ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 190, 14 May 1928, Page 5

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

DIAMONDS REMAIN UNBEATEN; WIN FOR THISTLE

HOSPITAL DRAW WITH INSTITUTE Diamonds retain their position at the head of the Senior A division, unbeaten, defeating Marist on Saturday by the odd goal in three. Thistle defeated Y.M.C.A, Petone beat Seatoun, and Institute drew with Hospital.

RESULTS AT A GLANCE SENIOR A. Diamonds (2) Marist (1) Petone (4) Seatoun (1) Hospital (1) Institute (1) Thistle (4) ’ Y.M.C.A. (2)

SENIOR B. Waterside (10) Swifts (1) Johnsonville (2) Marist (0) Thistle (4) Brooklyn (2) Sth. Wellington (3) Hutt (1)

DIAMONDS UNBEATEN STUBBORN FIGHT BY MARIST. Diamonds and Marist met at the Basin Reserve under perfect conditions, in the presence of a large crowd of spectators. Diamonds won, after a thrilling game, fought out at marvellous speed. Although the better team on the day, the margin of the Diamonds’ superiority was not accurately reflected by the final score.

There was more than one goal in it. Diamonds owed their victory principally to the splendid co-operation of their forwards, Daniels especially i being prominent. ‘ Findlay was the driving force of the.halves. Marist forward play was lacking in all the elements for success, and much inferior to that displayed against Y.M.C.A. the previous Saturday. A stubborn defence was their redeeming

feature. Early in the second half the referee ordered off T. Wotherspoon, the Diamonds’ centre-half, after Cudby had been illegally brought clown. Burke was an absentee from the Marist team, Condon being played in his stead. The teams were as follow: —

/ Diamonds.—Ewing; Guest, G. Wotherspoon; Findlay, T. Wotherspoon, McCormack; McLeod, Daniels, Anton, Smith, Stark. Marist.—Hickey; Fitzgerald, Rudolph ; Kelly, Thomas, Condon; Barton, McElligott, Burning, Marchment, Cudby. Mr. Kelly was referee. Marist opened promisingly, and twice in the first minutes were close to Diamonds’ goal. Condon nearly scored when Ewing fumbled badly, G. Wotherspoon conceding a corner. Marist secured the lead within the first five minutes when Burning beat Ewing with a great carpet drive. Marist 1, Diamonds 0. Play was rapidly transferred to Marist territory, where Hickey’s citadel had several narrow escapes. Thomas intercepted in time a centre of Stark’s, which must surely have found its way into the net. Diamonds, although one goal down, were masters of the situation, and time and time again were within an ace of equalising. Thomas and Rudolph defending well. It was lucky for .Marist that two inside Diamond forwards were “off-side” when Stark slipped a beauty in front of Hickey’s charge. The Marist forwards were completely bottled up and rarely escaped the vigilance of the Diamond halves. If repulsed, Diamonds regularly swung into attack again. The Diamond centre, Anton, was not at his best, and many chances to equalise went begging. Daniels equalised with a magnificent angle shot. Marist 1, Diamonds 1. As the whistle for half-time blew Anton was in possession about five yards from goal with only Hickey to beat. A slight rearrangement was noticed in the Marist team on the commencement of the second half, Condon and McElligott changing places. Diamonds started where they had left off, at Marist’s goal. Hickey made two fine saves, the second when Wotherspoon headed in from a corner. Daniels was next on the mark, but Hickey gathered and cleared confidently. Anton and Smith were noticed to be rather weak in front of goal. Marist’s chance, however, came when Barton, -who had been rather starved, got possession and beat Guest to slip beautifully to Marchment. The latter snapped up the pass all right, but failed to beat Ewing. During one of Marist’s best attacks T. Wotherspoon was ordered off when he brought Cudby down, two feet outside the penalty area. The latter had to leave the field for some minutes. Twice the ball found the net, once in each goal, but both were disallowed for infringements prior to the shot. Near the end' Diamonds were awarded a penalty, and Guest found the net and put Diamonds in the lead. It was difficult to see just what led to the penalty, as there was a bunch of players

round the ball at the time. It was the winning goal, the final score being: Diamonds 2, Marist 1.

THISTLE BEAT Y.M.C.A. WINNERS SHOW IMPROVED FORM.

Y.M.C.A. and Thistle occupied No. 2 ground at the Basin Reserve, the latter team showing a great improvement on their play of the previous week. They owe some part of their success to H. Smith, on the right-wing. Time and again he put in some splendid centres. The teams were :—

Thistle: J. Fletcher; Jack and Hopper ; McLellan, Hanlon, and Wheelan; Smith, Campbell, Lothian, Cunningham, and Neely. Y.M.C.A.: Lucas; Frickleton and McGirr; Pearson, Reyling, and Trott; Worth, Stocks, Rigby, Lock, and Ballard.

Y.M.C.A. thrust back the Thistle advance, and a hefty kick enabled Stocks to get well away. A low shot followed, Fletcher going down to save at the expense of a corner. The ball was dropped right in front of goal, Reyling headed on to the crossbar, and as it fell among the players it was rushed into the net. The lead was not held for long, and might have gone earlier had the inside Thistle forwards been up to take, advantage of Smith’s good play. Frickleton ' shortly afterwards miskicked, and gave Campbell a chance, which shaved the upright, but when the ball came across again Campbell made no mistake. Y.M.C.A., 1; Thistle, 1. Y.M.C.A. forwards, with Ballard on the left-wing, then gave the Thistle defence a ‘busy time, but Fletcher was safe, and. brought off a great save from a stinging shot by Ballard. Several corners were conceded by both sides in turn, without result, when Thistle began to settle down to business. Persistency had its reward, and Lothian, who had just failed to score, did not miss the second chance, and rushed Lucas and the ball into the net. A corner saw Y.M.C.A. on the defence, and though Lucas saved a stinger from Campbell, the rebound saw Cunningham score, and Thistle led 3-1 at half-time. On resuming, a Thistle rush found Lucas only between the Blue forwards and goal, but Lothian shot badly and missed. Y.M.C.A.’s attack lacked finish for a while, and they could do nothing right, and when Smith went down the Thistle wing and centred, Campbell beat Lucas all the way. Thistle, 4; Y.M.C.A., 1. The Y.M.C.A. then rallied fiercely, but Fletcher kept bis goal well. Rigby lifted the ball too high when a great chance offered, and when Hopper was penalised for dangerous play in the goal area, Fletcher saved the penalty shot from Reyling. With five minutes to go Ballard reduced the lead with a low shot well out of Fletcher’s reach, but they could achieve no further success. Fletcher was hurt in a scrum, and had to go off the field, but a moment later the final whistle went. Thistle, 4; Y.M.C.A., 2. Referee, Mr. S. Wilson.

PETONE DEFEAT SEATOUN AN INTERESTING GAME.

Only a small attendance of enthusiasts witnessed the Petone and Seatoun match on the Petone Recreation Ground. Seatoun, although defeated by four goals to one, gave a good showing, and at times had the better of the exchanges. The teams were as follow: — Petone: McVain, Steele. Haines, Farquhar, Campbell, Irvine, Ryan, Harrington, Leslie, Cameron, James. Seatoun: Wyatt, Duflill, Newton, L. Grimstone, Kershaw, McWiiliam, N. Griinstone, Glover, Telford, McKenzie, Smyth. Referee, Mr. G. Jackson. From the start Seatoun dominated play, but Petone’s defence was sound. A

neat piece of forward play resulted in Leslie, at centre-forward, beating Wyatt with a hard shot. Petone 1, Seatoun 0. Seatoun’s attacking and defending were good to watch. A promising movement, in which Kershaw and Telford co-oper-ated, was killed through the latter shooting from too far out. Wyatt was called into service to save a couple of shots in succession, which he did convincingly. With only the goalie in front Leslie missed a golden opportunity. From a corner kick Ryan got possession, but Kershaw saved. Offside play by Telford spoilt a chance for Seatoun. Petone made the same mistake seconds later. Wyatt came in for applause in saving a splendid shot from close range. Petone rallied again, and a pass from Leslie to Harrington saw the latter beat Wyatt with a high one. At half-time the score read: Petone 2, Seatoun 0. From the commencement of the second half, Petone had matters practically all their own way. Glover sustained a leg injury ami was compelled to leave the field for the remainder of the game, Seatoun carrying on with ten men. What chances of success Seatoun had went when Leslie netted Petone’s third goal. Petone 3, Seatoun 0. A centre by Ryan was eagerly accepted, but Wyatt withstood the challenge. Seatoun now took a hand, and Telford put through their only goal, McVain being out of position. With only minutes to go, Leslie received the leather and netted his third goal. The game ended with Petone looking dangerous and the score: Petone 4, Seatoun 0. INSTITUTE AND HOSPITAL A DRAWN GAME. Institute had to travel again on Saturday, this time to Porirua, and showed signs of a splendid recovery from the debacle of the first two or three weeks by securing a draw. Hospital fought hard to secure the winning goal, but a stubborn defence held good, and Jefferys, the erstwhile Institute centre-half, now of Hospital, found his old team mates too good to get by. A fair crowd witnessed the game, which ended in a draw of one goal each. Mr. A. Fraser was the referee. .

LOWER GRADE RESULTS SECOND A DIVISION. Wadestown 4, Brooklyn 2. Y..M.C.A. 1, Seatoun. 0.

SECOND B. Johnsonville 8, Swifts 3. Institute 3, Eastbourne 0. Thistle 4, Diamonds 0. Miramar Rangers 5, Seatoun 4. Waterside 5, Marist 0. Hutt 3, South Wellington 3.

THIRD A. Waterside 3, Petone 2. Marist 2, Y.M.C.A. 0.

THIRD B. Hutt 2, Stop Out 2. Brooklyn 9, Eastbourne 0. Miramar Rangers 2, Wadestown 0.

FOURTH A. Institute 6, Miramar Rangers 1. Seatoun, a bye.

FOURTH B. Midland 4, Seatoun 1. Hutt 2, South Wellington 4. FIFTH DIVISION. Midland 3, Petone 2. Seatoun 4, Miramar 2. Wadestown 5, Island Bay 0. Institute 0, Swifts 3. SIXTH DIVISION. Miramar 3, Seatoun 2. Marist N. 5, Marist T. 2. SEVENTH DIVISION. Seatoun 7, Stop Out 0. Marist T. 8, Stop Out 0. EIGHTH DIVISION. Miramar Rangers 14, Y.M.C.A. 1. Institute 0, Marist T. 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP, TABLE SENIOR A. Goals

PLAY IN OTHER CENTRES AUCKLAND. Auckland, May 13. Association games resulted as follow:— H.M.S. Dunedin (5) beat H.M.S. Diomede (2); Thistle (1) beat Northcote (0); North Shore (3) beat Onchunga (0); Y.M.C.A. (4) beat Belmont (2); Ponsonby (5) beat Tramways (2). CHRISTCHURCH. Christchurch, May 12. Association football results:—Western (5) beat Technical (2); Nomads (3) beat St. Albans (1) ; Thistle (1) beat Villa (0). DUNEDIN. Dunedin, May 13. Association football matches resulted ae follow:—Mornington (1) drew with Seacliff (1); Northern (4) beat Old Boys (2) ; Maori Hill (5) beat Y.M.C.A. (2); Technical Old Boys (4) beat Mosgiel (3).

P. W. L. D. F. A. P. Diamonds 4 4 0 0 IS 5 8 Petone .. 4 o 0 J 10 1 6 Marist 4 2 1 1 <s 6 5 Y.M.C.A. 4 2 2 0 16 S 4 Thistle . .* 4 AU Q. 0 8 9 4 Hospital •.» 4 1 2 1 6 7 3 Institute ... 4 0 o 2 4 21 2 Seatoun .... 4 0 4 0 3 12 0 SENIOR B. Waterside ... 4 4 0 0 22 4 S S. Wellington 4 3 0 1 16 5 7 Thistle ...... 4 3 1 0 11 10 6 Swifts ..... 4 22 1 1 12 17 5 ■ Johnsonville . 1 1 3 0 Fk 10 AU Brooklyn 4 1 3 0 lb 10 2 Hutt 4 1 o 0 9 14 2 Marist ..... 4 0 4 0 3 20 0