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The Spike: or, Victoria University College Review October 1914

Football

page 45

Football

Sketch of man kicking rugby ball at goal posts

Summary for the Year.

Points
Played. Won. Lost. Drawn. For. Against.
Seniors 12 4 8 76 109
Juniors 9 3 6 51 147
Thirds 8 2 4 2 51 57
Total for Club 29 9 18 2 178 313

The results for the year cannot be considered unsatisfactory. The excess of "points against" over "points for"—135—would have been considerably reduced had not the juniors tried conclusions against Orientals in the vacation with a very weak team, and succumbed to the tune of 56 to nil. To play and be beaten, no matter how large the score, is obviously very much more sportsmanlike than to lose by default, and the Club may be proud of the fact that no matches were so lost this season.

It is always pleasant to find one's prophecies coming true. The "I told you so" spirit is just as deep-seated in the writer as it is in the editor of the "Notes on the War" columns of certain local newspapers. Hence we really must chronicle with extreme satisfaction the splendid victory of the Senior Fifteen over the champions, Athletics. If the Seniors would only play their easier matches with the, same vim as that they display against the big combinations, their list of wins would be very much increased. After the vacation, with its tale of woe, the juniors pulled themselves together, and put up some excellent fights, especially against Petone, Athletic and Poneke.

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The Thirds started excellently, being beaten only once in the first five games, but lack of systematic training in the gymnasium told its tale in the latter part of the season. The team has excellent material, and on paper appears hard to beat, but—the same old question of training.

It was unfortunate that all matches with other Universities, so keenly looked forward to each year, had, through various unforeseen causes, to be postponed. It would have been financially fatal to all concerned if Sydney University had travelled over to these shores after the declaration of war, and the guarantors may consider themselves extremely fortunate that Germany was so considerate as to hasten her entry into Belgian territory. We hope that these matches will all be resumed next year.

Congratulations are extended to Ryan, Faire, Beard and Sim in attaining to representative, and (in the case of Ryan and Beard) inter-Island representative honours.

Senior Fifteen.

v. Poneke. Lost, 17—3. University played very disappointingly.

v. Petone. Lost, 3—0. A fine game on a wet ground. East assures us to this day that he forced the ball before the Petone-ite made the only score of the day.

v. St. James. Won, 16—3. Faire and East each scored twice, and Ryan and Beard each converted one.

v. Melrose. Won, 12—0. East scored twice, Miller once, and Shaw once.

v. Oriental. Lost, 11—0. Our men returned home distinctly annoyed.

v. St. James. Won, 0—3. St. James looked like winning on several occasions.

v. Petone. Lost, 22—0. The large score does not indicate the respective merits of the teams. It was a fine game, and Petone's kicking accounted for most of the points.

v. Athletic. Won, 10—3. The most sensational win in the Club's history. The result resurrected the waning interest of the general public in the Championship, and proved a boon to the Union.

v. Oriental. Lost, 13—10. Our men again annoyed, Oriental resurrected McLeod and other old players.

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v. Wellington. Lost, 9—5. An exciting game, the winning of which enabled Wellington to tie with Athletic for the Championship.

Junior Fifteen.

v. Orintal. Lost, 56—0. The vacation was responsible. Luckily, the Thirds had a bye.

v. Selwyn. Lost, 20—0. A very good game.

v. Petone. Lost, 6—0. Also a good game, played in the wet.

v. Wellington. Lost, 26—3.

v. Athletics. Lost, 12—3. A good game.

v. Poneke. Won, 14—5.

v. Petone. Lost, 22—6. We had only 13 men.

v. St. James. Won by default.

Third Fifteen.

v. Johnsonville. Drawn, 3—3. Dodson kicked a goal.

v. Hutt. Drawn, 0—0. The referee was unpopular. Our men claim two scores.

v. Wellington College. Lost, 14-0. A good game, but the College boys too well trained.

v. Exchange. Won, 10—3.

v. Petone. Lost, 17-0.

v. Hutt. Lost, 11-0.

v. Oriental. Lost, 9—5.

We regret that reports of several clubs and societies have not reached us for publication in the current issue. Those responsible have told us that in the present circumstances there is little or nothing to report, as many club members are either on active service or preparing for it. This is undoubtedly the reason for the non-appearance of certain reports. In these circumstances, Spike must be necessarily smaller than usual.