SOCCER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 96, 26 April 1938, Page 19

SOCCER.

SEASON OPENED. CLOSE FINISHES IN THREE GAMES. ABELS' RUNAWAY WIN. J him::!! Mir weather was not llic best for tin.- ciili. -ial opening of the S occur season on S.itm.l.iy. thorn wci r i-otvu-dose finishes in ilir- lilr u'liinrs. At Bhnrl--10! .1 i'.irk Thi.-t!,. beat Ponsuiiby |, y f om . Hoiils to tin iv, and at ] levunr.ui t Xortli Shore went umliT to C'uimaiUs l>y three t-'oai.s to nvfi. K.i.-<ti'i'ii Siibuib.-, on their homo giotnn.l .il St. Honor's, cxiemled themselves to Ink*- <t two goals lo one victory from Y.M.C'.A., whilu Abci.-\ playing (Inr'hnii-a, who w ci .• three men hlloit, hiiil no dillicuhy in loyirticxing a win by nine goals to nil. COMRADES NARROW WIN. The gaini! between shore and Comrades al Dcvoiiport iiiiilil be written down as u Kitiiii- of 1..--1 clianiiv. Shore offending more in this respeci that Ili.-ir opponents. This mud.; all the difference iu the three goals In two virlofy of Comratles. Some good football was shown, in spile o f the iinpleasant conditions. H on was an absentee from the Conirad.-* - w ),il s t Cromm and I-'. Ulackic wire niiusmg from .Shore. Camor.-ii was good in B onl for Shore, and lierrard and Wc.-L were a good dur> in J rout oi him. C. Walters turned oi.i at centre-half ar.d played a si-rvh-iMblc game, and received good support, from Sale on his ri;ht, Chambers playing a fair inline on the left, i The forwanls were erratic, the shooting when near tin- goal being anywhere but ou the target, Hayden being tlie only one to show any form in inn direction, getting two good goals. YiMirbnrr showed smart anticiiiation in goal for Comrades, and wae greatly heiped l>y tin- resolute defenco of Matthews and Page, Saundcrs. who went on in the second spell, nlfu iluiug some good defensive work. MeKeiinu deputised for Hooton at conire-half, and gave a souml display, and Fiucham, who was making'his debut in senior football, played a splendid game on the left. Fletcher was playing well when he was injured, and retired a few minutes nfier the game started, being uuable to come on again. Comrades playing ten men up to half.time, when Satinclers was brought on. The forwards, ably led by M. Francis and Marvin, gave a good all round display. A. Francis being a thrustful spearhead, but tiie vying rjen. Evans and Carter, were weak in positional play at times.

SUBURBS DEFEAT Y.M.C.A. Eastern Suburbs was slightly better than Y.M.C.A. at St. Heller's, and the ecore of two goals to one in favour of Suburbs was a fair indication of the difference between the two teams. Suburbs, if anything, was stronger on defence, and Cowic, in-goal. made s omo brilliant .saves, his long clearances being will placed. With Diamond, Hitchen and Darwin playing brilliantly. Suburbs made the pace hot on attack. Y.M.C.A. lit times showed nice combination between the halfbacks and forwards, but several movements that showed promise were brpkm up when on the verge of penetrating tlie Suburbs defence. # Hilliard, who held the citadel for VM.C.A.. did good work and saved his side lime nfl«>r time. He had no chance with the -hots that got past him. Sims directed the Y.M.C.A. attacks with judgment. Laniond was also on form, but was lucky to store Y.M.C.A.'s only goal from a melee in from of the goal. Howison and Cummins were outstanding for Suburbs. Cuinmlng'* judgment in placing shots drew applause from the sidelines.

CHAMPION'S SENSATIONAL START. The main match at headquarters opened in a thrilling fashion, with Thistle finding the net twice in the ljrst few minutes, and then adding two more goals before halftime, to give thorn a commanding lead of 4 —o on the change over. In the second spell Thistle eased off a lot and then Tailed to get going again, while Ponsonby, by a lot of hard bulloeking and bustling individual efforts, pulled up with three goals, and went near to dividing the honours. The Scots were undoubtedly superior in all departments, but took a risk in holding the opposition too cheaply in the second spell. Angus was the spearhead of the Thistle attack, .and after making an easy goal for Dean in the first minute of play, the centreforward went on to score three good goals off his own boot before half-time. He was uulurky not to bag more, as he crashed the framework with other snapshots which seemed certain scorers. Angus received must uf his front-line support from Kean and Dean, who worked well together, but tin- righr flank attack was not impressive. The ThiwtU" half-line was its main streusth in both attack and defence. Morris played a very heady game at centre and never uideil and abetted the euemy by passing them the hall. He was well supported bv Watson and Constable, while stone shone our at full-back, and Warren got in some zood saves in dealing with a greasy hall. I'onsoiiby, in contrast to Thistle, fielded more new than old hands for its first match. Furnaii. Itiggans and Innes being prominent absentees. There was very little teamwork shown and not much understanding between front and back divisions. Rodman, in-goal. after starting shakily under high pressure, steadied up and gave a good display, while Hagget shone out us a defender, but lacked reliable support. The middle line was weak, except for Rouse, who played a solid same at left half and kout Thistles right winz in check. McCallum was the star of the attack, and worked like a Trojan throughout, his goal being the finest shot of the , day. Hubert Heywood. at outside right. was the best of the three brother?, but the Ponies' eleven will need reorganising. strenuous training and sound coaching to regain its form of former years.

GRAMMAR'S GOOD RECOVERY. If the second spell of the curtain-raiser at headquarters could have been tacked on to the tirst. half of the following game on Saturday it would have made a thrilling contest. For the first spell of th« opening game was a dull affair without a goal scored, but the.seeond half saw Mount Albert Old Boys wake up and give a lively display to net five goals without Metro finding the net once. Old Boys made sn initial error in playing a pure left-footer like K. Waters at outside right in the first spell, and when he changed with N'eedham in the second half the attack became effective at once. With most of last year"s players in action the Grammar Old "Boy? have a promising side ready-made. But a tendency to dwell on the ball and jazz with ir. and a deplorable fault of passing to opponents, need earnest corrections. The defence is sound, and the half-line solid with a clever and lively van, but Ward might strengthen both defence and attack by moving from back to centre-half Metro-College were a much more solid side than the light blues, but not so finished in hall control and combination. Clp.il is a tower of strength, and Burton, wfth Dallimore, a promising right wing, but th» Collegians need coaching and training to bring their promising eleven up to senior standard. They were by no means five goals below their opponents, and with ji bit. of luck and mow finishing thrust the margin would have been much closer.

ABELS ROMP HOME. With two players short Onehunza was outclassed from the start in the match against Abels et Onehunga. Eariv in the frame J. Hitchen was injured and' had to retire from the game. weakening Onehunga s defence still further. There was no surprise in the circumstances that Abels romped home to win by 0 goals to nil For Onehunga. the Lindsay brothers played a fine same, but their attempts to break a way several times were unavailing, owins to lack of support. Forrester was alsn eood. F6r Abels Archer, the former North Shore centre-half, and Haycock were outstanding. Scorers for Abel* were: Hamilton (."!). Haycock (2), Wiseman (2), Robinton and McLcay.