SOCCER LADDER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 155, 4 July 1939, Page 19

SOCCER LADDER.

MAKING UP LEEWAY. CAN PONIOKBY WIN ITS THIRD CHATHAM CUP 1 With the local Chatham Cup knockout* concluded, the championship tangle will need some straightening out before the Falcon Cup knockouts begin. The eliminating competitions always have a disturbing effect on the ladder game*, and this your the confusion is worse than usual. Soveral of the clubs have met opponents twice, while others have yet to meet each other, and the ladder may undergo some more radical changes.

Ponsonby, by its good all-round showing on Saturday appeared just the sort of team to win the Chatham Cup for the third time, if only they can retain that form. The Western Suburbs side has a galaxy of Soccer #tars, but this does not always mean cohesive work. Last Saturday, however, the combination was admirable, and it will take a good club team to beat it. The cup was presented by the ship's company of the H.M.S. Chatham (our first New Zealand cruiser) in 1922, as a gesture, of goodwill and gratitude, and has been competed for as a national club trophy ever since. Boh Innes, the Ponsonby veteran, already has two Chatham medals to his credit, and may establish a record by collecting a third this season. Ponsonby were unlucky in losing Des Wan en, the Auckland goalie, op Saturday, and he is still in the Auckland Hospital under treatment. The X-ray revealed no bone Injury, and the trouble is now thought to be a severe sprain of the abdominal muscles. It is thought he will be fit for discharge later in the week. He was hurt in n daring dive to save a goal which was ruled offside. On June 22 Ponsonby are scheduled to meet the Chatham Cup survivor from the South Auckland area, and the game is to be played this year at Blandford Park. If successful then Ponsonby will meet the Wellington area winners (probably Swifts) nt Blandford Park the following Saturday.