THE WORLD of SPORT

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 150, 28 June 1927, Page 15

THE WORLD of SPORT

SOCCER TITLE.

THISTLE FURTHER AHEAD. i Wjt-SHORE DRAW GIVES FIRMER GRIP. HARD i.AMK>. BIT LITTLE FOOTFALL. Saturday*- g;:u.>- in the >eiiior division of lb'-- >oovr championship were .characterised l > '"* ,v i!nil ( ''"'*'-' scoring. 'but on tin" -I'l't—in place- marshy— .condition- underfoot the football seen •■was of an indifferent nature. The la&trminute goal ..i North Shore against ■yXCA. saved tor thorn one point, but .«t the same time put the Thistle one more point ahead at the tup of the table, .giving them a lead of live points at the 'beginning of the second round. There

-\ras a very keen encounter on the rpomain between Xorthcote and Onewhile the meeting of Ponsonby .jmdXavy at the Dock resulted in a stubborn contest, with, however, little out-I ; jtanding football. Tramways faced a big task when they | •tackled Thistle minus such players as j ;Dod(ls, Spencer. "McEUigott. Davis, and ! 'Tinkler, and the game will always be •jemembered for the stout defence put •.up by the Corporation men right through vthe piece, for they were in their own -.territory three-quarters of the game. In i •.that time they threw off onslaught after j ■cnslaught of the determined Scots, and,! ;jn conditions which were all against itecure footing, they time and again .extricated themselves from a stranglehold by sheer force of will. Batty had ; & trying day, and deserved the round i»fter round of applause which he received ; after many of his clearances. He was ■ever on the alert, and the fact that he always seemed to be where the ball came was not luck on his part nor bad •guidance on the part of the Thistle jjhootists, but successful anticipation. Of :ihe backs, Gat field was resurrected for the day, and did surprisingly well, while iSimpson must be given every credit for 'lolding the fort under such trying circumstances. He was ever in the thick •of the fray, and came through the .encounter with the utmost distinction. .Another player who rose to the occasion .excellently was Watson, at centre-half.

Simpson. Watson. 'He put in an afternoon of great effort, J being always a stumbling-block to his ■opponents. Porteous, though less conspicuous,, was little less successful, and igot through his work well, while Stretton pulled his full weight in keeping out the eager Thistle forwards. The reserve :front line of the Tramways performed just as well as was to be expected. For men out of practice and training the conditions were impossible. Lewis and {Spong tried once or twice to break through, but were unsupported and failed. The others earn due credit for their bravery in turning out as they did to help their club and the game out of .a difficulty. Thistle Weak at Goal. There was a deal of floundering and :jnuadlement in Thistle's attack in front ■ef goal, for which no doubt the ground was to blame. This great disability, however, could not be blamed for the players getting in each other's way so jfrequently. The attackers appeared to tcrowd each other out of position in the fjjroal mouth, and there were several occasions on which chances were thrown iaway by this fault. This is a weakness the Thistle have not shown this season ;yet, and while Hislop was out of the usual combination, and may have :»ffeeted the equilibrium of the front irankers, it is well that the Scots should take care in this respect in future.

So far as the play of the team was concerned generally, they had a superiority more emphatic than two goals over their opponents. W. Cummings was again 'in place of Zoull, but was not tested out. When he did get a shot to deal with he ishowed a confidence and style far from iHovice. Ferguson and Reid were safe :and steady at back, and the half line, with Dickson agaiu in position, supported the forwards cleverly. Kay was :« good deal in evidence in the attack, "but retired in the second spell, while :tStewart, centre forward, also received which caused him to limp off the field, but he returned later. Duns:»ore and Cummings played successfully together on the right, and J. Stewart, Thistle's handyman, showed his versautility by playing a very serviceable game Tice Hislop. While the match was a poor display of "the code, it was never stale or uninteresting, and Tramways made a big reputation for the plucky way in which they {tackled the unbeaten Scots with half :i team..

■SHORE AND Y.M.C.A. DISAPPOINT,

But for a real snappy finish the meeting between Shore and Y.M.C.A. at "Devonport would have had to be written down as a very disappointing affair from a football " playing standpoint. Uight up to the last twenty minutes, at "which stage the teams were on level terms with two goals each, the Soccer rplayed was verv ragged, uninspiring i stuff. It is doubtful whether either team has previously this season given *uch a poor display, and made so many tactical mistakes. " Time after time the :forwards hung on to the ball and tried to beat the man by dribbling when an «*asy pass through" would have immediately placed the opposition goal in ganger, or again they would pass back, ~and keep on passing back, when the rpositions demanded that a quick attack !*hould be made before more of the defenders could gather. The halves in vtheir turn, also held on too long, and did :»ot sling the ball about as one would Sjhave liked to have seen them do as occasions merited. Altogether it was a most "disappointing 50 minutes. Even tl«* goalkeepers were not at their best, for •*ome very shaky clearances were made jj*»y both, particularly by Lipscombe, who gepeatedly gave corners through bad handling of the ball and failure to gjmckly size up the position. Altogether jgfew of the players must have been satiswith their display on Saturday. On j&B whole the score about reflected the ■tated, It was the last twenty minHglf play caved the game from utter Iggtejirom. a spectacular point of

view. There was a complete reversal of form on the part of both teams. The backs tackled and kicked with more judgment, the halves made the ball beat the man, and the forwards made the shortest way to the goal their aim. iwo goals only came in this period, but there was more than four times the playing craft shown in this portion, and as many more thrills as there had been in the earlier exchanges. Coming after the "dead spell,"' it was a most enjoyable surprise. Not one of the players played an outstanding game, and few indeed reached their usual standard. On ilie whole. Lewis was perhaps the best of the Y.M.C.A. halves, and Dick and Humphries the pick of the forwards. Wool ley. Whitley and Jay combined well for Shore towards the end. with honours being about equally shared.

PONSONBY-NAVY STRUGGLE

The Ponsonby and Navy game at the dock ground was a hard and stubborn game, but did not rise to any heights as a good exhibition of the code. Team work was entirely absent, play mainly consisting of the individual kick and rush type. Ponsonby missed Innes. while the Navy side were without the services of Meynell. Hewitt, and Wilding. Pitcher, who took Wilding's place ill goal for Navy, was safe and did his work in excellent style. Miles and Lawrence were the mainstay of the Navy and got through a hard afternoon's work in great style. The former was inclined to come too far up the field with th-? ball, which is a weakness in the fullbacks' play, and got his side into difficulties once or twice. Oilman at centre half was sound and held up the Ponsonby attack well. Dine and Hall also performed creditably in the halfback line, though their placing was weak. Walsh at right wing did not shine, being well held by the opposing half. Black at centre forward played a very fine game, but lacked support, especially in front of goal. Woodruff (inside right) and Jaggarl (inside left), promoted juniors, wjre fair, but did not combine with the centra as they might. Walker, on the left wing, has been seen to better advantage.

Watts made his first appearance this season in goal for Ponsonby, and proved clever and capable, being quite up to senior standard. Pickett was the outstanding back for Ponsonby, and played a great game. Bell was tried as fullback, but vas not a success, lte.ing inclined to get too far up the field, which threw a great deal of the defensive work on Pickett. He came up iu the forwards in the last five minutes and scored the winning goal. Wright played a good game in the first spell, but faded away in the second. Morrison at right half was inclined to get out of position, otherwise he played a good game. O'Brien has been seen to better advantage. Ahern, who was indisposed, played a fair game, but was not well enough to take any risks. Tomelty, a promoted junior, I played inside right, and gave a good account of himself, but did not seem to combine well with his supports. Hunter played a good kick and rush game, but seemed to forget he had other forwards with him. Mooney played a clever game at inside left and did his here to place the ball, only to see his efforts wasted. Adshead was good on the left wing, but was inclined to kick too hard when putting across his centres.

LYON'S GOOD GOALKEEPING

Although the senior grade match at ' the Domain between Onehunga and Northcote did not produce a particularly brilliant exhibition of the code, it certainly afforded an interesting oßjectlesson as to the value of the long-pass-ing game when compared with any other Long passing, swift transferences, and "straight-for-goal" methods will win in ninety-nine matches out of a hundred. It must not be inferred from this that either team in Saturday's match played the old-fashioned game-to an inordinate extent. All that happened was that Onehunga set to work straight from the kick-off with bustling, open-play methods, and established a lead of two clear goals, and that in the second half Northcote, adopting the same type of attack, scored twice, turning what looked certain to be defeat into a draw. Lyon, the Northcote goalkeeper, was the only one of the *15 Auckland-chosen "probables" for the Canadian match, and it was an appropriate circumstance that he should be one of the outstanding figures of the game. Despite North?ote's second-half improvement, Onehunga were always more impressive when close to goal, and only Lyon's srood work prevented the Auckland suburbanites from adding the winning point. A penalty was given, apparently for handling (though no offence could be detected by most of the touch-line spectators), and Lyon made a magnificent save from Terry's shot. Another outstanding figure throughout a wellfought match was tj|f* of Hibbert, S'orthcote's tall Ably seconded by Thompson at h£t-half, and Lithgow as pivot of the intermediate line, he was the main figure in defence. Time and again he broke up the attacks jf the Onehunga right-wing, and his forward passes, like his clearances, were nell judged and clean. The first roal came from Mel lor, who snapped up i pass from Knott, and shot into an >pen goal, whilst midway through the irst half, Onehunga increased their lead through Terry. In the second half, it :oon became obvious that Northcote had lecided to swing the ball about more nan they had previously done. These actics soon brought their reward. Cremain scoring a pretty goal with a ,hot which gave Lyon no earthly chance. Ten minutes from the close, Williams, aking a well-judged pass from Burord, equalised the scores with a left:oot drive. Onehunga attacked vigor - msly towards the end, and only the pod work of Hibbert and Thompson irevented Cheesraan and Nimmo getting hrough on more than one occasion

THE FIRST TEST.

So far as pan be ascertained at present the Auckland contingent in the first Test against the Canadians acquitted themselves with credit to themselves and to their home association. In the special reports sent to the "Star" on Saturday evening, and which were eagerly devoured by the sporting public at large, it was clear that the encounter was a grim struggle from first to last. If the number of casualties has any significance it would seem that the game was played on manly lines with no beg pardons. Tinkler and Jones are credited with clever defensive work and with also taking part in attacking movements, while Spencer, Hislop and Innes have been frequently mentioned as prominent in the van. Tinkler Injured. The injury which caused the retirement of Tinkler* for ten or fifteen minutes appears to hare been more serious than was at first expected. Everyone who

knows the Tramways half-back knows his pluck and perseverance in the face of odds, and it is quite likely that he insisted in returning to the field of play when he was not fit to do so. Such is Tinkler's loyalty to his clubiuates. Yesterday word was received in Auckland that Tinkler was suffering from slight concussion, and that Carter should be warned to be in readiness to proceed to Christchurch on Wednesday if necessary for Saturdav's Test.

In the meantime the All Blacks will have a week of busy preparation for the match, and it has been arranged that they will play a mid-week game at Timaru against the South Canterbury reps to give the team a chance of cultivating that understanding and cohesion which may have been absent from their play on Saturday. In their draw the New Zealand side has much satisfaction. They were eleven players got together from all parts of the country with not enough consideration given for club partnerships, and to divide honours with a side which has been playing together for weeks is no little achievement. The next Test at Christchurch on Saturday promises to be another gruelling game, and the display of last Saturday at Dunedin i gives ground for optimism on behalf of | the All Blacks.