Vic 90 champs

To-day’s game at St. Catharines will no doubt be the greatest match of the association championship series. If the Athletics win they will be possessors of the 1890 pennant, as this will be the final game of the series for that team. Should the Capitals win, they will still have two other teams to defeat, the Niagara Falls and the Brantfords, both comparatively easy for the Capitals, in order to wind up the series on an even footing with the Athletics. This would necessitate a series of three games between the two leaders, one on each home grounds, and the other on a neutral field. The Capitals should win today’s game. It will be remembered that the only match that they failed to win this year was lost to the Athletics on June 14^th, but what was the condition of the team at that time? They had not been organized more than two months, and as recently as the 24^th of May had they played their first match together. Every lacrosse players knows that no matter how nearly perfect the play of a team individually can be, they must be familiar with each other’s work in order to be successful as a whole. Each succeeding match in which this team has engaged has been marked by improved condition; some of the weak spots have been culled out, and to-day the Capitals, young as they are, rank among the first-class lacrosse teams of Canada. Their opponents in to-day’s match are without doubt a hard team to defeat, but they are just as strong on the 14^th of June as they are at present. They have been playing together for years, they know each other’s particular play as well as they know their own, and in team play it is questionable whether, barring the St. Regis Indians, they are inferior to any team in Canada. But to-day’s game will be pretty much a man for man contest on account of the smallness of the grounds, and the Capitals should have a slight advantage in that respect. A glance at the teams will convince one that they are evenly matched and it would be hard to call the winner of to-day’s match. McCormack and McBrierty will have to check the Williams brothers, while Taylor will have to play a hard game against Morton. Cheyne will perhaps be a little too much for Lobb and Burns should be able to hold his own against Fairfield. Park and Rose are at home anywhere and should get the better of Fralick and Downey, although they are both strong men. McMichael may have some trouble with the long-geared Chaplin, but if Maines, Amor and Wilson succeed in holding Yielding, Notman and Doyle down, the Capitals will return with a victory.

Capitals		Athletics
Elliott	goal	Riddell
Wilson	point	Morton
McMichael	cover point	F. Williams
Amor	defence	R. Williams
Park	defence	Yielding
Rose	defence	Lobb
Burns	centre	Fairfield
Cheyne	home	Downey
Maines	home	Fralick
McCormick	home	Notman
McBrierty	outside	Chaplin
Taylor	inside	Doyle

St. Catharines, Aug 18 – They came, they saw and they – well, they were conquered, but they put up a good class of lacrosse and were only defeated to-day by the superior and fast combination played by the Athletics, who captured the match by four straight goals. Doyle made all the winning shots excepting the second one, which was credited to Fralick. The day was observed as the civic holiday. This, together with the reputation of the two teams, brought out the largest crowd of spectators of the season, all the towns surrounding sending a good quota to swell the mass, and the spectators liberally bestowed their applause upon the players of both teams when scientific lacrosse was played, and, as this occurred frequently, there was plenty of throat music in the game which was at times during the progress of the game succeeded by the music of the 19^th Battalion Band. The Athletics played the finest game in their experience on the lacrosse grounds, their combined playing when pressed being creditable to the best of lacrosse stick-handlers. The Capitals’ goal was protected and their defence good, but their home players were not in the game. The Athletics team is a well-balanced one, has not a weak spot, and this with their combination work, fairly defeated their nimble opponents. Cheyne, Amor and Wilson took the honors for the Capitals, Cheyne particularly provided good work in centre field. The result of to-day’s game gives the Athletics the C. L. A. championship with eight games won and none lost. The Capitals are second in the race with five won and two lost, both to the Athletics, and one game to play at Niagara Falls on the 26^th and the last of the season in Brantford, Sept. 6^th.