Australian Football

Match Report

A HANDSOME RECOVERY

FITZROY OUTPLAY ST. KILDA

After a sensational opening, in which they got two goals within a minute of play commencing, and had four goals on the board before Fitzroy got their first, St. Kilda were handsomely beaten by last winter's premiers in a game in which they never after the first few minutes played up to their reputation.

1st Quarter

As soon as the ball was bounced Cazaly took it outside the crush and passed it on to Fowler. He would have marked, but one of the Fitzroy backs sent him flying, and from the free kick he scored St. Kilda's first goal. Almost in every detail the incident was repeated as soon as the ball was bounced at the centre again. Each time Fowler scored from a free kick, and on each occasion the penalty was incurred knowingly by Fitzroy as the less of two evils. After that amazing start it was a long time before either side scored, and right through that first quarter they played very even football, the advantage being, perhaps, slightly with Fitzroy, who failed only in the important element of kicking for goal. Otherwise their forwards were playing a really good game, both Toohey and Heaney, but the latter especially, taking their marks but making poor use of them. Defence was St. Kilda's strongest point then, Hattam, Eicke, Dangerfield, and Lever all in turn doing excellent work for the side. After a long spell with nothing of consequence Toohey passed to Heaney, who made a fine mark, but scored only a behind. Martin gave him a second chance, but again he missed, and then St. Kilda lost one of the easiest chances for goal that could possibly fall to a side. Woodcock and Farmer passed the ball up to Donald, who got it right behind the Fitzroy backs. He ran up within 10ft. of the goal, and managed in some remarkable way to screw the ball just outside the goal post—an achievement greeted with roars of laughter. Not long afterwards, and chiefly through the fine play of Cooper, Heron, and Millen, Freake got an almost equally easy chance for Fitzroy, and he, too, bungled it. Following upon some dashing football by Eicke and Collins, Schmidt passed the ball to Fowler, whose shot went across the goal; but in instant Brady had snapped it up and put it through, making third goal for St. Kilda. Heron gave Toohey a chance for Fitzroy, but it was only another miss. Towards the end of the quarter McNamara went into the ruck. At the end of the quarter the Saints were leading by 3 goals 1 behind to 4 behinds.

2nd Quarter

Early in the second term Heaney soared up for one of his sensational marks, but his shot was ineffective; so too was a second to which Martin helped him, and which Eicke marked in the St. Kilda goal. Martin then had a try, without success. So far McNamara had been held pretty well in check, but at length he got a fair chance in the crush, marked the ball, and kicked an easy fourth goal for St. Kilda. Then the luck turned, and it was almost time, for Fitzroy by their merit had earned something better then single points. For the first time within my recollection Lenne, the Fitzroy back, was sent into the ruck. Lethbridge marked a bad kick off by St. Kilda, and again passed to Heaney, who this time shot straight and scored first goal for Fitzroy. Some neat football between Parratt and Holden gave Abbott a high mark and a shot that went very close. Before this strain was eased Freake got an easy second goal for the home side, and, helped shortly afterwards by Bamford, Toohey, and Martin, went just across the goal with another shot. Fitzroy had found themselves now. St. Kilda, on the other hand, commenced to tumble rather badly, and in passing failed to pick their men with anything like the accuracy shown by the other side. Schmidt had chances, but his fatal eagerness to run with the ball brought him constantly to grief. Fitzroy are a strong side, but those who think that strength and pace may not be combined make a fatal mistake. No one in Fitzroy colours was playing better than Millen on the wing and Cooper. It was the last-named who gave Freake an opportunity, which was missed. An instant later Cumberland hit the ball out of the ruck, but it went straight to Shaw instead of the St. Kilda rover, for whom it was intended, and Shaw rushed in and scored third goal for Fitzroy. So it went on, with the advantage all in favour of the maroons, a game that was fast, determined, yet not as skilful as it might have been. Just before half-time Fitzroy got the lead by a point, and, having made a splendid recovery from their first failures in goal shooting, they never let the advantage slip from their grip again. It was pennant winning form as far as Fitzroy were concerned, the scores then being—Fitzroy, 3 goals 8 behinds; St. Kilda, 4 goals 1 behind.

3rd Quarter

One might dismiss the second half curtly with the comment that St. Kilda were no longer in it. Heaney scored fourth goal for Fitzroy, and Toohey got the fifth. The only fault in Fitzroy's form so far was that their stopping had sometimes been unnecessarily vigorous. A stop that was, in fact, a charge left Collins almost insensible for some time. Later on Eicke went down, and stayed down, from a similar bump. The significance of it lay in the fact that these two men were St. Kilda's best. St. Kilda's fifth goal was their solitary success in that quarter. It was a long kick of McNamara's that passed it up to the front where Chapman, with a running shot, got sixth goal. Lever had been playing fine football for his side on the back lines, but a singular mishap gave Fitzroy an easy sixth goal. Lever was dashing out along the wing, with Freake trying to intercept him, when, from the bounce, the ball shot away to one side fairly into Freake's hands, and he kicked the goal. Parratt and Heaney were both prominent amongst the maroon jackets, and then Toohey, after a free kick which brought nothing, took an easy mark as two St. Kilda men stood off, each waiting for the other to soar. From his shot Toohey scored the seventh goal and Lethbridge, with a dash and a running kick, got their eighth. The brief summary of this quarter was that Fitzroy had simply taken possession on the game, and at the end of it had scores of 8-11 to St. Kilda's 5-1. Their luck forward had changed. In that term they put on 5 goals 3 behinds to their opponents' one goal. They deserved their success, not merely by their merits, but through the faults of their opponents. St. Kilda's ruck work was far below its usual standard.

4th Quarter

In the last quarter McLennan, as invariably happens, became the most prominent of Fitzroy's worthies. It was he who gave Martin the chance to score their ninth goal. Towards the finish of it St. Kilda brushed up a bit, but far too late to make the game interesting. Woodcock passed the ball to Brady, who scored their first behind for some time, but immediately afterwards he bettered it with sixth goal. A dashing effort by Cooper and Parratt gave Heaney another chance, but nothing came of it. Then, in a scramble in front of the Fitzroy posts, Brady put it through making seventh goal for the Saints. Just before time Toohey got tenth for Fitzroy, and three was nothing more of consequence to the finish, the scores being:

FITZROY, 10 goals 13 behinds (73 points).
ST. KILDA, 7 goals 6 behinds (48 points).

It was a disappointing game in that St. Kilda, while they had every reason to fear defeat, never anticipated that it would be so decisive. After the first quarter the game simply belonged to Fitzroy, whose football all round showed strength, speed, and above all pluck. Their individual honours were widely distributed; scarcely a man in the team failed his side. No one amongst them was better, I think, than Millen, who is developing wing play with every match. One is apt to confuse him at times with Cooper and McLennan. A certain shade of hair at Fitzroy seems a guarantee for good football. Toohey, though a bit off at first, came to his best at the finish, and scored four goals. With his strength, marking, and kicking powers he has become a great forward. Martin's pet name in football is no longer applicable. He is and has been right through this season a cool, skilful player. No one else on the side is such a valuable help to the forwards. Norris did splendid work in the ruck. It Freake were not so handy forward he would, I think, make the cleverest of rovers. To go over Fitzroy's merits, however, would be to mention almost the whole side.

St. Kilda's honours were chiefly with the back and wing men. Collins and Eicke were the pick of the side, and it was unfortunate that these two should have suffered most in collisions. The backs did their duty manfully. Lever made one or two mistakes, but was always a tower of strength, Hattam, Dangerfield, and Ellis backed him up splendidly. Though Fitzroy had a fine centre-line, the honours were fairly distributed there, both Bowden and Cazaly doing excellent work for St. Kilda—Cazaly chiefly in the opening stages, Elder's umpiring was a lesson for beginners in firmness and judgment combined.

The attendance was about 24,000, with a gate of £355.

FOOTBALL INCIDENTS

Rarely in the history of football has it happened that one side gets two goals before its opponents have touched the ball. This occurred to the advantage of St. Kilda, in their match against Fitzroy on Saturday, and the incident was not more surprising than the fact that it constituted about the only advantage St. Kilda had in the match.

Percy Heron, the Fitzroy player, after standing out of the team for two weeks, owing to a sprained ankle sustained at Carlton, resumed his place in the team on Saturday, but disaster again awaited him, and he is now in St. Vincent's Hospital, suffering from a badly injured thigh. At the end of the match with St. Kilda, three or four minutes before the final bell, Heron collided with another player. He stayed on the field till the finish, and limped off the ground. As soon as he reached the dressing-room he collapsed, and was in great pain. So much was he suffering that he could not bear the trainers to touch him, and they feared his thigh was broken. That fortunately, is not the case, but he is very badly bruised.

St. Kilda has played seven games this season, and in only two have their opponents scored a goal in the first quarter. Essendon and South Melbourne were the teams to spoil the record, but Essendon alone led the seasiders at the first change, and then only by a point. Evidently the St. Kilda men are not yet in proper condition to last out a hard-fought game.