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Niagara Falls doesn’t quite have the long traditions in the sport of lacrosse as does it’s nearby neighbour St. Catharines, but whenever the two had teams that would meet on the grounds or bowl or arena, usually a hotly contested rivalry would develop. The following are some game summaries of days forgot between these two “banana belt” centres.

The first is from way back in 1924 when the Falls fielded a senior team for the first time in a number of years and played their home games on the lacrosse grounds on Bridge Street. They would draw well, usually around 2,000 a game, but had a bit of a difficult time collected admission fees as the field was unfenced and the fans would enter from any direction. The management would send people out to try and collect money after the game started with the results that you might well expect. The team folded before the season was completed, largely because some of the players lost interest and wouldn’t play.

The second is from 1932 and the first year of senior box lacrosse in the O.A.L.A. Box teams popped up everywhere after the new professional box league made a respectable showing in 1931. Niagara Falls was grouped in a division with the Native Sons (Toronto), Oshawa, Fergus, and Mimico’s second team, the Canucks. In the other division were two other Toronto teams, plus Hamilton, Orangeville, Brampton and the Mimico Mountaineers. The Niagara Falls Cataracts played out of a long forgotten arena on Victoria Avenue and actually had a pretty good team. They played well into the division finals before bowing to a strong Fergus team that year. For part of the season the Cataracts had Alf McCready playing in goal. A goaltender with the name McCready? Where have I heard that before?

St. Catharines didn’t have a senior team until 1933, but did put together a pick-up team to play the Cataracts an exhibition game at the Falls arena in early June. One of the interesting things about the ’32 Cataracts was Pat Haffey’s involvement with the team. Haffey was a Brantford boy who moved to St. Catharines in 1912 when he took a job with the Standard and he then played a few seasons with the Athletics. Twenty years later when the box rage hit, he wanted to start up a team but St. Catharines didn’t have an arena or a lacrosse box suitable. He saw Niagara Falls as a good alternative and gave it a go there. Haffey also wrote a column in the Niagara Falls Evening Review that was dotted with his recollections of the good old days, plus his own rare talent of lacrosse poetry. One Haffey original was…

You’ve had a lot of wise tips
And you’ve heard a lot of puns.
But don’t miss the one tomorrow
‘Tween the Falls and Native Sons
And when the game is over
Someone will chalk a loss
But the tilt should be a hummer
The last word on lacrosse

After the loss to Fergus in the division finals, the Fallsers went on barnstorming tour of Eastern Ontario in late October and played games in Peterborough, Prescott, Cornwall, Alexandria, and Brockville. Things seemed ripe for a return in 1933, but the all too often hot, sticky Niagara Falls Arena was blamed for sagging mid-summer attendance and poet-laureate Pat Haffey could see the writing on the wall for his beloved Cataracts.

Twenty-nine years later Niagara Falls would put together their next senior team. The Scobies of 1961 (named after the transport company that sponsored them) would play just one season out of the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena. Their games against the nearby St. Catharines Athletics would sometimes be a bit on the nasty side and it didn’t take these neighbours long to recognize each others as bitter rivals.

Some talent from Six Nations bolstered the Athletics of 1961, with names like Powless, Bomberry, and Squires in the lineup.

All the following reports are reprinted with permission of the Niagara Falls Review.

ST. CATHARINES STAYS AT TOP OF HEAP IN O.A.L.A. GROUP “B” – LOCAL
TEAM WERE MINUS FOUR REGULARS BUT FOUGHT GAMELY AND DESERVED A CLOSER
SCORE THAN 9 – 2

THE NIAGARA FALLS EVENING REVIEW

MONDAY JUNE 16, 1924

NIAGARA FALLS -- The local senior lacrosse team, with a crippled line-up, were comparatively easy picking for St. Kitts on Saturday and the Athletics incidentally came through on the long end of a 9 – 2 score and thereby retain the leadership of the O.A.L.A. group “B” with three wins and no losses.

Falls Had Weakened Line Up.

The Falls team presented it’s regular “road” team, only this time it was a little “roadier” than usual. The team was minus the services of Bill Pennie, Fraser, Herrington and Shea. It was understood, however, by the management during the week that the first mentioned two players would be unavoidably absent as Pennie is suffering from a sore knee sustained in the Maitland game at Toronto and really should not have played last Wednesday when he went on and gamely did his best. “Big Game” is on of the moguls at the Stamford Race Track hence his absence. Herrington simply decided to quit playing lacrosse and could not be induced to help the team out on Saturday. Shea turned up at the appointed time but when the cars were being loaded for the trip, decided not to go along.

However, the team or what remained of it, made the journey by auto, losing a half hour getting started in a futile attempt at convincing certain players that the outing was going to be an ideal one and that it would be a large thing to return to the Power City with victory number one under their belts.

Jack Cudmore arrived in time to get in the game before half time.

The Game.

It took the entire first period for the St. Kitts team to learn that the invaders were not at full strength (very dull of them). But after that when the holes appeared in no uncertain manner, the boys in blue, lost no time in rushing things and before the final gong had sounded had nine well-earned goals in the Falls net. At least they were well earned as far as Johnnie Cunningham, the local goalie was concerned, as he didn’t have a chance on ‘em, but did turn aside many which looked like counters. The Athletics attack had little difficulty making the odd man in the field, with the result that the defence men nearest the net were repeatedly forced to leave their checks to meet another man running unchecked toward the Falls citadel.

Falls Fought All the Way.

The local team never for a moment lost heart and were continually forcing the play on the Garden City goal when in possession of the rubber and only the brilliant work of Williamson between the posts prevented a much more larger Falls total than two. Cudmore, Kinghorn, Cody and Schmidt tried hard and their work was deserving of better results.

The game was clean and interesting throughout and the crowd of 2,000 remained to see the last minute of it.

The score by periods:
First period – St. Kitts 1, Falls 0.
Second period – St. Kitts 3, Falls 0.
Third period – St. Kitts 6, Falls 0.
Final – St. Kitts 9, Falls 2.

The teams:

St. Catharines – Goal, Williamson; point, Haynes; cover point, Purdy; defence, F. Gayder, Herr, A. Gayder; centre, Wagstaffe; home field, Lounsbury, Switzer, Miller; outside, Cornellius; inside, Flynn; subs, McGlashan, Comrie, Bye.

NIAGARA FALLS SENIOR BOXLA WON EXHIBITION GAME FROM ST. KITTS: NATIVE SONS HERE SATURDAY NIGHT

GARDENS GOT EARLY LEAD BUT LOCALS WENT BIG IN MIDDLE AND FINAL FRAMES TO PULL OUT A 12 – 6 VICTORY

By PAT HAFFEY

THE NIAGARA FALLS EVENING REVIEW

FRIDAY JUNE 3, 1932

NIAGARA FALLS -- The Niagara Falls Senior box lacrosse team threw a free threat to 300 fans at the Arena last night when they defeated St. Catharines All-Stars by 12 to 6 in an exhibition fixture.

The contest was a lively one and served as an excellent work-out for the Falls entry for their big O.A.L.A. senior fixture with Native Sons of Toronto here tomorrow night.

In the first period the Saints, thanks to the phenomenal work of their goalie, Bowie, finished the section with a 3 to 0 lead. Dixon, Sheehan and Stewart were the scorers.

In the middle period, the smooth-working machine led by Cudmore, Ryan and Pennie, was not to be denied and they shoved in six markers while the vistors were held to one. Tommy Ryan opened the Falls scoring on a pass from Jack Cudmore who also gave the rubber to Bill Pennie for goal number two.

Cudmore and Pennie scored in that order, Ryan provided both assists. Henry Lauzon and Art Kinghorn each scored on solo attempts. Sheehan scored the Saints lone count of this period.

The third period saw the Fallsers out-score the visitors 6 to 2. Bob Scott made it seven for the locals on a loose ball. Stewart took Sheehan’s pass for a St.Kitts marker, Cudmore, Ryan and Sparling registered in that order to bring the Falls total up to the even dozen. Flurey scored one for St. Kitts near the end of the game.

Play was plenty rough in spots of this period and a pair of major penalties and a match foul topped off the evening. Bill Pennie and Johnnie Warburton drew majors and later, Warburton was chased for the match stretch for a deliberate clout that landed on Pennies head and sent the Falls player in for repairs.

The teams:

St. Catharines—Bowie, goal; Thompson and Cunningham, defence; Young, rover; Sheehan, centre; Nash and Comrie, forwards; Kleiger, Stewart, Warburton, Dixon, Green, Challes, Flurey and Gill, subs.

Niagara Falls—McCready, goal; Wiley and Lauzon, defence; Scott, rover; Pennie, centre; Ryan and Cudmore, forwards; Buck Wiley, Kinghorn, Sparling, Spangnola, MacGillivary, Shannon, and Schurmath, subs.

Referee—Frank Shea and George Pennie.

By DOUG AUSTIN

The Niagara Falls Evening Review

Friday July 14, 1961

NIAGARA FALLS -- “Everything comes to those who wait” goes a popular saying and certainly local senior “A” lacrosse fans were finally rewarded at the Falls arena last night when the host lacrosse squad came up with its top display of the season in upsetting the visiting St. Catharines Athletics by a 15 – 11 score.

Winners of only one previous game in 13 league fixtures, the boxla charges of Bobby Melville turned it on last evening and were more than full value for their win. Paced by hat-trick efforts on the part of Bobby Delormier, Sam Crogan and defenceman Hook Martin, the homesters broke away from the A’s early in the second period and were never headed the rest of the way.

Playing in a typical rugged Niagara Falls – St. Catharines battle, the Fallsers got off to an early lead but had to settle for a 4 – all tie at the end of the first frame. Then after the A’s pulled in front by one goal, Melville’s boys hit for five unanswered goals in a five-minute span to open the gap and hold the lead the reminder of the contest.

EARLY BATTLE

For the opening period a major penalty to Bobby Kerr proved costly for the locals and made it a close early battle indeed. The host Transports started out strong and ran up a 2 – 0 lead on goals by Orvil Porter and Bobby DeLormier but then Kerr ran into his major.

Playing short-handed, the Fallsers found the A’s hitting for three goals to just one home reply and it was deadlocked. Each team added another before the frame ended.

Gary Carr, top performer for the A’s, put the visitors in front on a pass from Jake Bomberry early in the second period. This was apparently a mistake on the part of the invaders.

GOAL SPLURGE

At any rate, the Fallsers went on to enjoy the best period of the year as they pumped seven goals past Bob McCready in the Garden City cage. Five of these came within five minutes of Carr’s tally.

Hook Martin, DeLormier, Bobby Kerr, Ivan Thomas and Martin again all hit for unanswered markers to give the host sextet a 9 – 5 lead. With the margin see-sawing between two and four goals, the Fallsers were never headed after that with Jack Timlock playing a fine clutch game in the local cage.

In addition to the three-goals performances by Martin, Sam Crogan and Delormier, Ivan Thomas came up with two goals and two assists. The heat bothered big Abe Thomas and the husky defenceman dropped to the floor late in the game and had to be assisted off on a stretcher.

Gary Carr accounted for four of the St. Catharines goals with Jake Bomberry netting three. Ross Powless came up with the first two Garden City goals but was held well in check after that.

Athletics – Goal, McCready; Defence, Hines, Smith, Powless; Forwards, G. Carr, J. Squires, Roy, C. Bomberry, J. Bomberry, Mowers, Moore.

Nia. Falls – Goal, J. Timlock; Defence, H. Martin, A. Thomas, General; Forwards, S. Crogan, E. Crogan, Benedict, E. Squires, Allen, Porter, Kerr, G. Timlock, I. Thomas, C. Thomas, DeLormier.