ASSOCIATION GAME.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 134, 8 June 1926, Page 11

ASSOCIATION GAME.

AUCKLAND'S BUSY WEEK-END. WAIKATO REPS. OVERWHELMED. SHORE SURPRISED BY V.M.C.A. 1 Commencing with the King's birthday on Thursday, and ■ ending on Saturday, the A.F.A. got through a big programme. There were one or two surprises, notably the overwhelming defeat of the South Auckland reps, and the draw between North Shore and V.M.C.A. on Devonport Domain on Saturday afternoon. The j former represents the fruits of concen- ( tration on team work, and the latter a pronounced improvement in the standard of play of the Y.M. The rep. match on Thursday was not expected to end as it did. Auckland did. not take their visitors lightly, remembering the strenuous game the Y\ aikato men gave Wellington last season for the Brown Shield. The visitors had with them several of the players who j opposed Wellington, and the match was j looked upon as a severe test for the City reps. While the game was never a fiasco, as the score might indicate, it was all in Auckland's favour, due to the almost faultless combination of the home side. The team has reached a high standard of efficiency and the I perfection of positional play which has beon attained by systematic training and practice was markedly demonstrated. As stated last week in the "Star," it ; was a pity that Dodds was not given his chance. Even in the face of the great display given by Dacre, who was at the height of his form, it would j have satisfied the football public had the Tramways inside right been included. The game, after all, was a trial for the home men. and had Dodds been given his place it would have been seen whether or not he would fit into the scheme of things in the present team. The display of the Auckland men, however, certainly leaves little room i for criticism, and the side which took part on Thursday should give any of the ■ teams from the Southern centres some- > thing to think about. The performance of Reid at left ■ back should settle all arguments as to * that position. His clearances were i always effective, clever and sure, and 1 when he parted with the ball it was ■ never at random. Spencer was the other trialist, and he, too, justified his

selection. He has one advantage over Humphreys. He has enterprise and confidence to venture on his own when s the opportunity presents itself. He * very soon settled down to the play of his" confreres on Thursday, and took three of the goals scored. The"" South Auckland players had rather a gruelling afternoon. Each and all put no end of vim and determination into their play, but the skill against them was too much for both defence and attack. The side, nevertheless, has a good deal to recommend it, and there is reason to expect South Auckland to keep their grip on the Brown Shield, J of which they become the first holders. FORTHCOMING REP. GAMES. The first of the series of rep. games for the new English F.A. trophy will take place in Wellington on July 3, when Auckland journeys to the Basm Reserve to meet the best of the W.F.A. Auckland Soccerites are apt to be misled as to the actual position of tne Northern team for this contest. Naturally, local followers of the game have come to look on the contest as one between Auckland and Wellington, but really it is nothing of the kind. In point of fact, it is expected to be a .rarne between the best of the Northern half of the Island and the Southern balf. Auckland's boundary includes the "Waikato Association and sub-asso-ciations a- far as the North Cape. Wellington can»call upon players from Wanganui and the Manawatu if desired. So far as Auckland is concerned, nothing seems to have been done by the local association to co-operate with the other interested parties regarding the selection of a team. As a matter of ■ fact, it has been left to Mr. Neesham, who has had no opportunity to visit the other districts, such as Hamilton. Huntly, Pukemiro, Thames, Hikurangi, and so on, to estimate the talent there. The bald truth is that Mr. Neesham has never been appointed to select the team to represent the Northern half of the North Island to play for the English trophy. He is the selector for the A.F.A. ft is not argued for a moment that any better selector cculd be found for the job— far from it. But the position is a strange one, and has never been gone into as it ought. This is the first time the competition has become an actuality, and the proper machinery has not been devised. The outside associations have not even been approached to send in names oi players considered to be worthy of a place in-the Auckland' team

rhe South Auckland reps, were seen on 0 Thursday. No playtr could be said to f be an improvement" on the team chosen s by the Auckland selector. The fact re- o mains, however, that others are en-, s titled to some say in the representa- j v tion of the Auckland province, and Miere will never be satisfaction regarding the team till some scheme of sefection is arrived at which is agreeible to all concerned. It is up to the J A.F.A.. as the major association, to get J in touch with the minor bodies, with } a view to reaching some plan of choos- * ing a thoroughly representative team. v Meantime the reps, as selected from a the A.F.A. will go forward to their first g engagement with the fullest confidence of all followers of the game in the city, and should Wellington win the day they must have a higher standard of football than they are given credit for. J SATURDAY'S GAMES. (J Whatever was the cause, there was a slight falling off in the standard of play in the senior games on Saturday. The Thistle-Ponsonby game on Blandford Park was at times quite passable. The players had much to put up with in the" way of conditions. On the run of the" play, no one could grudge Thistle the points, though towards the close Ponsonby made desperate efforts to catch up their big deficit. Ponsonby's < vital weakness lay in the halfback line. Wright, a young player, was tried < at centre half, and evidently Kennedy, , was trying to do part of the new- i comer's "work as well as his own. The result was that he neglected bis erst- ] •while elubmate, Aliern, who, mci- i dentally, was alongside the only player ; who has been able to make a success j of him —ehristie —and the outside right got in some paying work. Kane and ■ j Williams played! < hard at hack, and i Morrison held on ! to Kay like a i poultice. Wright ! had not the ex- ; perienee for men who were probably in the game before he was born, and Kennedy, was : much too . frequently out of position. In the forwards nothing seemed to go right, till Bob Innes went into the centre forward berth. He certainly infused life and energy into-the attack and towards the close got through some very fine work. He was ably assisted by Hunter at inside right. This youth played a really fine game in spite of the handicap of heavy ground. He made several openings very cleverly, and played a heady inside game all through, llargison, so far, has not been a pronounced success in the centre forward position, and on Saturday he found Tinkler a stumbling block. "Because he endeavoured to do too much, W. Knott did not give his partner the support lie deserved, and when the wing was in position, Reid generally upset their calculations. L. Knott was not much in evidence for similar reasons. UNSETTLED THISTLE. Thistle have tried more this season in their team than any of the other senior clubs- It is to be hoped that now they have reached something like finality. Saturday again saw changes, but the results, at least so far as the forwards were concerned, were certainly eniouraging. While admitting that necessity has been the cause of I some of the alterations in the team, a j great many followers of the game, including some of the Scots' supporters, find it difficult to devine a reason for the dropping of Jack. Thistle's goalie has made no more mistakes than any other custodian, and fewer than most. ! His record this season in the five games I played shows nine goals against, and j some days he had very indifferent backs in front of him. The A.F.A. rep. goalie has also nine goals against him. so it cannot be said that Jack has ever let the Thistle down. However, Chesney got his trial, and seemed to feel his position, for at times he did not seem to have the same coolness and I self-possession as is his wont. This may have accounted for the occasions on which he got down on his knees to clear. Chefney formerly rarely resorted to this style of clearing, and it is danjerous, as was seen in two nasty melees just on the Thistle line, the keeper being penalised once for creeping with the ball. It is a good habit to get out of. Chesney. however, was hardly to blame for either of the two points scored against him. Reid was the outstanding man for Thistle defence. Moon, his partner, was always busy and willing. The halfbacks held the opposing forwards well. Dickson did not appear to have completely recovered from his indisposition. Tinkler was here, there, and everywhere, while Martindale played a useful and consistent game. The Christie-Ahern bracket on the right was responsible for the first three goals for Thistle. Ahem was almost back to his best form, and, on a ground that was not conducive to 2ood football, he had several bright runs. Besides the two goals he had so much to do with, he scored a third with a fine header. His partner made many nice openings without being much in the limelight. Christie at , centre is working into the position and distributes the play with judgment. Hislop was Thistle's best forward on the day. Kay overdid the solo business and wants to get out of the habit of endeavouring to beat one or two opponents every time he gets the ball. His style is becoming much too stereotyped and there is a danger of his losing a good deal of his usefulness. V.M.'s GREAT STRUGGLE. Surely Y.M. are entitled to something better than has been their fate in th< last few games? Against Tramwayi they were twice two goals.ahead of tn< champions during the game. Next gam they gain their first points by the nar row margin of one goal when thre might have been a fair margin. On thei third essay they lead the second to; team almost to "the close of the gam and retire with half tbe'spoil. To crowi all, the team is struggling at the botton of the league. There is every reason however, for anticipating better thing in the near future from Y.M. The tean is fast assuming definite and marke< i improvement and it would not be a «ur ! prise to see them play a vital part " the competitions in the senior grade One thing Y.M. does possess « endies. pluck and determination, which j tied them a long way. The introducer

of Russell, Milne and Mellor to the forwards has been followed by most ' satisfactory results, and with further opportunity of striking up an under- , standing the players ought to combine j with evsn greater effect. TRAMWAYS FURTHER AHEAD. !N"orth Shore's draw on Saturday put 3 Tramways still one more point ahead. The corporation side met Northcote on the Domain, but the game ■was lacking in enthusiasm most of the time. Tramways did not play with their usual vim and vigour and the two goals lead they got -was all they were entitled to. SENIOR TABLE. P W L D F A Pts. Tramways 0 6 0 0 23 8 12 Thistle " 6 3 2 1 20 11 7 North Shore G 2 1 3 13 11 T /PonsonbT 6 1 3 2 14 24 4 Northcote 6 14 1 6 lo 3 V.M.C.A, 6 14 1 5 12 i