The Portland daily press., 1898-03-16
DEFEATED CHAMPIONS.
Crack Fall River Team We're the
Victims.
NATIONAL LEAGUERS NOT IN III
WITH MAINE PLAYERS.

Benefit Game of Portland Team Largely
Attended-Crowd Was Delighted With
the Ease With Which Homo Team
Took Visitors Into Camp.
The Fall River champion polo team OF
the National league met the Portland
team last night and incidentally were de.
feated by score of 10 to with the
greatest ease. The Fall Rivers played on
brass rollers which gave them decided
advantage over the Portland men, but on
the other hand they were handicapped by
the roughness of the floor in City hall
which they found rather difficult to get
is crack jack organization, there is
little doubt of this fact, but they run up
against the hardest thing they ever struck
when they tried to do the Portland team
last night. The home team played all
around the visitors from the very start.
Campbell has never played so fast or SO
we'll as he did last night. Whipple was
like tightening and he was smashing
them into the cage from all sides and
at all angles. Mckay and Turnbull in
their blocking and defensive work were
invincible while John Allen put up star
game in tho goal.
For the champions the star player is
Cotter who plays half back. He is about
the cleverest man with polo stick and
the snloothest man to handle ball that
Portland has ever seen. Next to him
Russell shows up as very fast and an &C.
curate shot for the goal Cusick has q
habit of getting excited and leaving the
cage and running out into the hall to
meet the ball. He loses by this trick
great many goals. It is utterly impossi-
BILE for Cusick to pay attention to the
stopping Of the ball and leaving the other
men on his team to do the juggling and
passing with it. He seems to want to play
in every position at once. AS goal ten
der Cusick may be renkoned as the best
in the business, but Portland has got
man who can give him cards and spades
and beat him out. John Allen only failed
to stop the ball last night when he tried
to emulate Cusick in making those SEN
sational stops.
All Of the game was concentrated in
the first fifteen minutes. Fall River
thought they had something easy and
went into the contest at a cyclone speed,
intending to swamp the home team at
the start. At first the crowd thought the
National league champions would De
able to do 1t but Portland soon woke up
and played all around them. Russell got
the first goal for Fall River with ease
Tt was so easy for him that everyone
thought the thing was ended at this
point. Then Portland got four in sue
cession. These were made by the wonder
full playing of Gus Campbell who showed
the National leaguers what the Maine
polo cranks expect of first class rush.
Whipple was the mainstay Of the home
team as usual and put up a superb exhi-
bition of polo playing. Both Cotter and
Everett had all they could do to handle
these two men who forced things to such
a burst of speed that the Fall Rivers were
on the run all the time. On the defensive
Johnny TurnbuIl and Mckay took care
of Russell and Woodteke with ease. Fall
River got one more goal before the first
period ended and Portland got two more,
giving them lead of four.
In the second period the teams broke
even as far as the number of goals were
concerned, Portland getting two and Fall
River landing the same number. The
Fall Rivers worked like tends and did
their best to overcome the lead the Port
land lead but even with Whipple off the
floor in the last part of the last period
they could not do very much.
In the third period O. Malley p aged in
Whipple's place for time ana while he
was on the floor the Portlands did not do
quite as we'll. Whipple came back after
Campbell had landed the first goal of the
period on fly shot from the end of the
hall and then the game became very
rough and fast. Fall River got four goals
in this period and lost two on fouls while