ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 502, 8 May 1909, Page 12

ASSOCIATION.

; j (Bt Centre-Half.) ' '

- The combination and general dash nf Swifts- was too big an obstacle for' Ramblers : last Saturday,.: but the game'was an interesting one -to' watch,: more ■ especially during the first half. • -Swifts have a fiirly f'V? n 2 team, . they must do something :S; ; lath^ Saturda y tob 6 m | S "ij u- ls ootll, g .WM- well directed, and should:,have , been turned to better ac--ing the ball a little too far up the wing boforo Mntrnig, but it must be .admitted that, even if. he went too far, his.shots were good! Still, they might, been .better.- ■•■■■ i°\t° f. r for Swift s was Graves, who .was nrobaDiy..tne.;most consistent.worker on. tho held. Ho took all the knocks that'camo his way—and they wero frequent and hard— bilt-nevervivflvorediin his-set'purpose. A couple of his clubmates would bo all the better for a; slice of his .dash. ) Guiso is another plucky little player -. worthy • of mention. ,He was frequently called on,'and reBponded -willingly and well. . . Neither;-of, tho Swifts' full backs was 'anytliing to rave •aver',: J.' Pye-Smith 'being: the better of a medocre duo'.: Wilson is on the slow side, and-lacks fire. Ho is built on l!! 103 ' but his looks belie him. , loohill,_on oldt-ime Soccer "rop,,'' but later of _Rugby fame, has returned to'the, fold, and made his first appearanco as outsido loft.. Toohill is oarrying too much condition just now, and, as thoy ,have it on the , racing track, lacks a gallop or two. ,"Conditipn deserted him altogether towards, tho ond ot tlio-lirst half, but lie made amends in tho second, term -when ho put in somo really good-, work, and missed two coals bv shcer bad luck. : Toohill must bo one of tho fastest imen , playing Association niles. and when in form,will bo-a,dangerous man. .Some of tho clovorcst footwork of tho dav was shown- by the portly Scott, who simply played: with .the opposition at times. Sparrow was, alcfo noticoable for somo tricky-work, and ho >playod : well,', though not up to his best form. . Tho most, consistent performer in tlio Ramblers' ranks, to tho writer's way of thinkinc, was Edwards, a bright little outside left, who made good use of the ball whenever ho got it. Beasloy, a reccnt arrival from tho.Old Country, gave tho impression that ho will mako;a sound full back, everything that came his way being well cored for. M'Loan -played a fine gamo in goal for Ramblers, keeping: out several very difficult shots. He had a lot of work to do, and did it well.' ■.. , ; -; Roforoeing is:a thankless task at. the best of times, and it is but rarely that' tho efforts of the whistler.are appreciated at thoir true yalvio. An oxcoption .to the gonoral ruio was notictd at Newtown Park on Saturday, ■ when Mr. W. Wood had control of Swifts-Ramblers game. Mr. Wood controlled the match in a manner that satisfied even tho players, some of whom went so far as to pronounco him "just tho thine," Tlw

referee certainly gave satisfaction to tho spectators, and he let the players know what .he was penalising - them for, besides a word of advice hero and there. Ihistlo and Y.M.O.A* playod a draw at feeatoun under tho control of Mr. J. R. laton, who was impressed by the improvethe Thistle team. Phillips arid 'pi- i EZ '° d'd some good work amongst the Thistle's forwards, tho former being noticeable for some'clover footwork, whilst M'Konzie put in some fine runs on the left. • i t' 0 ' a "' and Rowan put in some capital defensivo work. Norinan v/ould get on much better on tho outside right; On tho Y.M.C.A. side Gibson and Timperly were tho best of tho forwards, and Irvine did a heap of work at centre-half. 'A Spectator" forwarded to the Wellington Association an illuminating impression gathered whilst watching a match on the Basin Reserve on Saturday. IVo verbatim extracts from the letter will suffice: "I think it is a duty for the good, of the game I pen those few linos. I went to see the ,g a 'ne at tho Basin Reserve. I went early and soen tho: boys' match. Well, the boys, done fairly well, but the referee I seen know as much about tho game as my dogs'knows about swallowing lemonade bottles. T noticed a scrum, just fancy a scrum in a soccer gamo. . . .That lets the boys know nothing about the game whatever. . . The writer concluded as 'fallows aftsr dealing with 'referees: "Hoping for tho future the public will be'served with football propor, and the head of the game will get tho honour of . fostering the gamo, and not killing ifc and the players.—Yours truly -— :The chairman, after perusing the letter, ruled that it should-not be road to. tho meeting. ' y : Details of some recent match gates show the popularity, of tho Soccer game in England : ..

i In the 32nd. - annual :-match| England v. Wales, played at . the: Nottingham Forest Ground, 'on- 16,- England won by 2 'goals to nil. . It is .27 years ' since Wales defeated England; .under this code, England having won 23 and Wales 2 matches, the Others : having been drawn. ■ On tho samo ;day Sootland defeated Ireland at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, by 5 goals to nil. The attendance -was 25,000 and the £603. i While taking, part in an Association matoh at Victoria Park last week, J. A. M'Callum, of Ngairo,, had tho misfortune to break- a bono in:his hand. .:■'

. . Attend- Re- ■ anco. ceipts. ■ £ Tottenham Hotspur v. Ful'ham ... .i. 83,008,' 1885 Manchester United v. .Ever- ' ton - '••• 35,217. 1347 Portsmouth v. Sheffield Wednesday ... ... ... 23,000 1238 "Woolwich Arsenal v. Millwall 32.000 1123 Blackburn Rovers v; Chelsea 30,000 1061 'Newcastle United , v. Blackpool ... ... ... 32,137 1018 •West Bromtvich Albion v. ; Bradford City ... ... 32,000 1004 Leeds City v. West Ham . United ... ... ... 31,471 937 Liverpool v. Norwich City... 30,000 884 Bristol City v. Bury 26,000 817 Crystal Palace v. Burnley ... 18,000 773 Leicester Fosse ,v. Derby ' County - ... 21,000 , 770 Preston North End v. Sun- - dcrland ... . ... 21,000 750 Plymouth Argylo v. Exeter ..City; . .... ... 19,000 '700 Nottingham Forest v. Brentford ■ .... 16,000 620 Stocliport County v. Gloasop 11,000 360