THISTLE ON TOP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 137, 13 June 1938, Page 14

THISTLE ON TOP.

ABELS DOWN BY SIX. CUP AND CHAMPIONSHIP. ■■ I SHORE CONQUERS SUBURBS. In epite of uncertain foothold and a greasy, heavy ball on the rain-soaked surface of Blandford Park on Saturday, Thistle staged an impressive come-back, and put Abels out of the Chatham Cup competition in a convincing fashion by 6 goals to nil. The champions made several reversals in the front and middle line. W. Watson and Constable changed wings ill the half-backs, while Mactarlane crossed over to outside light, and N\ ood went to inside left. Judged by the result the changes were very effective, but the conditions were not a reliable test of the reconstruction plans, as studied play ami the finer touches were out of the question, but Thistle adapted themselves move readily to the heavy going, while Abels seemed ail at sea on the sloppy surface and failed entirely to press home their attacks. For the winners Warren reappeared after a rest with ail injured hand and was as safe as ever, while Stone and Williams showed better form on the sort surface. The half-line gave its best showing for some weeks, and Morris fairly revelled in the mud and showed clever control of the slippery ball. Mactarlane and Wood showed a welcome return to form, while Angus distributed the heavy ball to good advantage and was always dangerous. Birchall. in goal, found the slippery footing treacherous when saving, and Abels' defenders were not so sound as usual, and the halves found difficulty in feeding the forwards with accuracy. The front line battled gallantly but without luck, and several promising raids petered out through erratic shooting with a difficult ball.

COMRADES' AGGRESSIVE TACTICS. | Comrades and Metro College provided an j interesting inawli. with the run of play I slightly in favour of Metro-College. Comrades. however, were aggressive and with a thrustful set of forwards they kept Metro on the alert. Comrades were lucky to finish the first spell with one up. Yearbury. for Comrades, was safe in goal, hut he was not called upon to defend to any extent. Kiggans and McK >111111 worked well in partnership and were responsible for splendid clearances that took the attacks away. Page and M. Kra.icis in the middle line were impressive, as also were Evans and Carter 011 t lie wings. Fletcher and A. Francis played with good combination and were alw:iys a source of danger. Williams, in goal for Metro-Col-lege, was Hound and was called upon to save many nasty shots, which lie did to perfection. Mead and Pritchard in the hack line played solidly, although they had a strenuous time against a strong attucking movement. Cleal was also outstanding, and the wing halves. Quigg and McMechan tackled strongly and combined well with Hallimora and A. Flyger. McDougall. Horner and Braekenridge uid not get tlie opportunity to show up to the iiest advantage. Comrades' win by three goals to one was a fair indication <*f the game. MOUNT ALBERT SUPERIOR. Mount Albert Grammar Old lioy* were too good for Y.M.C.A. at Western "Springs on a greasy ground, and ii was onlv the good work of the YM. goali.\ Hiiliard, that kept the flnai score from being more than two goals to nil in favour of Mount Albert. Saunders, in Mount Albert poal, was always safe when several shots were made more difficult by the fast following up of I>amond and MeMurchy. who were aggressive in the Y.M. front line. Sims and Speed were outstanding in back plav for Mount Albert. Ward, Woodiiall. J. B Wood and Berrim:>n also being impressive. Cherry, Fyvie anil Veediijui combined well and Jftpson played his usual strong game. Swift and Moore in V.M.C.A. defence w< re kept busy, but broke up many ut tacks. Sims, (llaister and Woods played well. Hit the forwards colli 1 n.ake little headway against the strong Mount Albert defence*

HARD FOUGHT. | The game at Devonport between Eastern I Suburbs and North Shore was a hard i fought contest. Shore finishing two goals [ahead of the opposition. C. Blnckie and iSime were absent from the Shore team, having been injured the previous week, nnil were replaced by V. Scott and H. Walters, both of whrrn proved capable substitutes playing good games. The Shore front line played cl«ver football. F. Itlackie playing a good constructive game, receiving good support from his colleagues. Stevenson and Haydon. with Scott and H. Walters rendering good service on the wings. The backs were sound on defence. Gerrnrd and West showing up well in the full back positions, while C. Walters. Cronin and James proved a solid trio of half-backs, co-operating well with the front line. Cameron acquitted himself well in goal, especially in the linal stages when under heavy pressure. Tll»> Eastern Suburbs side did not settle down in the first half, there being a lack of cohesion between the forwards and hacks, but Improved considerably iu the second spell, and but for weak finishing in front of goal would have made the result a closer one. They were unlucky in losing Howlson in the first spell, but Bishop, who came on in his place, played quite a good game. Slioebridge and R. Welch were prominent for Suburbs In the front line, playing clever games. Ka.v worked hard in the centre, but did not get many opportunities. L. Welch played solidly at centre half, and was very effective on defence, while Diamond and (iay filled the full-back position with credit. Cowie was as good as ever in goal, and cleared powerfully aqd well. Turner played an outstanding game at right-half, combining cleverly with Shoebridge in some effective constructive play. i A CLOSE GAME. Improved play by Onehun'ga made the game against I'onsonby on the Domain close and interesting. Onehunga was unfortunate In the second half, as two brilliant shots struck the cross-bar. Had the ball been a foot lower on both occasions goals would have resulted. While the plav was somewhat ragged at times, both team's showed some brilliance. The form of the Ponsonby side, while good, wns not up to the standard of that shown th.» previous Saturday against Eastern Suburbs. At times both teams clap|ied on the pace, and some exciting rallies resulted. Ponsonby had the best of the play in the first half. I but Onehunga rose to the occasion after the interval and had their opponents hardpressed for some time. The fact that there was no addition to the score in the second spell showed that both sides put up a solid defence. The two goalies Watson (for Ponsonby) and Parks (Onehunga >, were very sound and made no mistakes. Onehunga were unfortunate in losing Owens (left-back) halfway through the second spell. During u melee near the Ponsonby goal-moutli Owens suffered a bead injury through colliding with one of the uprights. He was attended by a member of St. John Ambulance, and the Onehunga team was weakened by his absence for the remainder of the grille. Owens had played a brilliant game up to the time he was injured. Bentle.v (left-half) anil Forrester and Wallace (forwards* all played a very sound game for Onehunga. For Ponsonby, Mullane and Farnan (left-wing) played with perfect understanding and combination, while Chapman (centre-half) played a sound game, and the play of Hagge'tt was i of a very high standard.

OTHER DIVISIONS AND GRADES. SECOND DIVISION. Y.M.C.A. 5, beat Metro-College 4. Grey I.ynn 8. beat Chelsea 0. j Onehunga 2. beat Training College 1. Mount Albert 0, beat Shore 2. THIRD DIVISION. Chelsea 3. beat Ponsonby 2. 'Varsity 2, beat Y.M.C.A. 0. [ Onehunga 3. beat Comrades 0. Shore 7, beat W.Y.M.I. 1. j THIRD INTERMEDIATE. Comrades 4, beat Mount Albert Grammar 0.8. 0. Shore 8, beat W.Y.M.I. 1. Grey Lynn 4. beat Abels 0. | FOI'RTH GRADE. Chelsea 3. bent Y.M.C.A. 0. FIFTH GRADE. Onehunga 3. beat Comrades B 0. Grey Lynn 3. drew with W.Y.M.I. 3. Shore 3, beat Y.M.C.A. 2. SIXTH GRADE. Thistle 1, drew with Y.M.C A. Spurs 1. SEVENTH GRADE. ( Y.M.C.A. Borers 3, beat Onehunga 0. _

SECONDARY SCHOOLS. SENIORS. Mount Albert A 8. heat Technical 0. Tukupuna 8, beat Mount Albert B O. INTERMEDIATE. Mount Albert A 1, <lrew with Otahuhu 1. Technical 4, heat Takapuna 2. Auckland 8, beat Mount Albert B 0. JUNIORS. Technical A 3, beat Kowlial 0. Mount Albert A 1, drew with Auckland Mount Albert C 2, beat Mount Albert B