A LAST-MINUTE VICTORY

NZ Truth, Issue 1293, 18 September 1930, Page 15

A LAST-MINUTE VICTORY

Chatham Gup Holders Go Under To Hospital

Campbell Is King -pin In Villagers' Defence

JEFFREYS SLAMS IN ' A COUPLE (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Soccer Representative). All sail is set noAv m. the final leg of the "Wellington Soccer championship race, and Hospital are the favorites. Can they do it?

r f? H > Porirua men need two wins m the i final games m order to take the championship from the toes of Waterside and Diamonds by a single point. Their final run, delayed as it has been, looked like being certain to prove successful a, few weeks ago," but interruptions have thrown the team out of step. I Certainly if -the Hospital, men cannot improve on their showing of last Saturday, they will miss the great chance Against a Petone Pteam one man short m the second spell, possessed of *he coveted Chatham Cup and having nothing at stake, the Hospital side could win only Jf-2, and that m final stages of the match: Whether Petone still consider that they were hardly used m their match against Waterside is not clear, . but their second-spell effort to hold. Hospital sannot be said to have* looked as though 3iey were desperately anxious to end ;heir .championship chance against 'the SVharfies. Apart from the toiling Campbell and the brisk McVean, no one was trying very lard • after, Leslie left .the field to nurse lis much-injured ankle. Yet, with this state of affairs it was well into the second , spell before James rammed the winning goal home following some/strenuous play by Hospital. However, to do the Porirua side justice, it- must be said that they had things Ivery much their own way at times and Imerely lacked the final- punch to turn khem into points. Jeffreys' pair of goals 'y/ere beauties. Again, of course, the honors went | to Campbell,' the king-pin of the

villagers' eleven. Leslie, In 'the first spell, showed a return of form, employing his speed to recapture his old rush tactics and keep the Hospital backs hopping. The losers lacked one or two of their regular men and would have done better than that had the men been on hand. Hospital will have to look to their training for the next fortnight. The goal is near, b,ut the next two games are the hardest, and a miss at this stage will be fatal. Waterside have finished their championship series and cannot lose their place save by a better performance on the part of another team. Neater passing between the halves and forwards, 'quicker work m defence by the insides and nicer judgment m linking the wings with Jeffreys are all needed by the men from up the valley. Their centreforward is a man who must have the ball placed well for him. In town, Marist were proving their right to have the Auld Memorial dubbed the "Marist Cup" by winning their way. through to the final orice again. In this they had to overcome the unexpectedly strenuous opposition of Y.M., who were downed dnly by the odd goal m the seven scored. With a 3-3 score at half-time it looked anybody's match, but the green forwards lasted better and showed that they have moulded the ■ unstable • force of the beginning of the season Into an aggressive and well-linked band. It was their forcing pace that settled the Issue, and some beautiful combination was seen. s Rarely did a match end better, for up to the last each side was moving away into dangerous attacks. Scott, who scored twice, Cudby and Condon, were prominent iri the green front line. In the Y.M. team the admirable Ballard provided another thrill by turning into a goalie, and a good one. In front of him, McGirr came back to. his old game, while Armitage, Rigby and McLeod stood out, McLeod scoring a couple.