that the game was going to be a clinker, and when McNeil drew first blood for Perth the cheering was immense. Wests carried the leather south, and Bailey scored, which was followed by another sixpointer from the same boot a few seconds later. Perths battled hard, and got the leather through the backs, but small points were only scored. A good rally h- the Wests, in which Bailey, Grecian, Jones, were prominent, resulted in Davies being offered a chance, which was availed of. At quarter-time the scores were: West Perth, 3 goals; Perth, 1 goal 2 behinds. With the wind Perth, headed by Clarke, Ryan, Jeffreys, and Kennedy, made the pace a cracker, and they were soon peppering away at the Wests' sticks. Messer was doing much hard defensive work, but the opposition was too strong, and Morris, soon getting an opportunity, knocked off one of the bis" points of difference. Wests carried the ball away temporarily, but Kennedy returned, and 'Morris secured the third goal, which was shortly afterwards followed by the fourth by Griffin. At halftime Perth were leading by 11 points. Perth, 4 goals 7 behinds; Wests, 3 goals 2 behinds. Play had been "in" but a second or two when Cherry put up fifth goal for Perth. Wests rallied, and with Stevens, Wildy, Grecian, and Jones in full sail, carried the leather to the other end. Joyce secured a "free" close up, but hit the post. Off again, Griffin shone out, but a clever mark by Grecian altered things, and Jones secured and kicked a fine goal-the Wests' fourth. Wests again prevailed again on the bounce, but Morgan relieved. Then Loel had an easy chance, and missed. , Kennedy, Purling, Jeffrey, and Clarke were prominent for Perth at this stage, and a clever bit of work by Anning would have been of service but for the absent-mindedness of the umpire. Strength prevailed, and ,as Anning was the weaker party, he went down. Wests again attacked, Joyce getting an easy chance right in front, but again disappointed his supporters. Eventually Davies secured their fifth goal, and though the Wests had had much the best of the quarter, they only had a lead of two points at three-quarter-time, the figures then being: West Perth, 5 goals 9 behinds :.Perth. 5 goals 7 behinds. Wests entered the final stage with great energy. Stevens had a chance, but kicked poorly. Then Joyce was again favoured, but put up a behind only. Give and take play ensued, Cleland. Grecian. Orr, Bailey, and Jones doingthe hulk of Wests' work, and Clarke. Jeffrey, Kennedy, and Griffin that of Perth. A few minutes before time Perth made a determined rally, and the sixth goal was snapped from the ruck. On the bounce another rush was made. and Morris ran nearly up to the goal. but scored a small point only. The game was played right up to the finish, the bell finding Perth victors by four noints. the final scores being: Perth. 6 goals 9 behinds: West Perth. 5 goals 11 behinds. Of the .R6 no doubt Clarke was the best man of the day, being followed rather closely by Bailey. Both teams ,laved well, there beine scarcely a "stiff un" on the ground. O'Mahoney was fast and impartial. SOUTH FREMANTLE FOOTBALL CLUB. At the Club Hotel, Fremantle, on Saturday night the South Fremantle Football Club celebrated the wind-up of the season by holding a smoke social. AMr. W. C. Forsyth (vice-president) presided over a large gathering of members and supporters of the club. The chairman, in proposing the toast of "The West Australian Football Association," congratulated the governing body on the way it had carried out its functions during the past season. He was pleased that ,the premiership had been won by a Fremantle club, and the performance of the South Fremantle Club in gaining the position of runners-up in the first year of its existence was one that both playinr and non-playing members might well be proud of. Much of the success of the club was due, he thought, to the support accorded it by Mr. "Tom" O'Beirne. who had worked untiringly in its interests throughout the season. The toast was responded to by Messrs. T. O'Beirne J. Doyle. and J. Gibson. The other toasts included "Kindred Clubs," "The Visitors," "The South Fremantle Football Club," and "The Association Umpires." During the evening a silver-mounted nine and the colours of the club, given by Mr. G. Wrightson, were presented to Mr. Dave Williams for being the most

popular member of the team. The proceedings, which were enlivened with H. Little Gordon. Thomas Mathieson, songs contributed by Messrs. T. Friend, and others, terminated at midnight. the re-union being a most enjoyable one. 'THE GAME AT MELBOURNE. Melbourne, September 16. Considerable interest was taken in the football match, Essendon v. Melbourne, yesterday, and the spectators were treated to a fine, exciting game. Melbourne won by 7 goals 3 behinds to 5 goals 13 behinds. The final game for the premies-hip will be played next Saturday, between Melbourne and Fitzroy. BRITISH ASSOCIATION GAME. REVIEW OF THE SEASON. (By "Referee.") 'Then they rode back again, But not-not the six hundred." True, there may not have been quite 600 who came down, but upon my word I do not think there could have been far short of it, for one met the various combinations of red, white, and blue in every street, in every place of entertainment, and every hostelry in this fair city. The place has absolutely reeked of football for the past ten days, and I should imagine this is the biggest education the good folk of Perth have ever experienced in regard to the good old British game. Thank goodhess, they have gone. however, for, good fellows as they proved themselves to be, the effort to keep reasonably sober in the face of all the entertainment provided proved a severe tax1 not only on the visitors, but upon their hosts, and I am not quite sure now that their relatives will be able to recognise easily the physiognomy of all who faced the camera during the course of last week. We must hope for the best, however. They have not all gone back, either, for Hutchens, the clever outside right. with Docherty and Hall-sterling halfbacks both-have decided to stay here. and will be found in the ranks of the

new team that Captain White is forming at Fremantle in readiness for next season. They will be reinforced shortly ly Fogg and ntirown. so that with the members the enthusiastic captain has already obtaineid, another formid hle se.side ermlbi,'ation is ready to do battle with the SMetropolitans, and endeavour to amncx botll cups for Fremanlle. I lhear it whispered also that Goad., the clever Southern Cro.s custodian, will he found down here next s .son, but for which club he will play in at present a trade secret for all the clubs want goalkeepers. Thas the season just passed has proved a most successful one from every point of view nmust he readily admitted. The clubs are more evenh: Ialanced as regards playing members, consequently the conte5ts in the competitions have been most interesting. Fremantle Wanderers again hold -ride of place in the league competition. and I think they have justly earned their proud position by sound. vigorous play. Their team is never beaten till the whistle blows. and only on two occasions this season have they been defeated. If any additional proof of their all-round strength were wanted, it is furnished by the result of their tussles with the Southern Cross and goldfields elevens, both of which ended in their favour. and I heartily congratulate them on their achievement of winning the cup three years out of four. Next on the list come the Casuals, with only one point less than the premiers, and here again my congratulations must be free and hearty, for a club that can in one season bound from the bottom rung of the ladder to the topmost but one is certainly worthy of warm praise. Of course, the presence of Collier in the team is a loadstone which magnetises the rest of the team, and it is very difficult to over-estimate his value to the club. Still, they have some capable men in McKenzie, Brownlie, Field. Spring. and the Liveseys. and had Batchelor and Foy only been available during the season, I doubt if they would ever have seen defeat. They have a well-known Glasgow Ranger lying in pickle for next season, and generally intend to make things hum. They will require another secretary, however, for Peters tells me he intends to devote all his energies to the association in future. Why Civil Service should have done so poorly this season is one of those things that "no fellah can understand." Commencing with :1 draw against Fremantle Wanderers, in which they had none the worse of the exchanges, they beat Casuals and Perth. and yet find themselves in third position on the league table. Certes they hold the Challenge Cup, and that is some consolation, but their form hhs been very in and out, and cannot be set down to the absence of Pope, for in Lukyn they have a worthy successor to the genial Cuthbert, while Hatton is as good as ever. Clements, Hatfield, and Fowler are the same halves as last year, and they have a splendid forward line in Taylor. Sewell, j,ansdown, O'Nurse and Williams. I suppose they will say they had no goalkeeper, and that is a not unreasonable explanation. They have now, however, in Fennel, secured a man who is cool and clever between the sticks. and we will see what next season brings forth. .eerth, for a song time, looked as if they would follow the example of th Casuals last -ear, and go through the season pointless, but the- dropped a thunderbolt in the association camp by beating Fremantle Wanderers in the first round of the Challenge Cup competition, and followed up this by defeating Civil Service in the league competition. That the loss of their captain, Archie Burt, was a great blow to them there is no denying, and, althoug,, in Lefroy they have found a useful man, it must be remembered that Rugby is his game, and he is not yet settled down to Association tactics. Hubert Parker is another who will be very useful to his club shortly: at present he is too light, and easily knocked off the ball. Stone plays a splendid half-back game, and I liked the wa- he, as captain, handled his men. The younger Burts, Fred and Reg., are generally in splendid trim, and it is satisfactory to find that Fred's health is so much improved as to permit him again occasionally to join the forward ranks.The The Southern Cross Association is now possessed of two clubs. and, as these will be able to play against each other regularly, we may expect a tougher fight when next they meet the metropolitan representatives. They have decided to affiliate with the local governing body; and, as it has been arranged that the conference meet there every year at the end of March, we may expect it to become a veritable hotbed of the "socker" game. When it is remembered that the Goldfields Association has only been formed about three months, I-thinnk they may well be proud of the work they have accomplished in the time, and I hereby heartily congratulate Mr. Pope on the result of his efforts. They have any number of players up there, and the game is spreading at such a rate that the hen. secretary assured us at the "smoker" the other evening that he had quite lost count of them all. May they live long and prosper! The Goldfields Association has also agreed to affiliate with us, and next season I do not expect to hear of any mining camp mustering a dozen man h-lr- thmr is not at least one

British Association club going. Old Pope-ne of the rubicund countenance-tells me that he is going to send a long account of their match on Sunday, for upon it depends the destiny of the League championship. When he is about it, he might take this hint and send in a resume of the season's doings, and other items of interest for next Saturday's issue.Well, Well, I supnose you all think this last little spree of ours has made the association bankrupt. Not so however, I am glad to say, for inquiry of Mr. Peters elicits the fact that the general meeting will be held at the end of September, and that the accounts will I" that time have been audited, and show a small credit balance. This is very satisfactory. for the expenses came to £66--of the Goldfields week, I mean. Approximately the total revenue for the year is £90. and expenditure about £89. The new Challenge Cup is also to be bought as soon as there is sufficient of "boodle" forthcoming. Overtures nave been made to the Sydney Association for a match next season, and the idea has been favourably received, and with new clubs formed at Claremont, Subiaco, Midland Junction, and Northam-where Captain Oats, M.L.A., has promised to secure us a ground-we mar look out for 1901 being the busiest year that we ever had for the British game in this colony. And so-as I sit reflectively bitiun my quill and wondering if anyone ha- been forgotten-my eye wanders, and there, from his niche above the mantel, with the very first reproachful look I have seen on his tanned and weather-beaten countenance during the whole season, reposes our old friend, who, in prosperity and adversity, in rain or shine, has bravely borne the brunt of our attack and battled and bounced more merrily the harder he was kicked. All hail! old ball! thou with the "fair round belly," emblematic of good nature and symmetry, to thee greeting. May thou rotundity be impressive, and thy wind last longer than those who kick thee. Trusty hast thou been through winter's chills, and now, composing theyself for wellearned summer slumber, may the first shrill of the whistle heralling the advent of the 1901 season find thee again our irreproachable friend, as of yore. Vale!