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Football

he Victoria College Football Club has closed its first season, and though it has not many wins to its credit, it can claim to have left the field beaten but not disgraced. The first team proved itself quite up to Junior Cup form, but lack of training nearly always led to disaster in the second spell.

The second team which began the season with such humiliating defeats lived to win the first victory in the history of the Club. Unchecked by defeat, "baffled to fight better," the younger members of the second displayed a strenuous spirit worth a thousand victories. The season has ended and the Club has not yet given a default.

* * * *

Returning through the Hutt our bemudded football champions are said to have met a lady with a little boy. "Will you play football when yon become a man" said the lady? A moment of doubt, during which the child examined the "oafs" of Victoria College, was followed by the uncompromising answer—"No!" We avoid comment.

* * * *

It is to be hoped that the Rugby Union will be able to make better arrangements for grounds next year. The show grounds at Petone, besides being badly drained and full of inequalities, possess a smell which cannot be described in literary English. Two members of the Second Fifteen had festered wounds owing to filth picked up during a game, and the injury page 22 to Johnstone's knee was directly due to the mountainous nature of the country. Few can enjoy the game under such conditions, and if the Rugby junior teams are to bold together other grounds must lie provided. The Show Grounds are an utter disgrace, and no one should be asked to play on them as they are.

* * * *

The first match won by the Club, College II. v. Poneke Third, so elated the members of the team that they moved the adjournment of the Debating Society's meeting in the evening for one minute to celebrate the achievement. The celebration took the form of a fearful and wonderful haka.

"Things like this you know must be

After a famous victory."

* * * *

Those who went out to the slaughter every Saturday and who sang the College songs on the way home will look back with friendly feelings on those who shared their tribulations, so that we are glad to publish a list of those who represented the Club in the first year of its existence.

First Fifteen.—H. Banks, G. V. Bogle, P. A. de la Mare, G. H. Fell, E. J. Fitzgibbon, C. Freyberg, W. Gillanders, J. H. Goulding, J. Hardy, J. J. Hay, J. S. Hay, P. C. Hay, G. M. Hogben, A. H. Johnstone, P. W. Jackson, H. W. King, B W. Millier, R. Mitchell, H. H. Ostler, R. G. M. Park, A. G. Quartley, G. G. Smith. C. H. Taylor, A. Tudhope, A. Wedde, A. J. Will.

Second Fifteen.—F. A. de la Mare, F. C. Douglas, E. C. Feltham, C. Freyberg, J. H. Goulding, G. M. Hogben, A. H. Johnstone, S. Johnstone, H. W. King, A. J. Luke, K. McKenzie, R. Mitchell, G. Moir, H. Newbury, G. G. Smith, K. Smyth, M. W. C. Sprott, J. F. Strang, A. Wedde, W. Wilson.

The following is a synopsis of Championship results :—

Junior.—Matches played, 9: won, 0; lost 9. Points for, 15; against, 121.

Third Class.—Matches played, 10 : won 2; lost 8. Points for, 32; against, 236.

The following are the results of the matches, continued from last number:—

First Team.

• (Captain—H. H. Ostler.)
• V.G. v. Poneke II. Lost, 22—3. Poneke got rather an easy win. Mitchell scored for College.page 23
• V.C. v. Melrose II. Lost 20—0. Hay find Ostler did no little service in stopping heavy forward rushes. Taylor also played well.
• V.C. v. Oriental II. Lost 10—3. College missed a chance of winning by turning out short-handed. Millier scored.
• V.C. v, Athletic II. Lost 14—0. A game closer than indicated by the score. Our men played well.
• V.C. v. Kia Ora I. Lost, 8—6. College scored two tries in the first spell but failed to last, the same old story, de la Mare and Wedde scored.
• V.C. v. St. Patrick's College I. Abandoned.

Second Team.

• (Captain A. J. Luke.)
• V.C. v. Petone III. Lost, 48—0. Petone managed to win.
• V.C. v. Athletic III. Lost, 16—3. The first spell ended College 3. Athletic 0. No form, fell to bits in the last few minutes, de la Mare scored.
• V.C. v. Oriental III. Lost 10—3. The best game of the season, de la Mare scored off a pass from Wedde, who played a good game.
• V.C. v. St. James. Lost 27—0. An uphill game with three men short. Played in mud.
• V.C. v. Poneke III. Won, 8—3. The first win. Poneke played short Goulding and Wedde played well. Goulding and de la Mare scored tries, one of which Wedde converted. A very wet ground.
• V.C. v. Melrose III. Won, 15—8. The second win. Both teams were men short, Melrose suffering most. Johnstone had to retire near the beginning of the game owing to an accident to his knee. Melrose scored the first two tries, but. College responded and Freyberg (2), de la Mare (2), and Wilson scored. Another mud scramble.
• V.C. v. Southern II. Lost, 28—0. A game closely resembling seven-aside water polo. Newbury took to it like a professional swimmer. Even the ball subsided.