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Football

THE Annual General Meeting of the club was held on March 21st, at the Girls' High School. Professor von Zedlitz occupied the chair. Mr. Hunter's motion, passed at the special meeting held last year, that the Club enter a senior team, was confirmed. Though many spoke to the motion, no one was bold enough to predict that we would win any matches in the senior grade, but, of course, that was not our object. We must justify our position this year, in order to improve our standing for next year.

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Two teams have been entered for the competitions, a senior and a third class. As we had not a sufficiently large membership to play three teams, it was considered safer to enter the 2nd team for the third-class championship, especially in view of the fact that it was liable to be weakened by the necessities of the seniors. This left several men who unfortunately were unable to obtain a place in either team, and our thanks are especially due to those good sportsmen who kept to the club and suffered themselves to be called upon at a moment's notice.

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Our new jerseys were available before the matches commenced, and now, though perhaps we may be considered the page 38 greenest team in the competition, we certainly look much prettier than formerly.

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The difficulty as to training has to a great extent been removed, for the club has obtained the use of St. Patrick's College Gymnasium, and regular practices are now held on every Tuesday night. The practical effect of this arrangement is perhaps best exemplified by the saying of that recovering Petone player who had occasion to remark with much feeling, "I never thought that a student could be so hard."

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The club owes a very great deal to Mr. Hunter, to whom more than to any other its entry into senior football is due. His noble enthusiasm, his generalship, and his ability to play the game, and bear with resignation more than an ordinary share of bruises, are facts that must tell on the future success of Victoria College on the Rugby field.

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The Secretary of the Canterbury College Football Club wrote inviting a team to Christchurch, to play a match with Canterbury College and possibly Otago. A reply was sent accepting the challenge, and asking what arrangements were being made. No particulars in this connection have yet been received. The Otago University Football Club was also communicated with regarding the probability of arrangements as suggested by Canterbury College. No reply has yet been received, but this is perhaps due to the fact that Otago has undertaken to send a team to Australia to play Sydney University and arrangements are not yet complete.

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The fact that a team is to visit Sydney reminds us that, two years ago, the question was raised of sending a team representing all the New Zealand University Colleges. Writing at the time, the Secretary of the Sydney University Club said, "My committee are of the opinion that the New Zealand University team should be a fully representative one ... By having as representative a team as possible, the match, we think, would be a greater attraction."

In the face of the above remark, it seems surprising that Otago should undertake to send a team, which from the nature of its selection, can in no sense be considered representative of the New Zealand University. However, Otago is to be congratulated on her football strength when she is able to carry through such an enterprise "off her own bat," and we wish her team every success.

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The only real difficulty would arise if it were proposed to play return matches in New Zealand. In the event of such a course, the correspondence of two years ago anticipated matches in each of the four centres, an arrangement principally suggested by the exigencies of finance. Such an idea, however, must have been abandoned, or the secretaries of the Canterbury and Victoria College Clubs would surely have heard about it.

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A game was played on Easter Tuesday as a concluding event in the tournament, against a team chosen from the visitors, and resulted in their rather unexpected defeat.

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The following is a synopsis of Championship results to date:—

Senior.—Matches played, 5: won, 0; lost, 4; drawn, 1.

Points for, 15; against, 81.

Third Class.—Matches played, 5: won, 4; lost, 1.

Points for, 39; against, 38.

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The following are the results of the matches:—

First Team.

• (Captain—T. A. Hunter.
• V.C. v Athletics. Lost, 3—0. A patchy game in which lack of combina-ation was conspicuous. Goulding and Hunter in the backs and de la Mare in the forwards played well.
• V.C. v Oriental. Lost, 19—0 A great improvement on the previous game, with a creditable result, considering that our opponents form one of the best teams. Our captain was hurt at the end of the first spell, and we finished with 14 men. Bogle's game was one of the best he has played this season.
• V.C. v Wellington. Drawn, 3—3 A poor display of football, chiefly characterised by scrums for knocks-on and free kicks for off-side. We had the best of the game. King scored the first try gained in Senior football by Victoria College.
• V.C. v Petone. Lost, 48—8. We had several emergencies and played a man short, as the result of a chapter of accidents, but don't wish to suggest that this affected the result. It was a case of "try, try, try again" for Petone, varied by occasional rushes of our forwards. de la Mare scored as the result of a dribbling rush initiated by Ostler, who narrowly missed converting. King scored the second try from a passing rush carried on by himself and de la Mare. Bogle converted.
• V.C. v Southern. Lost, 8—4. We were without the services of Thompson, who wag prevailed upon to miss the train up country. The Southerns were better trained. Ostler kicked a very good goal from a mark.

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Seocnd Team [sic].

• (Captain B. W. Millier.)
• V.C. v Oriental. Lost, 32—3. Banks scored. * * *
• V.C. v Karori. Won, 13—3. A great improvement was evident. Scantlebury scored two tries, both of which were converted by Heenan, who also kicked a penalty goal.
• V.C. v Poneke. Won, 9—0. Hogben scored from a good forward rush Millier also cored and Heenan kicked a penalty goal.
• V.C. v Old Boys. Won, 5—3. A good game. Millier scored a try which Heenan converted. Heenan retired disabled, at half-time.
• V.C. v Southern. Won, 9—0. Millier (2) and Freyberg scored. It is said by the backs, that the forwards still go to sleep.