ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 194, 11 May 1908, Page 4

ASSOCIATION.

SENIOR LEAGUE MATCHES. Owing to the heavy rains,: the grounds at Newtoivn Park and'tho Basin Reserve were" not in a condition for football,; and two ofi tho Senior League, matches—Ramblers v. Wanderers and. Diamonds, v. Thistle—had to be, postponed.r'lt'-is/rone/tof) thernco'nditions laid down by the Corporation that the'use of' the' above grounds" is subject to'the l,ojiinioiiof, the superintendent j of".";reseryes '.'a-s' : ; to. whether, .'theyare .in a'., fit "condition, -.tobe. played -upon: .. This, of courso,.. means that very heavy rain towards the end of tho' week makes' the 'postponement of four --soccer matches practically a certainty, r

The. .-most, Important. match of-.the.._day, Swjfts v. tlovers, was played at tho Athletic Park, in the presence of about .400 spectators. This game resulted ,in - a* draw, each team scoring ono goal; At Petone ;Y;M.C.A. : defeated the suburban team by three goals. to nil."-."' . v '<>' ■-.' ;. , ,

/•■'.' ' FIRST DIVISION.' Swifts, 1;< Rovers, 1. Y.M.C.A., 3; Petono, 0. - -■< ; ;'Wanderers jv. R-aniblers (postponed). . . . Diamonds v. Thistlo (postponed). ■ Swifts v. Rovers. 1 ■ ■ 1 The Athletic Park was in-good condition for the' Swifts v. Rovers contest,, though' a strong northerly interfered with the comfort of player', and spectator alike. Games which are played on the Park are expected t6 start punctually, to.'time. Swifts .were the offenders in delaying -the starting time on this occasion', and eventually , substituted for Renfrew, who came up-late, Wills, a.new •player.. ' ;.'V, - • . : Rovers kicked: off, and took the-aggressive for' a time, then Lowe and Rodgers-(Swifts', men), became -prominent.: .A, free tick, for Rovers was headed outside by O'Shea; Whites continued to attack, and Pye-Smith sent theball back to the centre, where -Wills, spoilt, ii'i good opening by failing to pass to Oilier.' Each side 'shot wide in turn, then ScOtt made a good effort; on Swifts' right, but iiartin,: full-back; saved. An exchange of. kicks between 1 the;halves saw Oilier obtain possession, and, after neatly out-manoeuvring Martin; he sbnt in a beautiful centre, which Wills had no difficulty in "heading past Penlington, scoring a goal. This-reverse woke Rovers' forwards • up, and they made a spirited attack about Sivifts' goal, and called upon Jamieeon to save. Tempest headed out to his forwards, whoro Wills made a clcvor oponing for Scott, who. shot outside; Rovers again mado the pace, but they shot recklessly.'Their forwards were playing much better than Swifts', who were not only passing badly, but were also shirking work. : PyeSmith' again saved well, and' gave Lowe a good chance, but'that forward spoilt by kicking on to Duignan's ; foot. ■-A free kick against Scott,.for '"hands," allowed' Rovers to again become dangerous, but Martin, outside left, shot behind.' At the' other'end Lowe'and Wills wero effective,'but the'payout to Scott was sent behind by the wirig,nan. Barry, -O'Shea, and Martin took the ball up-field, where Martin sent in' a grand shot, but over , the bar. Again the Rovers' loft was dangerous, but tho attack was broken up by Graves and Pye-Smith. Lowo's energy was admirable, but his passing was faulty, -as lie neglected his wings. For a time Swifts' forwards played better together; but were well stopped by Duignan, who unfortunately spoilt his good work by kicking too much into touch. Rotlgers spoilt a splendid opening by kicking wide.of the goal, but the ball came very sharply to him. The wind gained in strength in the second spell, and the pace consequently became considerably slower.. Swifts were penned in their own ground for a while, but. weak shooting by Rovers and smart goalkceping by Jamieson, assisted by Elson and Pye-Smith (backs), prevented a score. Swifts, following on good play by Graves, Lowe, and Wills; got dangerously near to goal. Martin showed up on tho left wing,'but Graves watched him well throughout, and gave him few onportnnities. Rovers then tookHho ball, to Swifts' goal, wliero Barry put it through. Rovers came again, their forwards passing well, and fained a corner, which, however, was cle-ared. Twice Jamieson had to save hi a hurry, then good work by Lowe took the ball,to tho far r\ncl, where the ball went over Rovers' go.il line. White shot wildly,.and'a pass from tho same player to Oilier was'..also sent outside. Some capital work bv both O'Slfs-s to"k, tho ball hack to."'Swifts' ground, whero Martin gniood. a ; fruitless, corner. Time was called without further score. ■ ■ Sivifts ... ... : ... 1 goal. ' Rovers ... ... l'goal. "Mr. J. Davidson aoted as referee.

• Y.M.C:A;.r." Petone. This match was played at Petone, and resulted in a win for Y.M.C.A. by 3 goals to nil. Petone had tho advantage of a high wind, and . attacked strongly, but their shooting was very weak, and repeated opportunities were wasted. Y.M.C.A. retaliated with a counter attack, and from a splendid centre by Macklin tho insido right- registered a goal. From 'this On Petone attacked, but without result, and the spell ended Y.M.C.A. —1, Petone—o. In the second half tho Y.M.C.A. did most of tho attacking (with an occasional dash by Petone's right wing, Taplin), and tlioy succeedcd in adding 2 more goals to their scorer The Y.M.C.A. forwards showed good combination, : which the; losers sadly lacked. •Tho-, Y.M.C.A. goalkeeper saved several hot shots in very good style, and his vis-a-vis also acquitted himself well. Of tho Petone forwards, Taplin was easily the mest conspicuous. The Y.M.C.A. "backs played well, their right full' back and left half being conspicuous.' Hawkins, the Petone right half, and M'Kinhoir and Joyce,' full backs, put in some very creditable work. -

SECOND DIVISION. • St. John's (2), Swifts (0). "Wanderers' (2), Y.M.C.A. .(1)/. Diamonds (3), Letter Carriers (1),

The senior seoond division players at mar had to contend with a fierce northerly and grounds whiclic left something to be desired. The v chief characteristic of No. 1 ground,' South Miramar, is a vigorous growth of bulrushes; this species ; of vegetation has cortainly no place on a football ground, and something ought to.be done with tho nuis-, auce. . . i - ' ; ■ St. John's v:,j3wifts;—Swifts won the toss and played with- the wind in tho first' spell, aud< kept St. 1 John's hard at work defending most of tho timo. -An. occasional dash up the lino relieved the tension, and.frorii a brilliant piece of combined play,' in which Ferguson, Trevethic and Gosney participated, tho lastnamed drew first blood for St. John's. Swifts made repeated- attempts :to , retaliate, putting in some- very close shots. St. John's, with' the wind behind them in tho. second spell, had to repel a. fierce, attack with whichc Swifts started'the play. . Tho full back brought relief with a long kick, and from a passing rush by the ..forward, line Trevethic scored the second, goal for St. . John'sA Swifts then.warmed;up, butialthough they got within ..shooting distance several times, their opponents' defence .was too good. For Swifts, Bethell arid Kirschberg were con;spicuous for a lotof . useful .worli.',.. The game ended—St. John's 2; Swifts,;nil. \ Wanderers y. Y.M.C.A.—This match was played at Miramar in rough weather.,. Wan-: dorers won the toss, .and set tne Y.M.C.A. .to face the sun and .wind. ;Even ; ;play 'Was. tho, order , for a wliile, but gradually • Wanderers got the upper. hand,-; and Y.M.Q,A. backs and goalkeeper had- to plaj; to k(sep their goal .from disaster. broke away, and a penalty was awarded:them for; "hands'! against the. Wan'derer ~left, back. Kirkby took ,tha kick,'and scored with, a fast ground shot,- thus giving- Y.M.C.A. • .the lead. This.was not maintained, long,for, Wanderers went straight: awayfrom , the centre,, arid- in; clearing a- shot -orio of-the; Y.M.C.A, players : knocked,the ball downiii to.tlie goal mouth with his hand. From the penalty, kick. jWhiclr followed Wanderers, scored.; Even play , fol-, i lowed:up till .close on..half...time,, when ;: a long shot from Wanderers' half-backidivisioii found tho goal and gave them the 1 lead. spell 'opened .with some smart 'play, and .Y.M.C.A.. pressed for the best, part'.of the game', but,failed to score. Webster in goal and Dalziel and Hunt, (backs) played a good game for the winnersßow'ermalar', KingweU and Kirkby'did good work for.the' losets. Mr. H. Smith was the referee. The gairie endedjT Wanderers",:2;. Y.M.C.A., 1..-. : .... Diamonds v. Letter, Carriers.—This game was,'spoilt partly by the wind and.partlyi by tho atrocious state of the. ground.;;. Playing, with rthe - Diamonds; had a'monopoly of the' game'during-tho first spoil, Low, Hall,, and Williamson . each scoring , goals.., Con-, trary to expectations, Diamonds,:had the best of •' spell, despite; :the . fact that'- tEey ; wore- playing against.•■a"'strong-, wind...Letter Carriers,: score was brought about by a. penalty/ which was .slkfely entrusted to, J3e11,.;.,Epr .tlie-'.ivjn--ners'' Ella',, Roberts, 1 , arid. .Hall'.:rilayed;';pr(K' min6ntly,"as' did ;Miller,' the, right half,; for Letter Cavriets. monds, '3; Letter I ,\Carriers, 1. ' Ramblers '.v.} St.; John's ll.—An. exciting' match was. fought out b&w;een Rairiblers'and ■St.' John's, both -'sides, being ;evenly bal-" anced, and, /considering ',/the ..howling northerly' 'wind', prevailing "at _the Jtiiue, brilliancy was shown oil both • sides. Waters, 'of the Ramblers, ten minutes before ; the •call of 'time, scored 'a goal, and after this St; John's made' repeated attacks on-their enemy's goal,'\but were; unsuccessful;; Thegame ended— 1; St.-' John's,' 0.

J UNIOR LEAGUE M ATGH ES. C,'

"■ Swifts- y. ; ' Y.M.C.A'.—From the'>kick-off : , Swifts' - forwards 'started a passing rush, and, as a result; Coleman scored a very neat goal. ■ The same . player, with Black, added' another goal each in the first spell; r Swifts had the game well in hand all-through, and the whistle sounded with the scorc—Swifts, 3; Y.M.C.A., 0. • Swifts v. Diamonds.r-Tlusi;wasr,a- drawn: game,; each side scoring- one goal. Lowe: scored for Swifts.. , , . South Wellington v. Newtown . Congregational.—This match wak played ou NewtownPark; the final result being South-Welling-, ton 2, Congregational 1. ■.>--Nelson:.and.-.Lane scored-for the winners, and Payno -.for, .the.. °Ramblers, v. Sti-l-'Psml's.—Thoi St.-Paul's! team turned out to a man, and won,by, ; default, ; ■Ramblers; failing to put- in anap-' pearance; ■- , -Petdne. v: St. Paul's.—After-a hard game,: on a .sodden ground, Petone defeated .'St. Paul's by '1 -goals to played four men short-. , a . .