ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26510, 27 August 1951, Page 8

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

HURLEY SHIELD GAMES TECHNICAL BEATEN BY WESTERN Technical suffered Its first defeat ot the season In championship matches at F gUsh Park on Saturday when Western outclassed the Hurley Shield winners by 3 «tX,£ "JU ££ Nomads beat Celtic 5-4 at Malvern Park. Results:— Western 3, Technical 1. Y.M.C.A. 6, Rangers 2. Nomads 5, Celtic 4. In a friendly match Atlantis 7, beat the Junior National Cup team 3. Championship points are ( ; oalg ch

WESTERN v. TECHNICAL There was little luck In Western si win over Technical. The side took the initia tive soon after the start, and as a result its forward thrusts always looked more likely than did Technical’s. The basis of this success was in the excellent cohealon of the whole team both on attack and defence. Any sluggishness or by the Technical players was effectively dealt with. Western took the eye in midfield play, and the forwards showed ability to finish off movements. Here the thrustful G. Smith and J. Quickenden, with the support of Deakin, Save a scintillating display of attacking football. Technical lacked confidence. McKenzie in goal spoilt a good display by a proneness to leave his goal, at leasa once disastrously, although ahead of him the backs and flank h Ives ail worked well. The forwards, however, were the least convincing department in the side, x. Smith, at inside right, was disappoint ng and has little prospects of developing into a fast discriminating support to the spearhead. K. Lucas’s work brought more tangible results, but his openings were seldom put to good advantage. C. Bailey who was hurt early and so was less effective than usual, tried to remedy matters, but with little accurate support. This was Bailey’s last game tor Technical, and taking into account the sluggishness of the forwards against Western, he is going to be sorely missed as s marksman. „ , . G. Smith, J. Longmore and R. Deakir scored for Western and W. Logan foi Technical. Referee: Mr L. Tointon. Y.M.C.A. V. RANGERS In spite of leading Rangers by 4 goals Y.M.C.A. did not have the territorial advantage. What the side did possess, however, was a first-class spearhead who, witt half the length of the field to move in proved themselves to be too fast for th< Rangers' defence. Another contributing factor was the greater degree of accuracy in the passing forward from the flani halves and Inside men. On the other hant the Rangers attack was poorly balanced with only Head, Carr, and occasional!) Regan providing penetration. The effec of this caused the flank halves to b< drawn out of position, leaving little coverage of the defence in the event of a counter movement. E. Millward (3), I. Irving (2), and L. Clarke scored for Y.M.C.A., and S. Dickman and G. Carr for Rangers. Referee: Mr T. Mathie. NOMADS V. CELTIC In a tyyical end-of-the-season game Nomads beat Celtic by 5 goals to 4 at Malvern Park. As a result the standard of play was poor, with Nomads reaching a new low level in marksmanship. When B. Shaw had to retire. M. Burnand, a former representative player, came on and quickly showed up the poor standard of forward play prevailing. I. Batchelor, the young Nomads outside left, took the eye, and next season is going to make his presence felt in the first division. McFall, the former Wellington and Canterbury custodian, adopted a new role for Celtic by playing at centre forward and notching four good goals. Together with B. O’Rawe, he was the pick of the Celtic men.

R. Smith (3). B. Shaw, and T. Shearer scored for Nomads, and W. McFall (4) for Celtic. Referee: Mr P. Macfarlane. LOWER GRADES Second Division. Knock - out final: Shamrock 5, Western 2. Championship: Technical beat Rangers by default. Senior Reserve.—St. Vincent s beat Technical by default. Junior A Grade—Thistle beat Rangers by default; Nomads beat Atlantis by default. Fifth Grade.—Sydenham Rovers 8. St. Vincent's 2; Technical B beat Y.M.C.A. by default; Technical A beat Nomads by default. , , , Sixth Grade.—Shamrock R. 3, Technical 0; Thistle beat Nomads by default. Eighth Grade.—St. Vincent's 2. Shamrock R. 2; Shamrock 5, Y.M.C.A. 0; Celtic beat Nomads by default.

p. W. D. L. For Agst. Pts. Technical Western Thistle Nomads Y.M.C.A. 14 14 11 14 13 12 11 6 6 6 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 4 7 8 66 70 43 41 42 21 14 25 54 42 25 23 13 13 12 Atlantis 12 5 0 8 32 48 10 Rangers Celtic 14 14 4 0 1 1 8 13 37 16 67 76 1