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FOOTBALL.
FOOTBALL GOSSIP
liT 4Goalpost."
After their brilliant victory over the
Geelong, tho North Blelbourne felt very
sanguine of defeating their old Carltonian
rivals, and the crowd assembled to witness
lira contest is about the largest yet seen
on the local Recreation Reserve. Every man
was in his place for the Northerners, and
Carltou were considerably strengthened by the
inclusion of Moorbousc, who bad acquired
a first-class reputation as a follower in the
ranks of St. Kilda. Tlic grouud was rather
slippery, and in some plaees the plnyers had
ligra work maintaining their equilibrium,
whilst the ball got very heavy before the
game came to an cud. Tlie players, how
ever, took little note of these drawbacks,
and kept the game exceedingly
fast throughout-. Carlton were the first to
make an impression, and Salt disappointed
them in not negotiating a goal. The Tctoff"
acted as a stimulant to the local contingent,
who rallied up splendidly and gained a fine
goal from a grand place kick of Houston's.
There appeared to be a good understanding
amongst the North as they played with
great confidence, and neristed each other
with telling effect. R. Gibson and Bean
were playing a great game, aud Cotilson kept
up his reputation of being thoroughly re
liable in defending his quarters. Kcane did
smart work 011 the' wing, whilst Battcra's
dashing play was deservedly -cheered.
M'Sbone's deftness of foot was of service in
aiding Williams, when the latter got the
scores even. Todd might have gained a goal
li&d he played selfishly, but in trying to do
tho correct tfiiug lor his goal sneak the
opportunity was lost. Roberts played a
slashing game for the Dark Blues, but it was
noticeable that several good chances were
missed owing to their fortvnrds keeping too
far out iroiu tbe goal. The game
wag pretty tougn, but the central
umpire kept the players well in check with
liberal doses of free kicks, there being an
ultnost constant appeal to the umpire from
one side or the other. The new men,
Morgan and Doble, were performing splen
didly for North, aud Moorebouse was riot
slow in proving his worth amongst Carlton's
followers. 21'K.cjizic nnd Sykcs were also
constantly plugging iuto the ruck for their
respective sides, "and Bailey rather astonished
tbe onlookers by tlie way he overplayed Lord-
iug. 214Iuerney never appeared to greater ad
vantage. and was instrumental in aasistiug
Williams to negotiate the second goal for
the home team. Tills was tlie 6ignal for
some magnificent play about the centre,
neither side being able to gam any appre
ciable advantage till a fine picccof conceited
and unselfish play by Roberta and
AVatling placed the Carltonian Wil
liams in possession, and he carefully
placed a goal to his credit. The evenness of
the game at half-time remained undisturbed
Tor a long time, notwithstanding the un
sparing and untiring exertions put forth by
Ixilb sides, and when Williams just earned a
third goal for North 21clbounic with a mag
nificent kick, the performance was greeted
with rounds of cheers.' Each side afterwards
missed a possible goal, but otherwise they were
very equally matched. Bingham and
Morgau were frequently 111 possession of
the ball for North, and so was Lording, but
he presumed too much, and invariably lost
his kick. Hutchiuson, Cjrrie and Lorraiue
were keeping iben oppontuts well iu hand,
hut Salt was not as consilient iu his piny as
usual. £ykes wen ton folio vringagain iu the last
quarter and Christian catuc out of his shell on
Boveral occasions with good work, but tlie
visitors were playing a desperate gamc and
continually threatened their opponents
Dos ts, one of which M'£haue had the hard
luck to hit. But ultimately Iveane
managed to £et the goals level just bciore
the call of tiuie, aud one of the best and
most evenly contested glints thus ended iu
n draw, with the honors (of behinds) very
snucb in Carlton's favor.
As tbe players were leaving the ground
for the pavilion, a rush was made at Mr J.
J. Trait by a number ot blackguards, who
had congregated in tbe vicinity of
tlie entrance gate, aud it was ' with the
greatest difficulty that lie was safely
escorted into the dressing room. The
language and conduct of these roughs were
of a most disgusting and revolting character,
aud it is a great nity some of them were not
given into custody, as scenes like these will
cffectuall' damn the reputation of any cluli,
and players and umpires will lie verv chary
of paying a visit to tho North Melbourne
Recreation Reserve if tbey are to lie subjected
to such treatment ns t hut of .Saturday last.
MrJ. J. Trait's umpiring was first-class,
and gave entire satisfaction to everybody
except those who were so prcdjudiccd that
they could not appreciate, or did not cmder-
ntaud, tbe severe task imposed upon him of
keeping the playora within reasonable
bouuds when playing such an excitable
gainc, or others who were monetarily in
terested, and therefore not in a position to
give ftii unbiased opiuion. Trait -has com
plained to the Association of Houston and
»>'ykes during the match, and these players
will be called on to answer for their
conduct.
With Glen out of the team and Purdy
taking an unwilling, but a well-earned and
jnuoh -needed rett, it was generally thought
tliat the South Melbourucitcs were rawer
bard up for recruits when they had tb bill
back on Bushel and Clinton, neither of
whom had performed iu good style during
the post season. Of course all's wen
that ends well, and in this instance the Mel
bourne had to play second fiddle ; hot I
would strongly advise the Southerners to
keep their eyes open for some protnisinirsew
players, as 011c or two changes may lie found
necessary before tbe end ot the season, and it
is better to have the pick now than later on
when the plums have beansecured by others.
(Die record of 5 goals to 2 is by no means an
unsatisfactory one, for the Melbourne played
a capital game right through, and yet were
unable to lullv extend their opponents,
whose goal kicking was the weakest
point In their play. Ellis has per
formed most consistently in every
match this season, and last Saturday
be morc lhaD kept up bis good reputation,
hl'Kay and Page gave a capital display of
true footballing amonest tlie follower,
wnilst the goal "got by the latter would do
credit 1 o any crack sneak. Dora n 'a back
play was first class - and Windiey also
did a fair riiare of good work, in which
Burns participated. All lovers of the
. game were pleased to ' welcome Hughic
M'Lcau in the. ranks of Melbourne, and his
play showed no falling off from his old form,
whiht he set a capital example by keeping
Iris place and playing with great judgment.
Wilsou created a very favorable impression,
as he did genuine work from beginning to
end. Fox defended goal iu a faithful and
skilful uiauucr, and Aitken and Smith gained
merited applause for their clever and con
sistent performances, the coals got by each
of them being from excellent kicks.
The East Melbourne Cricket Ground was
very slippery, yet Essendou managed to
score a somewhat easy victory over Sfci
KiMa by C goals to 3. The latter played up
very spiritedly, and several times made
things sfaamgly. Kvely dbr their powerful
tipponpntn/- ;'Tio&efc proved \of - infinite,
ervzeeinltisold'ptioe. All ard keeps tro
tb natty ylay for rtrich he Is esteemed.
finitk£;«nfe ;«s ffi M right through.
44' 'Doufcf played and kicked extremely well,
which may also be said of Burnett, Taylor,
Robinson and Hicks. It looked as If Cold
went feet were again loribg tlieir def tne»,s
cveral eagy chances were missed nwst mys-
terioiuty. But later oq he was fairly mi uie
job, and there were no less than three good
goals placed to his credit, one being from an
almost impossible ancle. Fleming showed
an excellent example to his team. Angwin
made some fine runs, Sykes, 'Forbes, Ball,
followed rolenaidly, and Mouritz was doiug
great work dU he unfortunately met with
a severe accident, and had to he assisted
from the field. Even with so severe a loss
the victory of Essendou was never in doubt,,
though in the lost quarter neither team
scored. anything hut behinds.
The old familiar names which made Gee-
long famous in football annalB are gradually
dropping out of the weekly list, nnd in their
eteaaare others anxious to keep op the high
prestige so worthily held for inauy years,
but whose deeds arc yet to be recorded.
Pike, E. Kearney, Taylor and Wil
son were amongst last Saturday's
absentees, but Dr. Jos. Adsms,
Blunt, Kccnan, Morrison and Landy cauic
np to fill the gaps. It looked very ominous
when Sharp and Graham potted a couple of
goals for Port Melbourne in the first quarter,
but this was mainly attributable to the
Geelong men wandering from their places.
When this was remedied the game became
more even and the Porto were somewhat
staggered when a quartette of tabinds were
recorded against them from rather haphazard
shots. Burke, Maxwell aud Johnston gave
Morton every assistance iu defending their
goal ; but Heid broke the ice for Geelong
after some nice dodeing play of Landy.
The promising O'Farrell got the scores leveL
Fine runs by Adams, aud combined efforts of
QBI>M'>J',-U'I«»»(I.hJj 11 »»1» "4 n"" 0,1
nshled Keenan to rattle up another fine coal
for the Pivolouians, Ryau again breaking
through the Ports' defence aud securing a
fourth score, after marking splendidly. The
'came was exceedingly lost and capitally
contested , therefore, Gcelonc's victory is
one of which they may well foci pleased.
A keen local interest is always manifested
in the contests Ijctwccu Footscray and \\ti-
liamstowu, aud the supporters of the Vil
lagers were greatly elated when Von-all led
oil with a couple of goals just after the game
started. Gibus put iu one or two dashing
runs also; but the visitors woke up aud soon
had a big say in the game, Considinc, with a
long shot, gaining a nice goal, iftud Carroll ,
shortly 1 wigging another, so that at half
time things were once more on a liar.
In the later stages of the game, Footscray
failed to take advantage of their undoubted
superiority, and only piled up a heap of
behinds: whilst the Townitcs cleverly
turned their chauces to account, and thus
niade it a draw, with 3 goals to each. Jasper
J0UC6, Fribbs, Gibbs, Worrali, Warren,
Brownfield, and Guest all played vigor
ously for the Village ; but found worthy
foenicn in Barrows, Molouej", Williamson,
Carroll, Kershaw, Ward, Thompson, aud
Sutherland, who strove lmrd to gain the
laurels on Footscray's behalf.
Ballarat made short work of the Richmond
boys iu tlic Saxon PudJock by kiokiue 8
coals to uil. South Ballarat beat Ballarat
West by 2 goals in 1 ; and the Imperial de
feated 23 Juniors by 5 goals to 3.
The Northern Tasnianians were not so for
tunate as tlic Southern islanders iu their
contest with Fitzroy, for the latter got 7
goals aud 7 behinds to of each secured by
the local team. This would indicate weaker
opposition or improved form ou the part of
the winners.
Carlton and Essendon will lest their
merits ou the Melbourne Cricket ground
next Saturday: and ii it is a fine day the
game w ill be a f;u=t and touch one, as there
is plentvof pace on either side.
The Oeclong will meet South Melbourne
on the Corio ground, and every effort will
In- made to keep up the winning vein in
which tbov were iu last Saturday.
Fitzroy ought 10 Ik iu rare trim after their
Tasmanian trip. So \\ illiauistowa may
reckon upon having a big time of it when
they reach the northern club's trystiug
ground. .
North Melbourne play 011 their own
ground against the Melbourne : Richmond
co over to St. Kilda : and Footscray will pay
Port Melbourne a visit.
The Gecloog team elected Mr Joe
21 'Shane as vicc-capttin last Saturday, aud
if he only handles the team as skilfully as he
docs thc'boll, their choice could hardly have
been improved upon.
Having recognised the fact that central um
pires have diflcreut methods of dealing with
certain points of the game, the Victorian
Football Association issued a series of in
structions to tbe officiating umpires lust
Saturdkv, and the players were duly informed
of the practice to be uniformly followed in
the future witb regard to " Kicking off from
the Centre'' : —
1. The ball must be scut forward a dis
tance of 20 yards, otherwise it is brought
back and bounced after tlic players have
bora lined up.
2. 44 Little marks" must be clean and
distinct — at least a raid clcur space ; if not,
the players to play on.
3. 44 Kicking oil' from behind.'' The ball
must be kicked off from within the crease
(withiu the linus of the behind posts), other
wise the ball is brought Ixtck and bounced
at an extreme corner of tlie create.
4. If a ceutral umpire has occasion to
caution a pi aver twice in the course of a
match, he shall thcu be reported to the
Association.
' 5. The hoots of all players to be inspected
before the enmc coinuicuew.
The 3 At, 3rd and 4th regulations are very
necessary and riiouid improve the game ;
but why does the Association not jurist
tinou 41 little marks" being the full two yards
prescribed by its ov.11 rules t And why shoulu
a central umpire be expected to examine
eighty feet as portion uf Jiis weekly duties
He has quite enough to do already.
In the match between the Barfold nnd
Kynetoxt and Trades clubs on tbe racecourse
ou Saturday, one of the Barfold playcis,
named Gamble, during the last quarter met
witii a severe facial injury. Gamble got
into a scrimmage, -and came out with a gi-cat
gash over hi right eye. He was incapaci
tated for further play, ami left the ground
to obtain surgical nrsUtanee. 7 he cut,
which iB supposed to have been caused by a
kick, was so extensive as to require four
stitches in connection with the dressing.
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