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ANOTHER VICTORY.

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Rhannu

ANOTHER VICTORY. THE SCARLETS AT MORRISTON. ONE MORE STUBBORN CONTEST. [BY OUR SPORTING CORRESPONDENT.] I believe I was the only Llanelly press-man at Morriston on Saturday. The rest were at Stradey, either engaged in the press and police match, or spectators thereof. Doubtless, it will be said, I should have been there also, but there was a special "reason that took me away, and I ask my readers to believe that if bodily absent from the scene of the encounter, my spirit was at Stradey. As circum- stances, however, necessitated my presence at Morriston, a few comments on the game, coming from a man on the spot, will I hope, be acceptable to the fraternity at Llanelly, for few indeed, were the followers of the Scarlets on Saturday. I don't think I have ever travelled by excursion train with the Llanelly team in so attenuated a company as on Saturday. I doubt if more than fifty of us availed ourselves of the privilege placed at our disposal by the G.W.R. Company. It was a bad speculation for the railway com- pany, you may well conclude. For once in my life, I was sorry for the railway monopoly, for it Seemed a shame that such a fine train, equipped as it was with first-classes and a saloon, should leave Llanelly almost empty. I luxuriated in a handsomely furnished first, by way of a change, of course, and we had a fairly long time to enjoy the luxury, for the rate of travelling was by no means rapid, especially from Landore, around which we flirted for a considerable time ere we made tracks for Morriston. Upon arriving at our destination, I astonished a native by inquiring the way to the football field. I Was at a loss to account for the astonishment, and asked him cos why," pointing out to him that this was my first visit to Morriston. What!" he exclaimed. never been here before ?" I owned UP to the admission like a man, despite the fact that it drew from the native a look of mingled pity and contempt that amused me as much as it hurt him. However, at heart, he couldn't have been snch a bad fellow, for he came and shewed me the Way and left me safely inside the gate. I wished he had taken me a longer way round, I for it was along time before the teams arrived and ere the oval had been kicked off, I had been chilled to the marrow. The Llanelly team left the excur- sion at Landore and drove over to Morriston in a break-an arrangement explained by the fact that football accommodation at Landore has not been provided on such lines as will permit of two teams being comfortably housed at one and the same time. Sometime before the contestants put in an appearance, the ropes had been lined ever so many deep with enthusiastic followers of the game. The Interest in the encounter at Morriston was intense, it being obviously regarded as the match of the season. Everybody was talking about it, and everybody came too see it-a condition of thiiags Which was eminently satisfactory to the Morriston Club, which is sadly in need of material additions to the exchequer. The need was forcibly expressed by a prominent Member of the home team. Upon taking a pre- liminary walk over the turf, some fond supporters of the Morristonians asked him what he con- > sidered were the prospects of the game. He tnade the characteristic reply that he didn't care anything about the prospects of the game; what he was concerned about were the prospects of the gate." Subsequent events shewed that there was no real cause for alarm, as the followers of the game came in crowds, and justifies one in stating that it was the large largest body of spectators seen on the Morriston field this season. In regard to thegameitwis stubbornly- sometimeq fiercely-contested. There can be no doubt that the Morristonians are a powerful lot, not in com- bination, but individually. If they were half as Strong in combination as they are individually we should be hearing a great deal more of them than We do. They kick, run, tackle and dribble splen- didly but they know next to nothing of the Passing game. I doubt if their three-quarters got the oval from their halves once during the whole of the encounter, and when the three-quarters did chance upon the leather, they never attempted a combined attack upon the opposing goal. This Was fortunate for Llanelly, because if the homesters were even moderately versed in the higher depart- ments of the game I don't know how the Scarlets could have come off victors. It has to be frankly admitted that Llanelly were not up to their usual form on Saturday. If they had only played up as they ought and can, they Would have had something better to shew at the end of the game than a win by three points. The fact is, their passing was erratic and irregular. It lacked precision and finish, and was deplorably ^punctual. It is anything but flattering to the visitors also tha.t for practically the whole of the first half, they were put strictly on the defence by the home team. ALlIoNvances have certainly to be made for this in riewof the fact that the homesters had the advan- ce of the wind in the first portion of the game, ut when the allowance had been made, the long Period of defensive tactics which the Scarlets had to adopt disclosed a condition of affairs not entirely Worthy of a team with the reputation to which lanelly has attained. b It is true that from time to time in the latter b4if of the initial portion of the encounter, the 80arlets made incursions into the home half, but ?ey were not well sustained, and at half-time the bo'I,te-ter,s were leading by a penalty goal and a ew minors to nil. t As to the penalty goal obtained by the home te4- 111, thereby hangs a tale. Morriston were play- 1. 119 m front of the Llanelly goal mouth, and the all was kicked down to the line. Evan Lloyd ::cured and was making his way outwards into the J when he was tackled and fell on the ball. ot releasing the oval quickly enough the visitors .ere penalized and Morriston had no difficulty in eking an easy goal. As a matter of fact, Evan °yd did not intentionally delay the game by lying Olathe ball. It subsequently transpired that it as quite impossible for him to get off the oval, laavillg been winded by the heavy tackle that laid llnl 10 Of t w. Of course, the referee did not know this a the ¡:i 1 he me, and he expressed regret at his ruling w len he was acquainted with the facts of the case, !J' In the second half, Llanelly had all the best of the al1le a d 'f gam 6' and if the Scarlets had but shewn their usual lmCy in passing they would have doubled the feJorlty ? points by which we won. Morriston fel appreciably and only occasionally shewed 1^ the ?ctiveness they exhibited in the early Port1'0 the game. In the initial half, the home *»ame- the initial half, the home forwS Were "? great form, and for a long time Were ll&ViD g the best of the play. However, they didn't wear well, and throughout the second half, the Scarlet ups were an easy first, their reserve of energy and resourcefulness in tactics contrasting favourably with the ebbing powers (f their opponents. The back play of the visitors, although not up to the usual standard, was streets in front of that of the home team. Morriston had no notion of the passing game. Individually, they were strong enough. They kicked, ran and tackled well, but of combination, there was none. Badger and Bevan played very fine games. The latter scored both tries in very fine style, his hard. powerful runs being much admired. On one or two occasions, however, he was a trifle wild and placed himself in front of his centre. This indiscretion was painfully evident on one occasion, when a certain try wns lost in consequence. There can be no doubt that our passing system must improve if we are to make a decent show against Newport in a fortnight's time. Our present style is anything but good enough. The finest player an the home side was Austin, the full-back, who played an exceedingly fine game. He kicked, ran, and tackled magnificently, and on the day's form was a much better man than Joe Davies. The most that can be said about the match played between the St. Peter's Stars and the Moonlights was that it was fiercely contested from beginning to end. It is a pity that these junior teams do not play the proper game. Football was not intended as an outlet for the latent savagery of juveniles. It was intended for honest amusement and recreation. The game on Saturday had not been in progress many minutes before Mr. Harry Bowen had to order one of the players off the field. I hope this will be a lesson to all our junior teams.

LOCAL FOOTBALL MATCHES.

FOOTBALL UP TO DATE.

-LLANON SCHOOL -BOARD.

BURIED THREE TIMES.

OUR HARBOUR DUES.

THE NEW DOCK PLANS. J

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