ELEVEN A SIDE.

Auckland Star, 4 September 1939, Page 12

ELEVEN A SIDE.

WIN FOR OLD BOYS. Y.M.C.A. STILL ON TOP. PONSONBY SHADES THISTIjE. Heavy grounds made good play difficult on Saturday, when t-he senior championship competition of the Auckland Football Association wag continued. Mount Albert Grammar Old Boys had an easy win against Comrades in the main fixture at Blandfoid l'aik, while an the curtainraiser I'onson by proved too good for Thistle. At Devonport, North Shore had little trouble in disposing of Eastern Suburbs. Y.M.C.A. was victorious over Abels at the Domain and is leading in the championship by a point from Mount Albert. An even struggle at Western Springs saw Onehunga and Grey Lynn divide the points in an eight-goal game. Results were: —Old Boys 5, beat Comrades 0; North Shore 4, beat Suburbs 0; Ponsonby 3, beat Thistle 1; Y.M.C.A. 5, beat A"bels 3; Grey Lynn 4, drew with Onehunga 4. | ABELS GO DOWN. Y.M.C.A. came out winners over Abels in their match at the Domain. Except for some spirited dashes by the losing furwards, Y.M. had Ahels pinned in their own territory. Tli<> score at half-time was 3 —O ill Y.M.'s favour, but Abels reduced the deficiency by one in the second spell, the tinal sore being to 3. In tiie absence of Hilliard, through injury, the Young Men played a junior, Brennan. :n goal. He gave a polished display, superior to that of Cameron, who came out too frequently, leaving an open goal. Waters and Chalmers (Abels) were the better of the two sets of backs. Y.M. sadly missing Swift, their usual left. Sims .(Y.M.) was the pick of the halves and he played the third back game to good advantage. Sevi and Jones (Abels) showed up at times, but had a hard job keeping their markers—McUouga'l and Bennett—in check. A welcome return was made by Fitzgerald, Abel's centre forward, who showed excellent control of tlie ball. lie was let down on his breaks by tile inability of his insides. especially Frazer, on his right, to keep up. Both Ekmaii (Abels) and McDougall (Thistle), left wingers, played good sanies, and the winner's tricky tactics sometimes had his opponents guessing. Bennett, in tlie centre for Y.M.C.A.. did not perform up to usual form, although he had a feast of the ball from his wingers, especially from Burton on (lie right. For tlie winners. Bennett (lit, Shaw. McMurcliie and McMechan scored, while Frazer and Hamilton netted for Abels. The hitter's third goal was netted by a defender. STEVENSON DISAPPOINTS. Despite sporadic counter-attacks by Eastern Suburbs, North Shore looked the winners all the way in their game at Devonport. Tlie tin til score was 4—O in favour of Shore, and this would have been bigger had not Stevenson missed several easy shots. Lund was tlie brains of the Shore team and. at centre half, was the pivot for most of its movements. West and Booth played good football, and the standard of their play was such that their goalkeeper. Mills. was rarely bustled. Some of Sale's placements and constructive play were excellent. Blackie and Sime, 011 the wings, were tlie best of the other for wards. Cowie showed his best form ill the Suburbs goal and Gay was sound at fullback. Archer showed up at times and he was well supported by Williams. R. Welch, l'hipps and Krause were the best of the forwards. ONEHUNGA'S RECOVERY. Though the tirst half seemed to give the advantage to Grey Lynn, at Western Springs. Onehunga staged a recovery in the second spell and divided the points. Warwick Warren, in Grey Lynn's goal. was a tower of strength, and Hadrup and I. Brown stemmed many Onehunga attacks. I here was a tendency, however, for the wing halves to be too far forward to lend support. Broherg. S. Brown. Murphy and Dowler we re conspicuous in clever play. Burrows was a safe goalkeeper for Onehunsra and in the second spell Harliek and Rutherford cleared well upheld and found their forwards. R. I.indsav. in the pivot position, tackled solidly, while Blockley if 1 ,".' ~ Wiseman broke up many attacks. Phillips. Brass and M. Lindsay were also outstanding. OLD BOYS AGAIN. Mount Albert Grammar Old Boys maintained their sequence of wins with a convincing victory over Comrades in the main game at headquarters. By prompt tackling and solid defence the light blues kept Comrades from scoring, and ran out easy winners at the finish by five goals to nil. The ground conditions again affected play, but Old Boys' free passing plan was better adapted to surface conditions than Comrades' close play. Right at the start the Grammarians put themselves in a good position wiih two quick goals, and did most ot tlie pressing until the interval. 111 the second half Clark completed his "hattrick" with two smart goals, and Needham netted his second from long range to the far corner of the net. For the winners Rosenberg was not unduly troubled in goal, and cleared with prompt efficiency what, came hjs way. Sims and Taylor at t tIII-hark wore nippy and sure in their tackling, but Ward, at centre-half, was the kingpin of old Boys' defence, with good flank supports in Hutchinson and Woodhall. Need 11am and Fyvie were again the most thrustful wing, with Clark an ideal centre, and .lepson useful at inside right. Yearbur.v had a busy day in goal and was not too happy with the greasy ball, while Riggans and McKenna were overwhelmed at times with the middle line faulting in front of them. The Comrades' van was too closely shadowed to be dangerous. and showed little of the combination which reaped nine goals the previous week. THEIR FIRST MEETING. Ponsonby in their late run for championship laurels met their old rivals Thistle for the first time this season, and turned out at full strength to defeat the Scots by three goals to one. Ponsonby did all the pressing in the first spell, but could not penetrate a dour defence before halftime. In the second half opportune goals by Farnan and McCalluin soon gave Ponies a useful lead. Although Morris reduced the lead with a liefty drive McKay nodded a good corner placement to the net to retain the two goal margin. The Ponsonby rearguard. Warren, Haggett and Masters were very solid, and Cleal made a welcome reappearance, after a spell for knee treatment, and wisely held himself to quiet hut effective methods with good support from Blackie and Rouse. The Ponies' vanguard was too clever and slippery for the Thistle defenders. Farnan. at centre, leading the line effectively with McCallnm and I lilies a penetrative right wing. Thistle liiul Cocker in goal to thank for avoiding a crushing defeat, the third grade colt bringing off some marvellous saves to keep his charge intact in the tirst spell, and continuing I lie good work right through. The Coots' back and middlo divisions found the lively Ponies' line very elusive, though Tomlinson. a new comer, showed promise at centre-half. Morris and Angus battled gallantly in Thistle's attack, but were not given much of the ball. SECONDARY SCHOOLS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON*. Sunday. The North Island seeondarv schools' Soccer tournament terminated at Wellington yesterday. Wellington, which won all its games, won the Skerrett Cup from Auckland, the latter being runner-up Results were:—Taranaki 5, beat Manawatu 3; Wanganui 5, beat Hawke's Bay 0; Wellington 2, beat Auckland 0.