SOCCER JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 109, 10 May 1928, Page 15

SOCCER JOTTINGS.

OPENINGS FOR JUNIORS. NEW MID-WEEK COMPETITION. TRAMWAYS SEARCH FOR PLAYERS. Seldom has a club experienced such an overwhelming slice of bad luck as has befallen Tramways this season. The club has eight of its first eleven on the side-line owing to injuries. As was foreshadowed in these columns on Tuesday, the club has decided to extend its playing scope, and in order to surmount the trouble that has been encountered players outside the employ of the corporation will be engaged. Mr. S. Drew, at the meeting of the Management Committee on Tuesday, assured all clubs that they need have no fears of "poaching" on the part of the Trams, and stated that his club would not have dealings with any player who was already a regular member of any other team. This is characteristic of the Tramways sportsmanship, and Mr. Drew's further assurance that the Trams team was far from defunct was greeted with cheers. On Saturday W. Palmer, erstwhile Harbour Board-North Shore player, will don the black and green of the corporation side. An invitation has been given to any junior players who would like a try-out in senior ranks to communicate with the Tramways Club. Regarding openings for players, the New Lynn Club also notifies that enterprising third-graders anxious for a tryout would be given every encouragement by them. Much-Discussed Decisions. Once or twice lately there have been decisions by referees against goalkeepers for carrying. One on Saturday in the Thistle game has formed the basis of an application for an official decision. It appears that the referee in question insisted on the penalised side getting 10 i yards away from the kick, and he is stated to have barred the defenders from standing on their goal-line. It has been decided that in this instance the knight of the whistle was in error. According to law 10, "the kicker's opponents shall not approach within 10 yards of the ball until the kick is taken, unless they are standing on fheir goal-line." There was a good deal of talk on Tuesday evening regarding the conduct criticised for allowing a game to proceed of play in the event of a player becoming injured, and one referee was severely while a player was on the ground. The law on the subject leaves the question entirely to the referee. Here is what law 13 says, in the form of an official decision, on the point: "If, in the opinion of the referee, a player has been seriously hurt, the game shall be stopped, the player at once removed from the field of play, and the game resumed. If a player is slightly injured, the game shall not be stopped until the ball has ceased to be in play." (International Board, June, 1924.) Chatham Cup entries are called for by , M*J 17. It «u staged bj

Menzies on Tuesday evening that local teams must understand that the A.F.A. could not this season undertake any responsibility regarding the travelling expenses of finalists. There is a strong movement for a midweek competition in addition to the end-of-season tourney for the Farmers' Union Cup. Messrs. Baker and Wilkes have the matter in hand, and entries arc invited immediately, so that the project may be got under way. The Midgets match of last Saturday proved a very popular part of the afternoon's programme. Some further attractions are promised for the future.