No disgrace 02

Brantford will bring their imported players here on Saturday to do battle for the championship against the Athletics. If the visitors expect to meet the same team that they defeated last Saturday, they will be greatly surprised. When Dade and Henry run up against Frank and Rube Williams, the former will think they have struck a double stonewall defense.

The Athletics had an excellent turn-out last night and will show a great transformation of form on Saturday. Dixon will likely play the flags, Frank Williams point, and Albert Todd will play inside, a position he fills nicely. The lineup on Saturday will be much stronger than it was last year, as Richardson replaces Hagan on the defense and Todd take's Hare's place on the home.

The ball will be faced at 3:30 p.m. and a two hour match will be played rain or shine.

The clubs cannot agree for a referee for Saturday and President McKeown of Orangeville will be called on to make an appointment.

However St. Catharines may have been considered in the past as a lacrosse town, it was certainly demonstrated Saturday that we will support a team that puts up a good article even though it does not win all the time and anyone who witnessed the match must admit that the Athletics, on the whole, played lacrosse from start to finish. The attendance was close to 2,000 spectators. Spectators began arriving at 2 o’clock and from that till 4, a constant stream of humanity passed through the gate. At 3:30 the grand stand was uncomfortably filled, as also were the bleachers, and the sale of tickets for both was stopped. But still they came and soon the fence surrounding the grounds was lined while in front of the grandstand, they were five and six deep the entire length of the fence. ‘Twas a grand crowd and with a little luck we would have won.

The Brantfords are well drilled and when the Athletics had them going and the ball was on their flags, a man away up the field would suddenly drop and of course, Referee Gillespie always saw him and blew the whistle in time to prevent a score, while time after time the Brantford players got away with their cutting of the Athletics, but nothing happened except that the home team got the worst of it. Once, right in front of the grand stand, a Brantford player jumped on Harris’ back and put his stick around his neck to “shut off his wind.” “Billy” threw him off but of course, Gillespie’s back was turned and Harris had to get back in the game before he could claim a foul. And this was not the only case. Brantford cut and slashed far more than our boys, but so far from being ruled out, were allowed to continue with the result that St. Catharines had men off for 35 minutes while Brantford was off for 10. And that is just what lost the game.

On account of the freight sheds at Grimsby being on fire, the special train from Brantford was delayed there and it was 3:50 o’clock when they reached the grounds accompanied by about 300 of their rooters, who quickly spread themselves over the field and rent the air with cheers for their “pets.” A couple of minutes after the home boys appeared and again the welkin rang with cheers. It was exactly four o’clock when Referee Harry Gillespie of Orangeville called the teams to the centre of the field for a little talk and they lined up as follows:

ATHLETICS	position	BRANTFORD
Dixon	goal	Kelley
F. Williams	point	Dowling
Elliott	cover point	Derense
Richardson	defense	McBride
R. Williams	defense	Hamburg
Cornett	defense	Neeley
C. Downey	center	Cain
G. Downey	attack	Doyle
Harris	attack	Taylor
Gourlay	attack	Dade
McIlwain	outside	Hendry
Todd	inside	Henry
A. C. Kingstone	Captain	Errett

St. Kitts won the toss and chose to defend the west goal and the game was on. The Brantfords drew the ball and by a pretty piece of fast combination, scored the first game before some of the spectators thought the ball was faced. Time: one-half minute. The second game was long drawn out and hotly contested. The ball went to Downey on the face-off and traveled down on the Brantford flags, but was returned by Dowling and Doyle in trying to dodge, was laid out by a crack from Harris. In a few minutes he was able to play again, and the game became fast and furious. Hendry tried a shot on the Athletics’ flags, but Dixon relieved and it went down into Brantford territory where McIlwain and Gourlay each tried his hand, but Kelley was in the road. McIlwain here got a nasty and brutal slash from one of the Brantford players and was laid out, requiring the services of a doctor. In about five minutes he pluckily resumed, though his wound was still streaming blood, and all the way through the match he played as fast lacrosse as was played in the match. On the face-off, the ball went to Brantford; Dade, Hendry and Henry each tried a shot but the defense was in its place. Harris here handled Hamburg a little roughly and was sent to the fence for five minutes. Brantford tried desperately here to score but could not. Elliott sent the ball down on the Brantford flags where Gourlay acquired it and passed it to Tod Downey, who passed to McIlwain, and Frank scored the first game for the Athletics in nineteen minutes. Score, 1 all, and the cheering could have been heard at the Falls. Play had hardly been resumed when the first quarter was at an end.

At the opening of the second quarter, the ball went to St. Kitts and McIlwain shot, but missed. Now it was down on the Athletic flags, but Elliott relieved in pretty style and back it went into Brantford territory where Gourlay tried but failed. Back it came and Elliott and Hendry went after it. Here commenced St. Kitts hard luck. Hendry had the ball and Elliott was trying to oblige him to throw it. Hendry kept dodging and because Elliott checked him rather closely, Gillespie sent Elliott to the fence for five minutes. Elliott did not check nearly as hard as McIlwain had been checked a few minutes before, in fact Hendry did not have a mark to show, but of course it was on the other side and Elliott had to go off. With Elliott off, the defense could not stop the onslaught of Dade and Hendry, and Brantford scored the third, fourth and fifth goals in succession, in 7 minutes, one minute and one-half minute respectively. Elliott now came on and the Athletics went into it again. In two minutes, Todd on a pass from Gourlay scored goal No. 2 for the Athletics. On the face-off the ball went down on the Athletics’ flags, but Elliott stopped the rush and sent the sphere up field. Brantford carried it back and in three minutes Hendry scored again for Brantford. Again the ball went to Brantford on the draw. They tried a shot, Dixon stopped, the ball went up field and the Athletics were on the point of scoring when Dowling dropped. A long wrangle took place as to St. Kitts laying a man off to even up. Finally Gourlay went off and the game continued with eleven on a side. At the face-off, the ball went down on the St. Kitts flags, Elliott caught it and made a pretty run up the field. The whistle blew for half time with the ball on Brantford’s flags, and the score 5 to 2 in Brantford’s favor.

The third quarter started with the Athletics playing fast and “Bill” Harris, after some pretty passing down field, scored another goal for St. Kitts in five minutes. Three minutes later, on a pass from McIlwain who had changed places with Harris, he repeated the trick and the score was 5 to 4. St. Kitts’ stock was rising fast and everybody thought the game was as good as won, but they counted without the referee. Rube Williams happened to tickle his man with the stick and went to the fence for five minutes. With one man to the good, Brantford scored their sixth goal in two minutes, repeating the trick three minutes later. Williams came back and the boys went into the game with a vim. Brantford got the ball on the draw and it went down to the St. Kitts goal. Elliott relieved and sent it up the field where “Sleepy” Harris (who was certainly very wide awake) got it and made the score 7 to 5 after about one minute’s play. The thirteenth game opened with the ball on the Brantford flags, but Dowling sent it up the field to Taylor, who made a pretty run and gave it to Hendry who tried a shot, but missed. Back came the ball into Brantford territory where it stayed until the end of three-quarter time.

The last quarter had just started when Rube Williams was again sent to the fence and again the defense was disorganized, but fought desperately to stave off defeat. After about ten minutes hot play, Dade put another notch in the stick. Brantford was now playing the blocking game to perfection, and whenever the ball went to their end, six or seven men were in front of the net. St. Kitts defense was weakening and Brantford scored the next two goals in one minute and two minutes respectively. Harris scored another game for St. Kitts after seven minutes play. Cain’s nose was broken and Tod went off with him, the match played out with ten men on each side. It was now a game of ping-pong, St. Kitts trying to score, while the Brantfords were content to hold their “advantage” and let St. Kitts do all the running. The ball traveled down on the Athletics flags where Elliott and Hendry went after it. They got into a little discussion as to who was to have it and dropped their sticks to settle it. The crowd saw a chance to have some fun and rushed on the field, but the referee’s whistle blew and it was all over. Score: 10 to 6.

St. Kitts players have no reason to be disheartened, nor should the knockers attempt to get in their work. When it is remembered that, with the exception of one man, Athletics players were all born and bred in this town, it is certainly a grand tribute to their pluck and ability to play against the pick of Canada as they did on Saturday. Where we thought we were weak, in the home end of the field, we were strong. And where we thought we were strong, in the defense, we were lamentably weak. That even then the result would have been closer, if not entirely different had we had an impartial referee, no one doubts. Brantford scored three goals while Elliott was at the fence, and three while Williams was off. And that is simply what won the game. We grant that Brantford had a good team. They ought to have, when they do nothing but play lacrosse, but St. Kitts can put in the field just as good a team as theirs.

It is to be hoped that Mr. Kingstone will stay with the team all season. He has wonderfully improved their teamwork during the past week. His plans were well laid, but the time was too short to get them working perfectly. The boys all like him and work hard under his direction. Saturday’s match will improve our boys twenty-five per cent in their playing and passing, and there is no reason why they should not give the Tecumsehs a good hard game, if not a beating, at the Island next Saturday.

On Brantford’s team Dowling, Taylor, Kelley, Dade and Hendry put up the genuine article, Hendry being the star of them all. On St. Kitts team Cornett played the game of his life and was on top of the ball all the time. McIlwain certainly got the worst of it at every chance his opponents saw, but he stood it like a hero and looked more like a lion crouching and waiting for the ball at the face-off. Another week will put our defense in splendid shape and if they will only learn to stay in and let their opponents home come to them instead of rushing out and leaving the goal open, they can figure in the final yet.