HLI Chronicle 1910 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.
\v~s ehor~ou~. and evide~.ces' of deep interest in the
ga/lle wer.emanifest,from,the start.,
The'teams"';'the Highland'Light Infantry 4nd Welsh
Fusiliers-have had a very good record, and are well
qualified to givelJ.1l excellerlt exposition of the game.
The game was, :indeed" worthy of the competing elevens
and,9f ,t\le. important competition,it concluded. and on
'fb.e~wholtf it was.up}o the high expectations which it
.arou~ed' ~n i).l!lticIPll'tlOn. The weather was ideal,' the
,arrangements' good, and the sod in excellent condition.
l'~e Highla.nders p~yed with greater combination in
tne first half; and dIvided the play pretty evenly with
,t4eir mo:t:e vigorous and ,dashing opponents; but in the
,s~(lQlld period the ~uperiority of the Welshmen was
asserted, and left theJ;ll winners on the score as well as
,oit: flle play. It .should be mentioned. how;ever, that
,two of line l£ighlanders'got injured in ,the recent match
in,Limerick., , Tlj.e' following were, the teams;- .
. "Highland L,igld In!a:r~try:, Lees, Caldwell, LaIIlbje.
B!lillie" Stjlddart. Johnson• .Brilltow, Bmcc, Lawrie.
G. Taiti M'DQnald.
. Royal.Weuk, F1!IJiUer,~; Fisher,Davis, Blacktin,
,Reeves, Wilson, J: :Au.f:ltin, Davis, Vann, Owens, 'R
Austin, 'Buxton•
.Referee; Mr. E, E.' Burgess., £':itesmen:. Messrs.
M'OSS and O'Callaghan; ,
Play~ just after the start, was slightly' in fa\"our 0 f
.the Highlanders. Bristow made an opening w.qirih
'lookf!d threa.tening, until Davis nipped iQ and sent to
,hlii: field. MooDonald soon af,terwArds' received from
Bru,iJe, and sent.in a splendid kick, but Fisher, who was
on the alert, eased thepressnre 'by a good high kick.
Blacktin and Dav:is were soon afterWards protllinent
in a couple of good saves,but the Highlanders kept up
the attack until Blacktin, who was hard pressed on
the defensive, had to concede a corner.: The 'kick was
taken by Macnonald, but though it was landed in a neat
position nothing material j'esulted from it. The con·
spicuous feature of the succeeding bout of play was
a rU.shof the Welsh forwards, subsequent to a long
loose kick from Davis. Austin and Buxton outmarioouVI'ed'
the opposing forward line, but their
attempt to bring, off a score ciuminated in the ball
going dead: Caldwell soon afterwards put his forward
line in motion, after a neat bit of play, but Blacktin
'brought relief, and in a short space of time D. Davis
~entred neatly, but Lambie saved the situation, and
put his side again attacking. navis nndBlacktin
answered this fresh 'and somewhat vigorous demand
]n capital style, and play was taken to t·he opposite end.
'Lees. who was hard pressed, saved effectively on one
:occasion, but on a renewal of the attack he had to
concede a corner. The kick from goal was the prelude
for a Hi/l:hland rush, which was inaugurMed by CaldweIl,
but Austin checked it, and temporarily ehanged the
'tenor of pJay. Owens had a good opening, but he was
ruled offside, and the Highlanders again became aggres.
sive. Blacktin tried to bring off onc of his /l:iant
kicks, but in the effort he penalised his side. M'Donald
took ilie kick, but the de~ence was good. Bristow
tried to pierce it with a low shot, and Fisher brought
off a grand save at the expense of a corner. Stoddart
and Baillie were prominent in the next rush of the
H.L.I., but it did not reSult in much, as Reeves nipped
in and transferred play sharply IIp. D. Davis centred,
and Owens, smartly intercepting, sent towards the net,
,hut CaldweIl saved with a peautiful screw kick. The
Scotchmen now worked down to the. W'elsh posts, but
J. Austin sent them back and passed to Buxton, who
'centred. There was a nice combined movement now
on'the part of the Welsh, but ju~t as 'it seemed most
'perilous Lambie nipped in a~d brought .relief to' his
side. Owens penalised the Welshmen in an unfavour­
. able position, but the kiok Ivas resultless. The Welsh·
men, however" playing with grelOtdash, brought play
to the Scotch posts, and Lees, in an attempt to save,
stumbled. Lambie. however, d&shed in and effected a
grand clearance. The Fusiliers resumed the attack,
and ,Reeves, getting the ball near the Ilide .line, brought
ij; along quiokly. aud scored a beautiful goal. The kick
out WIIS the signal for another Highland attack, but
Tait was slow in taking his pass, and the leather went
dead. A corner w.as soon afterwards given, against
the Welsh, but ,it was as, resnltle,ss as its predecessors.
Bristow, however, had a. shot at goal. but Fisher
cleared. ,1'he latter was again pressed and beaten .for
possession, but Austin Was responsible for a lucky
,olearance. The attack on the Welsh posts was again
forced" but Fishor, was equal to ,every demand. Play
,was pretty ,even ,00 within a couple of minutes of half·
time, until Owensgot going, when Caldwell. stOpping 11
'dangerous movement, screw· kick.ed and gJ\ve a corner.
The. whistle sounded just as ilie .kiok wa~ given, and
left the' score:_ ,
. , Royal Welsh Fusiliers, I ;' Highland LightInfantry, O.
, The flriwreature ofi,nterest in 'the second period was 1\
neat sa.ve 'by Lambie, who arrested a dangerous move·
ment'of OwellS within the penalty area and kicked up
the field. Davis quickly replied and the Scotch lines
were attacked. Vann, however, kicked dead. Cald·
well now gave an opening to his side, and Bristow and
Bruce were prominent in attack. Davis penalised the
Welshmen, but the free was 'without result. The
Fusiliers were now playing with greater dash, and they
kept up a brief siege of the Highland pclsts. Lambie
relieved it and made his side aggressive. Tait out.
manoouvred D. Davis and centred, but M'.Donald, who
had an easy score within his reach, sent over. Black.
tin's kick from goal eased the pressure only temporarily,
for the Highlanders again bombarded the Welsh posts.
One of Blacktin's marvellous kicks, however, effectively
changed the venue' of play. Lees was called
upon to save on a couple of occasions, as the result of
the attacks initiated by Vann and Buxton, but his
defence was sound. Thanks to Caldwell, the game. wa~
worked up again, and MacDonald foiled Blacktin, and
looked like scoring, until Austin shot across and kicked
into touch. The Highlanders pressed after the throw.
in, but Lowrie spoiled his chance and kicked wide,
Play was now of a /l:ive.and.take cliaracter, both sides
showing up alternately in loose rushes. Excitement ran
high when Buxton centred, and Owens, taking up the
running, bCl~t Lambie for possession, and had the ball
right in front of him, but he fisted the ball and lost a
score. Immediately after the kick from goal the Welsh.
men put their opponents on tbe defen8ive. Lambie
cleared and the Highlanders recovered in spleudid
style, transferring the play to the We18h side, where they
made desperate attempts to equalise. For a space of
about three minutes play lingered within the Wel..h
area, and time after time Fisher had to try and clt'