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THE "POST" DIARY.

SWANSEA TIDE TABLE,

TUESDAr, FEBRJAIilf 10, 1696.…

OUR FOOTBALL COMPETITION.

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i " THE TIN-PLATE TKADE.

MR. WILLIAM WILLIAMS REFUSESII…

EXTHAORDINAHY FRAUDS. ;

--------IFOOTBALL NOTES. I.

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I FOOTBALL NOTES. I [BY "THE KELT."] I The critics present at the Ireland v. Scotland match are tolerably well agreed as to the merits oftheplay. In front the Irish had a lea when the ball got iut" the loose, but had the worse of the tight scrimmaging. This would seem to show that our scrimmagers have a fair chance of holding up the scrimmages at Dublin. The Jrirh backs were th^- batter lot, but threw ,chances away galore. But for this Scotland I would have saffereu its second defeat, Alto- ) gether the Scotchmen appear to have favourably impressed the Irish critics, one of whom declared after the match that he believed England would be beaten ov the wearers of tiie thistie. I Howcver that may be, I am net particularly hopeful respectiag the tate in store for us at I Dubliu. At this time cf the year the passage from Holyhead is apt to severeiy test the stomachs of the passengers, and the team will be none the better tor the voyage, especially if tIle: sea be iu a. choppy condition. The Irishmen, with the championship fairly within their grasp, are JikeJy t. make a supreme effort to win, and, I despite the praise lavished on our forwards after the win against Scotland, 1 am by no means satisfied that the eight are the best available. Victory at Cardiff made the spectators in-I dulgent aad disposed to forgot the way the Scotsmen shifted them again ami again to the Weishline. In thi.-j connection a curious story reaches me. It is to the effect that Mr. Harnett, the releree, now believe^ that be disallowed Scotland one try, which was fairly scored. I did not think so then, but I do now," he is alleged to havetoid a Welsh gentleman recently. Had that try been granted perhaps w" should have heard less of the supreme excellence of the I Welsh scrimmaging that day. The backs who played for Wales at Cardiff were far and away a better lot thau their opponents, but scant comfort is afforded by that knowledge in view of a possible breakdown of the forwards. However, we must hope ior the best. -II Bearing upon the useful practice of heeling out and wheeling the scrum, is, of course, the tour- threequarter system, and I see that Fegan, the well-known BIackheath ana international player, contributes a vigorous pretest ajj&mst the system in one of the monthlies. "It soems to be the fashion says," to consider the l'ouv. threequarter system the ideal game; but I, lor lilY part. would much prefer to see a return to the old style of three. The four-threequarter game, if played correctly, merely transforms the players isto a machine and tends to do away with individual excellence. This machine-like play is very effective when properly carried out, but it requires aa immense amount of constailt practice to be of any use at all. Amongst Londeu teams it is an absolute impossibility to get this constant practice, and I am inclined to thin kthat ¡ we should do better by keeping to the eld style of play. If not properly c cried eut the four three- quarter game develops into a farce, the passing being either very mud overdone or dse carried over to the opposite extreme. The result in the former case is that a good liral of ground is very often lost, while in the latter a mall is put down as a poor pbyer if he dots not pass the moment ¡ a linger teuches him." I Now let us pause for a moment and examine the soundness or rather the lack of it that characterises this line of reasoning. It will take a lot to convince the many thousands of We'sh spectators, who have had a very fair experience of the four threequarter style of play that it tends to do away with individual excellence, i Does either "Mor.k" Gould, Pearson, poor Badger, Cliff Bowen or Dauncey sink his identity during the progress of an average game. The truth of tile matter is, that, considering the con- i tracted arer; over which the Kugby game holds sway in the Principal' <• excellent individual exponent. á:J.d. t11iu..1 :(\11,. it. KQQ isa4- "->u.. ponding amount of lmdividuai excellence in other lines of the came. Take the half-backs far instance. Is the individual excellence—I am using Mr. Fegan's words—of the Brothers James, Selwyn l'iggs, Sweet Escott, Ben Davies, D. Morgan, Dan Jones, and a. host of other erand halves, conspicuous '>y its abseuce when enteric, ¡- into the four-threequarter style of play ? The fact of the matter seems to be that under the I four-threequarter system thee is greater oppor- tunity for individual excellence, and it's about time Mr. Fegan knew it. I But the individual play of the scientific Welsh footballer has an object, and it is not the selfish one of the old style of exponent. When sur- rounded by opponents he finds his individualism about to be extiaguished, he throws to a colleague, and-here I'm treading upon another of Mr. Fegan's araumeats—in nine cases out of every ten a deal of ground is gained. I trust also that Mr. Fegan doesn't expect the abolition of the four three-quarter style to come about simply because Loudon clubs cannot get the practice we can down here. This is rather a selfish view t* take of the question, and is scaively worth considering. BaucreTt will not play against Lancasbm for the reason already stated. He is fully justified in my opinion in making a stand against the affront offered to him. Jce Davies will take his place. Mansel Owen, an ex-Llanellyite, and one of the hest of the Aberavon forwards, takes nj) Lis quarters at Swansea this week, where he is em- ployed on the new market. The Swansea com- mittee might look him up. He has weight and dash, aad a sterling worker. Interest is gathering ever the big match at Sr. 1 Helen's on Saturday. The chances ef the All; Whites are favoured because they are oa the up- grade, and will play to win, whereas the Scarlets will still suffer, iL is believed, fromthedemoralisa- tisn whIch has followed the collapse against ¡ N ewport. Well, we shall see The game between the Swansea and Aberavon I second strings on Saturday on the St. Helen's ground—which in the first iive minutes, during which the homesters pat on a goal and f. try, appeared as if the homesters werp. going to pile on the agony to an illimitable extent—wa? a splendid one to waLch. The homesters went off with a rush, and splendid back play showed the specta- tors that the Swansaa lot were far and av;.v ahead of the visitors in passing tactic,. The Aberavon meu, however, soon woke up. and by good forward play somewhat neutralised the play of the home b-ieks. Though the homesters won by the margin of three goals and one try to ons goal, the day's farm did not altogether place them so much ahead. For the homesters the whole of the backs played a. rattling game, especially Danny Liwis and Eddie Evans, whilst among the forwards, Dick Oldham (who kicked three splendid goals), Barry, J. H. AViliiams, and A. Jenkias were the pick. For the visitors. A. Williams, Griee, and llYflu, amongst the backs were of invaluable service to the defence ol their side. Of the forwards, who had somewhat of an advantage over the home lot in the tight packs, Handford, White and Kenefic shone most conspicuously. —r

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