THE SOCCER GAME.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 140, 20 July 1914, Page 2

THE SOCCER GAME.

NOMADS' SCORING RAIDS. An outstanding feature in Saturday's Association football games was the remarkable improvement shown in • the ranks of the Christchurch United team, which was indeed unfortunate in losing to Nomads. Although the ground at St. Albans Park was in a wretched state, some delightful football was witnessed. From the kick-off, the United men were aggressive, and their splendid combination made things very lively for Nomads' defence, their manoeuvring culminating in a magnificent shot by Baxter, which missed by inches. From the free kick Clay secured, and quickly transferred to Tanner, who got going, as Tanner can, taking the ball to within a yard of the corner flag. He swung in a beauty, and a regular melee in goalmouth gave Howie a chance to pot the first. United again took up the running, and Hawkins, with a pretty sprint, forced a corner from Clay, which proved abortive. From the goal kick Baxter secured, and, swinging it out to, Hawkins, sent this player again on the move. Things looked very dangerous, and May ran out to clear. In doing so he collided with Watson, pitting the latter out for a few minutes. Immediately after , the resumption Baxter got possession. Tricking Clay, he sent in a magnificent shot, beating May and making the scores even. From the kick-off, the Nomads made another raid on the United stronghold, and within the minute Clay, beat Swift and put. the Nomads in; the lead. i Resuming, the NOmadS again came to the attafek, arid but' for the phenomenal' brilliancy of Swift, who dived the whole length of the goal to save, would have been successful. The United men all this time were playing magnificent football, and having by far the major portion of the play, and but for the deadly breakaways of the Nomads' forwards, looked all-out winners. That these raids were so successful was unfortunate for United,' but one cannot help but admire the wonderful precision of the "Nomads when they did get a chance. Nomads? third goal came in precisely the same way as the previous ones. The United men .Were busy in Nomads' half, when Clay, seeming, again gave to Tanner, who raced up the wing, swung in to Howie, and in a trice No. 3 was up. United, although playing better combination and prettier football than Nomads, were most ineffective in goal-mouth, neither Wainsc6tt, v Bruorton, nor Watson making the most of the splendid opportunities they had. Time and again Nomads' defence was pierced, only to have the" effort fail at the supreme moment, and .United's hard luck was in painful evidence when from yet another break-away Clay, giving Swift no chance, scored Nomads'* fourth goal. < ■ A SPLENDID HALF-BACK:; '

United by no means disheartened. Their , captain, Baxter,, worked his forijpards . magwficenily. t?bis evergreen player showed the finest lialf-back gana6 it has been the wit l ness this season. Cool '&rid' he held the Nomads' centr<& mth ease, and even the brilliant Clay came off second-best when he tried conclusions with him. Baxter seemedto be the oily one of the United who could shoot, and from a rasping shot of his which brought May 1 to his knees Bruorton netted United's seeond goal. United, just' be'fore the spell ended, again deserved to score, Bruorton striking the upright with a beauty. ' • ' ' The- seeond half showed no diminution in this vigorous game. United at once got going, and Watson forced a corner, but nothing resulted. Mid-field play of a particularly entertaining nature was now in progress for some time, neither side gaining any advantage until Hawkins livened things up. Racing up the line, he hooked in a fine "shot, which May had great difficulty in saving, he eonceding a. corner 4n United's misfortunes were now added to, Bigg having to leave the ground injured* United decided to play one back, and mueh offside play went unnoticed by the referee. Tanner was responsible for a splendid break. Securing on. the centre line, he threaded his way through United's defence, and with the goal at his mercy lifted the ball well over. During the last ten minutes, United began to feel the strain of playing a man short, and Nomads, eoming away again, saw Grant net their fifth and final goal, which gave Swift no chance. . The United men are to be congratulated on their splendid game. They were, on the play, the better team, and were decidedly unfortunate. Curing the game an unusual incident occurred on the line. The United half, in throwing the ball in, misjudged the line, and the ball did not enter the . field of play. The referee, in answer to the linesman's; appeal, decided to throw the ball down, but at the same time he omitted to sound the whistle to put the ball in play. Strictly speaking, the throw-in should have been taken again.

THE BULLDOG'S BITE. Linwood, which visited Sunnyside, could only muster eight men. This tremendous handicap evidently brought to the surface that dogged determination and tenaeity which every Britisher likes to believe he possesses. For some time after the free kick, the Linwood boys were hard pressed, but McFarlane again and again beat the attackers back. Hill at last got well away, and, combining with Harris, worked into striking distance. Harris Beored Linwood's first goal. Linwood.'s clever setting of their men bothered Sunnyside, who seemed quite unable to master a oneback game. Hill, from a break-away, gave Curtis a difficult handful. The Linwood men, playing superbly, kept their opponents at bay, although a shot from Norman, which struck the upright, and an extremely well-placed corner went perilously near to scoring. Hill then put in a brilliant run, and with a tiptop phot potted the second goal. This success galvanised Linwood into another mighty effort, and Ensor, beating Norman, quickly transferred to Harris, who, tipping lightly to HiD, gave the latter a chance which he made the most of by netting No. 3. Sunnyside now were desperate, and, fairly swamping the gallant eight, forced two corners in quick succession. Just before the interval, Norman scored. Sunnyside, on resuming, fought hard to reduce tboir opponents' lout, and

pressed them sorely. PuDertotu working like a Trojan, and urging ol» Sw- [ wards on, gave Linwood & hot time far a few minutes. He secured ttie and placed it to Porter who pat in » \ good centre, and by shear ■weight of numbers, broke through lAfrwood's superb defence and scored. I Sunnyside again swung into the attack, but Norman found Bennett quite safe. The lively eight showed that they wei* not going to take these matters lying clown. McFarlanc, with splendid kicking, now opened the play up for the bußdogs, and Curtis had a lively time. Hall at last beating him with a terrific drive. Linwood were now holding their and were quite as aggressive as thcir-cp-ponents. Howevier, Norman, "with clever play i and a well-placed fiiot, redueed LinWood's lead. Prom the kick-off Linwood forced play into the home teamV territory, and Wardell conceded a corner when hard pressed. Plenty of excitement followed the free kick, and th.e home goal nearly succumbed again. This whistle brought to *a close a most exciting game. The Linwood team well disserved its win. . - SYDENHAM'S WIN. ) After the splendid exhibition given by the Bangers on the previous Saturday, a great fight; was anticipated : against Sydenham, but when the Rangers took the field short the enthusiasms knew theiy hopes were doomed/and n,b one was surprised at the result. The Rangers played a plucky game, ami with a weakened team were f ortunaife to come off: so lightly. " I From the start the Sydenham men attacked strongly ? and were repulsed only with difficulty. Scrappy play followed, i and Norman got going, but off-side play nullified his -effort. $ The Range*s brightened up a bit then, and a nidje centre was taken, up tjy Norman, Tennant clearing. Norman again* got posand his second attempt was successful. Sydefmam worked hard t ( o equalise, but Bartlett, playing a greaft game, cleared repeatedly. The Bangers broke away from Sydenhfim's very pressing attentions, only to find their attempt foiled. Ward then got away with one of his, fine runs. Bleating Shurrock, he flashed in a. centre fahich wees snapped up by giving Bartlett: noi chance, ; equalised.; Rangers, were, making; a splendid fight of"it> but the odds wereagainst thenj. The interval found matters, even in score's. L In the second spell GoUghtly added to Sydenham's score, and. Baggers tuifortunately lost Norma'n's . seryiees, owing to an accident incapacitating Tun* for the rest of the game. The second half can best be described as flat and uninteresting. Neither' side 'played good football, and the disappointed' tors welcomed the'final whistle. " / THE AISfTAGOISrtrfC C:R.IL t

The writer approaches , with- pained surprise the reported .sentiments of the Canterbury Rugby XJnio» ; toj^ar^sSoceer, but is glg& to saj.jthe feeling is pot reciproeatetd. <>d nrindedness, and .this } -.ttnqeueye- , of football. rj jsensGs o£, »e C.B.U. should .remember. t]hat."tne,'reason, Wiy these tered by .^pct^dng ? iffl y fcelp to conssti&e *a<*e the indoiwtalile. tflnekV''-£s*' iC ! fo Therefore our is; an 3 -whenever the way s tii&i? fodtball makes good clean eitiSa^&sL' v f It is hope® 'fault 1 the antagonism of the C.R.U.' tfffliaffiWM#'B|tec<iy death. It is altogether u¥#ojsfcy=io£ 'Such a body of gentleinfeft^'>S«dO!the ! Jwords; would have been M- b'efc'teis lef tr especially as this'4s'the last season m Chjastehurch in-which Soccer will have to ask favours." Until now favours haver always been, courteously granted, and, bearing in mind past kindnesses, we will endeavour to forget these unthinking, unsportsmanlike remarks, and the permission, so grudgingly given, for the use Of a ground upon a day, which, in their own words, was. no good to them. SYDENHAM V. RANGERS. To the Sports Editor of THE SUN". '■Sir*—'l desire to your attention to the report of the above match oja Saturday by. your reporter. In describing the game your reporter says, inter alia, that Bangers only had eight men on the field. A few lines further down he says that Norman retired, leaving'the inference that Sydenham were „ only playing now against seven men. The facts are that Rangers kicked off with nine nien, and Within five minutes Bentley took the field, making the number of players 10, which • number played right on to the final whistle. —I am, pte., P. J. TURNER, • Hon. Sec.- Sydeiihaih A.F.C. July 20, 1914. ! i ; :

SCHOOLS' SOCCER NOTES. On Saturday all games'in connection with the Primary Schools' Association Football Championship were postponed on account of the trial games being played. These were arranged by the C.F.A., with a view to selecting senior and junior school teams which are to visit Dune<fin in the near future. The Grounds at South Park were in a very bad condition, the pitches being very muddy and treacherous. But despite these unfavourable cireumstauces the spectators were treated to some very fine football. No doubt the allurement of a trip south did much to make the boys extend themselves to their utmostj consequently both the senior and junior games were full of excitement and good dashing play/ There is "no doubt that there are some very good players amongst the sehoolboys, and their football is becoming better pyery Saturday. The following players have met with the approval of the selectors and stand a very good chance of being selected for representative honours:— Senior Grade.—Hay , (East), B. Taylor (St. Miehael's), Noonau (Technical), Lockwood (Swifts), A. Taylor (Technical), A. Burnside. (St. Miehael's), Smith and Burgew (Swift*!, irostftr (St. Miehael's), Cameron (Vast), Woodburv (Somerficld). Antaa, Stevens, and Broom (Technical) ar§ th* mfcior reserves. f Juaior G-ra«Utr—J«weH (St. AlbasaA. Shaw (Bt. Mary *a), HoLeSimn (Addington), Coombs £Bieiunaa»4}, Bukai* (Swifts), BadU*i (Sv JMwym EWiil Wills, and Hot (Spre/dai^ Hay, m pifffamed v«f ably. Vtmam aaA & at vrem good is both atcadfc. • (

The halves, Lockwood, A. Taylor, and Burnside, form a strong trio, but they should remember that they should feed their forwards and not kick the ball •without observing, the positions of the front line. The senior forward lme is a very solid one, and wi,th a little combined work should prove a fine goalscoring lot. Smith and Burgess, on tjie right wing, work very well together. The- former made some very good runs down the line. Foster, the centre-for-ward, is rather small, but he is fast and is a regular ' 'gralter.'' Cameron, who has~ just recovered from a strained sinew, - played fair football; .he should improve. Woodbury, the left-winger, is a strong kick, but is inclined to lag and centre the ball too sdon. The junior team is composed Of the pick of the Junior Grade, and with a little practice should be able to give a very good account Of itself. Badland and Holehari are . the best of the backs. The latter, at!' (fetitre-half, is a great worker, and feeMs his forwards with fine preci^i'i)ii:*t"he forwards are very.strong, but are inclined to wander out of their places. Jewell, Shaw, and Knight made a vfery favourable impression, "and Mr IveW; the expressed himself as delighted with their showing. Mr Ives is certain that the boys will be able togive a good account of themselves if they are, plated . against players • of their own size. j. ~* , :iV> . I Those-, boys whose names are in the hands of the selectors.should settle down to serious training,: > for, if they go to Dnnediri with the; representative team, they will havfe to face some gruelling contests, and it is well known that victory comes only after hard training and thorough preparation. YITAI LAMP ADA.