SOCCER TITLE WON.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 194, 18 August 1930, Page 15

SOCCER TITLE WON.

VICTORY OVER THISTLE.

SATURDAY'S GAMES

REVIEWED.

TWO DRAWN ENGAGEMENTS

By a very decided stroke of good fortune Y.M.C.A. took two points from Thistle on Saturday by the odd goal in five, and thereby won the Senior A Championship competition for 1930 by a comfortable margin. In the other games played, Ponsonby again disappointed their supporters by scraping through ■with a draw against Manurewa, while Corinthians divided the points _ with Celtic. A most unfortunate series of misunderstandings and going astray of telegraphic messages accounted for the Trams-Onehunga match reverting to a friendly game owing to the non-appear-ance of the official referee. The following table shows the posi-

BLANDFORD PARK GAMES. The meeting of Thistle and Y.M.C.A. was 'expected to produce a hard, and fast game lEor .the latter had a nasty score to rub off in their elimination from the Chatham Cup by the Scots. Then, too, 3T.M. had to "win ■to make certain of the championship, and 'were bent on making a determined bid to secure the points and thereby Sill" the proverbial two sparrows -with the _ one stone. As a contest it was hard, willing and interesting throughout, tat as an exposition of the code it was fax down, the scale. There was little or no football shown, which was due to a heavy downpour of rain just before the start of the match, and to the fact that the encounter was out of the ordinary degree of importance. It cannot !he said that y.M. registered a decisive, 1 clear-cut win. They did not. As a matter of fact they were decidedly in the good jrraces of Providence to finsh on the right side of the ledger. Thistle, man for man, were a better side —but, of course, goals are the deciding factor, and Y.M. got the most. It was greatly to be regretted that a per-fectly-taken and cleverly-scored goal, which ■would have put Thistle in the lead at a vital part of the second spell, should have been disallowed in what seemed clearly to be an error of judgment of the referee, while there seemed to be doubts regarding the winning goal Y.M. scored, though from the Press bos there did not seem grounds for Thistle's appealing. The control of the game was far from firm. Y.M.C.A. -were best served by their defence, in which Malcolm and Chapman were most conspicuous. Hilliard was called -upon to deal with long-range shots mostly. Mowat was not so useful at right back, norso reliable as he usually is. Twice or three times he literally threw himself at an opponent in a sliding tackle, which consti'tuted grave danger to himself and his adversary. McGladderly was fairly sound at left-back. Malcolm played one of his best?games this season, and • never allowed Thistle .leftwing any liberty, while" Chapman was easily the best half on the field. There was. an enormous difference in the standard of skill shown by the Y.Mv left-half. The forward line, which was minus Chalmers, was thoroughly disorganised, and as a com- : —7 bined . attacking force was impotent.

Jay was altogether out of his element on,the extreme right flank. Clanachan and Humphreys tried to pull things together, but found deadly tackling a stumbling block. Kay is not an inside left, and is of little use out of his position. On Saturday he •wandered out of place quite a lot, showing none of the necessary support of an. inside forward. Whaley consequently was not much in the picture. Y.M. certainly were far from the standard of a champion team on the day's play.

Thistle's defence was much more impressive than -was that of their opponents. Gerrard was generally safe, and Johnston and Hibbert played with resource and determination. H. Cummings, at right-half, was prominent by the manner in which he usually played the man instead of the ball • with no profit to his side. Wright, at centre-half, was next to "Chapman in prominence and effect. He broke up many attacks and always tried to place with judgment. Kean, at left-half, has played bettor. He seemed to : find the ground troublesome. N. Cummings and W. Kennedy, on the rightwing, were not played to soi frequently as the opposite flank, and have been seen ..to better account. McLeay played a forceful game _in centre, and taxed the opposing defence time -and time again. Hislop tried too much on his own, but got through an enormous afternoon's work,. while Wilson, at outsideleft, made several clever moves. The losers gained much sympathy, if they lost the points, from nun-partisan spectators. 8f b,

tions of the teams: — Goals. Ch. P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts. T.M.C.A. .. 13.10 1 2 46 20 22 Tramways 11 1 3 1 38 26 15 Ponsonby ..13 6 4 3 34 25 15 Celtic .. 13 6 5 2 28 35 14 Thistle .. 12 5 7 —— 33 26 10 Oncbunga 12 3 7 2 27 36 8 Corinthians la 3 8 2 26 47 8 Manure wa lo o o z it a* o