ASSOCIATION CODE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25253, 4 August 1947, Page 5

ASSOCIATION CODE

TECHNICAL BEATS WESTERN

LOCAL FINAL IN CHATHAM CUP CONTEST

The largest crowd of the season at English Park saw Technical beat Western in the local fihal of the Chatham Cup competition. It was a good struggle between two well-matched sides, each exploiting different types of football. Technical will now play Northern Hearts (South Canterbury) in the Canterbury final at English Park next Saturday. It was also a senior competition match. Other teams were engaged in championship games, and inconsistency was shown by the results. At Spreydon Domain, in a morning match on a frozen ground, Shamrock surprised by beating Celtic by the odd goal in five. In the early match at English Park. Technical II drew with Thistle, and on the scoring chances was unlucky in not winning. At Malvern Park, Rangers had its first win in weeks. Results:—

CHATHA*' CUP Technical 2, Western 0. CHAMPIONSHIP Technical II 1, Thistle 1. Shamrock 3, Celtic 2. Rangers 3, Nomads 1. Championship points now are:—Western 24, Technical 1 21, Thistle 18, Technical II 13, Rangers 12, Nomads 11, Celtic 8, Watersiders 6, Shamrock 5. TECHNICAL V. WESTERN Spectators of the game between Technical and Western must have appreciated the advantage of the third back over the orthodox game. Technical adopted the three backs and. if the side seldom reached thw brilliance of the South Africans, enough ability was shown to assure that this type of game is here to stay amongst Christchurch clubs at least. Technical adopted the new game only against Celtic last Saturday. It was against Western, the previously unbeaten side in the competition, that it was fully tested. Technical was most impressive in the first half, and two goals were scored, the result of superior play and accurate finish. In the second spell, Technical was often in difficulties. The players slipped in both accurate passing and positional play in the space between backs and forwards. The third back game depends fundamentally on accuracy in all departments, particularly in this section of the field. Technical’s outstanding performers were V. Smith, the centre-back, and R. Davey, the goalkeeper. Both gave brilliant displays. O’Malley and Dean were little behind Smith and stopped the dangerous Western flank men effectively. The other Technical men played well and will improve with more consideration to ball accuracy to save wasting energy. Western played an orthodox game, and played it well, particularly in the second spell. The defence was quite sound and the halves teamed in with the forwards. It was in the forwards, usually the strongest unit of the side, that the faults lay. They were against a solid defence that never allowed that little extra deliberation in marksmanship. The Western van had the chances and both G. and R. Smith were unlucky in crossbar shots after the defence had been outmanoeuvred. C. Bailey and C. Thomas scored for Technical. The referee was Mr T. Mathie. THISTLE v. TECHNICAL II In the early match at English Park Thistle drew 'with Technical 11. In spite of some superiority in the first spell, when its goal was scored. Thistle failed in the second spell and was rather lucky to draw the game. It was a scratch Thistle side, and .played like one. Against Technical it was shown what A. Sutherland’s absence meant to the cohesion of the side. The backs both gave good displays, and. apart from one bad mistake, Lambert in goal was in top form. N. King gave the only honest display of the half line. He did attempt to recover quickly. Jones at left-half, would have been much better at inside right, where some openings might have been made for McLennan. McAnulty and Hall, both good in possession, were slow in taking advantage of a breach. Technical II played a good spoiling game. The goalkeeping of McKenzie was excellent and ahead of him he had two reliable backs in Neate and Sleeman. The halves had a feast of the mid-field play, and made some grand openings for the forwards, who lacked marksmanship and ball control. The side was more cohesive than Thistle. G. Grice scored for Thistle and J. Hollows for Technical. . ) The referee was Mr A. Pritchard. SHAMROCK V. CELTIC Shamrock had its second v;in of the season against Celtic. Shamrock took full advantage of the ground conditions and with long, accurate placements harried the Celtic defence. Pickles, outside right, and Mitchell, centre, were well fed by Fleete and Laffey and were always dangerous. The half line had a good day and worked in well with the inside forwards. The defence was sound. Celtic were disappointing. The team persevered with the short passing game which meant that iwo-thirds of the time was spent in trying to control the ball and the other third m getting on with the attack. Scoring opportunities were few as the defenders had ample opportunities to cover up. The halves all worked solidly as did the backs, though the latter failed at times to master the high ball. Goals were scored for Shamrock by W. Mitchell, J. Dysart, and L. Flute. W. Rogers and S. O’Brien scored for Celtic. The referee was Mr J. J. Austin. RANGERS v. NOMADS Rangers beat Nomads after a sluggish exhibition. Both sides adopted bustling play from the start, and after a lively first half play deteriorated into a scramble with indecisive semi-individual movements. The hot day exacted its toll of the unfit and players were noticeably slow, particularly in recovering positions on defence. L. Beavis, R. Cullen, L. Jessjpn and P. Fox were the best of the Nomads side with D. Head, who played a good opportunist game, C. Cook, and E. Earnes most prominent for Rangers. Rangers’ goals were scored bj’ D. Head (3). For Nomads R. Cullen scored. The referee was Mr T. Gottermeyer. LOWER GRADES Senior Reserve.—Western 5, Thistle B 2; Nomads 5, Shamrock 3; Thistle A 5, Technical A 3; Rangers 5, University 2. Junior (Knock-out).—Canterbury Agricultural College 5, Shamrock 3: Wigram iO, University 2; Technical 9, Western 1. Third Grade (Knock-out). —Celtic 12, Technical 1; Shamrock 4. Canterbury Agricultural College 1. Fourth Grade.—St. Vincent's 4, Nomads B 0; Western 3, Technical 2; Nomads A 1, Thistle A 1; Rangers 2, Thistle B 2. Fifth Grade.—Shamrock 6, Celtic 1; Technical A 5, Watersiders 0; Western 2, lechnical B 0; Nomads 1, Technical C 1. Sixth Grade.— Thistle 5, Rangers 0; Nomads 2, Shamrock R 0; Technical 4, Celtic 0.

Seventh Grade.—Western 3, Nomads 1; Watersiders 1, Shamrock 0; Thistle 9, Rangers 0.

Eighth Grade.— Western A 5. Shamrock A 0; Shamrock R 12, Celtic B 0; Celtic A 1, Watersiders 1.