HLI Chronicle 1909 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE, 127five minutes from time, Miller, t.he outside left of.. A,It slung thE' ball !l.Cl'oe.g from the left, and to everyone'ssurprise the ball entered the far side of the net.*' D" were by no means beat, and confined "A"Gompany to their own half of t,he field, causing thedefence to kick ont of play to Rave the tie. The gamefinished in a sensational manner, .. D" Companybeintr awarded a pena.lty, with 30 seconds to go.O'Rourke took the kick, amid intense excitement,and, to the disappointment of " D's" supporters andthe jUbilation of "A'~," he struck the bar, and theball rebonnded into play as the referee blew the finalblast, "A" Compa.ny entering the final by a goal tonil."H" «I. "I."-These two teams played two verybM'd and strenuous games before "H" entered theilnal by 1 goal t onil, The first game resulted in adr!\W of no goah. and in the replay MKie put on thedeciding goal in the second half, after some h~.rd pllty.FI:~_4L.-" A" «I_ "H."--Owing to the monsoons,we had to be very patient a.s to p()stp'mements, theground at times being like a, miniature lake. OnTuesday the 6th of .July the undermentioned teamslilled up nnder Col.-I:::ergt. Kelt, to see who should beholders of the Cup, which was on view on the tOllchline. ,. A " Company were fancied winners, but" H "Company were not lacking in supporters, and got agrand reception for their magnificent display. Thefira,t match ended in no guals being scored, and bothteams were glad to he"r the final whistle. On Thursdaythe 8th of July both teams once more lined upto do or die. Almost immedia.tely "H" Companygave Curran a fright-by swarming r01md his goal withthe ball, which was cleared. howe,e1', and midfieldplay followed. Both elevens were evenly matched.IInd half-time found the score, 0-0. The'second halfWIIS resumed 8.t the 8ltme fast pace, and excitementrlln high, " A" Company having a slight pull on t,heiropponentll. At lltst a long hall .... as sent into" H "Oompants goal, and Oordon had the misfortnne, inIIttemptmg to clear hi~ line.!', to cannon the baU agltinsthis partner at hack, Tait, from which M'Cormltek goton. and. with It fflst, rising shot, beat Tonner all theway from close quarters, giving the goal-keeper noohance to save. The Cup wa.s now won and lost. as" A .. Company kept up a. stiff pressure, ca,using " H "t.o defend for all they knew. Time was called withthe scure: "A," 1; "H," 0; leBVin![" A " Compltnywortby winners of the ('ilp. lifter playing 4 hard gamesfor it. Mention should he made of the splendiddisplays gi'Cen by M'Menemy for "H," his pla.y attimes being brilliant both in defence and uttack.'~ A .. Company team :-Cun'an, Cameron, HilSgins,Lee, M'Milla-n, 'White, M'Dona.ld, Fitzgerald, M'Cormack,Robertson, and Miller... H" Company team :--Tonner, Gord()n, Tait,Brown, Scevity, M'Donald. Sergeant, Welsh, }l'Menemy,M'Garrigle, M'Kie. Referee. Col.·Sergt. Kelt.At the time of going to press we have sent ourFootbaJl XI. to Ranlkhet, previous to proceeding toSimla to try conclusions for the Durand l\lp, whiehis so well known to all old 74th men who served inIndia.. The following have been selected to rf'presentthe Battalion ;--Goal, Pte. Cllrran; backs, J,.-Corpl.Biggins, Ptes. Renton and Gorman: half· backs, Pte.GallachE'l', I..-Corpl. Scevity, Ptes. White andO'RourkE'; forwR.rds, Sergt. Lawrie, Corpl. M'Monemy,CarpI. Duncan, L.-Corpl. Marshall, Pte. Kennedy, BndL..(",orpL I,..gan.RUGBY NOTES.Sl!l0E I last wrote we have had 'l. mateh with theRoyal Artillery, WhlOh we won by 5 point~ tu nil.The next match ot interest was "H" "I;' and" K" Corn panies 'Ve1'1JU$ remainder of the Battalion.This was a most interesting game, some very goodRugby being witnessed. 2nd Lieut.. C. O. Harveyopened tbe scoring for the Remamder hy a beantifulindividual run, touching down just near the cornerflug; the subseqnent kick for goal, however, failed,and half·timp, was caUeiI, the scnre standing :-Re­Inainder, 3.; "H," "I,u and "J{," O.In the second halt some good BemmmlLging by the"H," "I," a.nd "K" forward line brought, the balldown towards the other goa,!, but Clayton relieved by along kick. Some rnidfield play followed, and Tnrner,dodging one or two pla;rers, passed on to Philip, whojnst managed to get over, thus dra.wing the 8('orelevel. Shortly before time Tait dropped a goal, thusleaving" H," "I," a,nd "K "winners by 7 points to 3.Next we come to the Company LeaguE'. The tableil' given below. "I" Company are l1.t pre~ent on tep.and certainly look like sta.ying there. ~ome goodgames are being witnessed, all being keenly contestedfrom start to finish; ~()me, however. are racht'r tookeen, but up to the prt'sent no ser10US injuria.'! havebeen su~btined.Oompany. Played. Won. Lost. Drawn. Points." T," 4 4 0 0 8" K,J' 4 2 1 I 5"D/' 4 2 2 0 4" H .." 4 2 2 0 4., R/' 4 1 3 0 2HA," 4 0 :I 1 1Last Saturday we tried our strength with onrneighboll'-s, the Kmg's Own, who htwe a t.eam intraining for Ca.lcut,ta. Our team played extremelywell, t·he pb,y being mastly confined to the forwards.Abvllt the middle of the first half Patterson cr1'ssedthe King's Own line with Ollr first try, which, however,was not majori"ed_ We kept a good hold on the gameuntil 'half-time arrived. Score :-fLL.I., 3: Kin!('sOwn, O.In t.he Ilocond half we still kept the upper hand,Clarke showing glimpses of his Calcutta form now andagain, when he all but got over. From (1 bad hungleby the King's Own full-back, Biggar got over with onrsecond and last try, which, like the first, was not im.pruved upon. Nearing the finish, Henderson wascollared just on the line, and from the ensuing scrumwe touched down, but the referee very rightly disallowedthe point. .Just as we managed to E'xtrlcat~ourselves from the t.'1ngll'l! heap cau8t'd by rushing thehall over the line the whistle blew for time, leavingus winners by 6 points (2 tries) to nil. The tea.m wILe :-.Back, Tait; three-quarters, Clarke, Turner, 2ndLieut. Harvey, a.nd Schwerin; hal'l'es, Reid a.ndBiggar: forwards, Renderson, Shrubshall, PaBsfield,Sime, M'Glone, Patterson. King, and Kelth.