GAMES ABANDONED

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 185, 4 May 1936, Page 11

GAMES ABANDONED

Three Senior Soccer Games Called Off HOSPITAL BEAT DIAMONDS i Soccer matclies in most of the lower grudcs ivci’H ])ostpoiHNl oh Saturday, only the senior divisions being played. \\ intrj’ conditions anil a howling gale militated against combination and made accuracy impossible. Late in the afternoon when blinding rain squalls almost obscured the plnvers, the referees in three first A division games wisely called them off, as the danger of broken limbs was too great to be further ignored. At Porirua, Hospital defeated Diamonds by 5 goals to 1. Waterside Extend Marist. Du lac run ot the play, slarist should have beaten Waterside when the two tennis tried conclusions at the Basin Reserve on Saturday, but when the game was abandoned early in. the second spell the score was 2-2. Despite the advantage of a howling gale, 51a fist could do little right in the first half, though they were camped in Waterside’s territory for the greater part of the spell. The playing surface was treacherous, and squalls of driving rain did not improve matters. Abernethv and Hazel, the Waterside rearguard, had a torrid time on defence. and when several high kicks were blown almost back to them they wisely decided to kick along the ground. O’Donnell was outstanding in the .Waterside half line, and he appeared tireless on defence. In the second spell, however, with the wind in his favour, he.did not seem able to get his forwards away smoothly. The slippery nature of the ground and the tricky bounce of the ball proved disconcerting to nil the Waterside forwards except Janes and Fleming. Cumming, in goal for Waterside, moved about well considering the state of the ground. He fisted a shot from 51. Quirke over his head but the force of the gale blew it back into the net, giving Marist their first score. The prettiest piece of combined work of the match saw Ili.ndle send his forwards nway, Reid, It. Quirke, and Ilatchard running through the oppesition for the last-named to slam in an unstoppable shot. Janes’, the Waterside centre-forward, seemed positively to relish and unpleasant conditions. His two solo goals were most spectacular, and his form an improvement on the opening match. Evenly Matched. Considering the wretched conditions, there were plenty of fireworks in the Seatoun-Institute Ohl Boys encounter which began sensationally. I. Gendall, the speedy left-winger, received from D, Gibson and outpaced the opposition to give McKenzie a short pass. The ball travelled to C. Yeoman, who scored at close range before Institute had time to settle down. . Institute replied with three goals, ir. the next 20 minutes. Bilby and Hicks kept their feet well on the slippery surface and Boyes seut his forwards away iiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimimiiiiiiminimiiiiiiiiiii , ii , ii | i | im | ii | m || i |

time and again only to see Grimstone and K. Yeoman nip promising movements in the bud. Parton, in goal, who impressed critics highly in the opening match of the season, did nothing to lower his reputation and the shots which went past him were only a very small percentage of the number he saved. Tanner and R. Sutherland, the left side of the Institute attack, displayed perfect understanding, each scoring a goal. Grimstone found the winger dniicult to stop, and his hustling . play thoroughly tested the defence. Institute s third goal was rather surprising. Seatoun. hampered by the wind, .were beginning to wilt under the persistent attack and McLean, left fullback, who had been playing well up, found an opening and went right through to score. Two goals down on resumption, Seatoun lessened the gap when Gendnli raced down the wing and moved infield to beat King with a hard shot. The Institute centre-forward and the two Sutherlands were well fed by Boyes at centre-half, but though they launched one or two hot attacks, it was Seatoun s turn to force the pace. Then the rain came down in real earnest and with -0 minutes of the spell unplayed. the referee called the game off. Hospital’s Good Win. Hospital combined better in the wind than Diamonds and thoroughly deserved their win. The game was not one-sided, however, and but for weakness in front of the goal Diamonds would have been much closer at the end. Bentley, in goal, effected several first-class saves and the defence of Cockburn and Hopper stood up to a persistent barrage from the Hospital forwards led by Webster and Briggs. * Both teams made the same mistake of trying to walk the ball into the net when they had the wind behind them instead of relying on “first-timers.” This gave the defence an opportunity to pounce on short passes and clear to the line. Hospital scored first, Woods . netting from a placed corner by Gibb. Diamonds replied with a strong attack, Geddes and Morris putting in good work at midfield. Baker and Dyer bustled through the Hospital defence'and Simon, in trying to stop them, deflected the ball through his own gonh , j In the second half, despite several good wing movements by Johnson, Hospital were definitely on top and their forwards were able to romp through the tiring rearguard. Dogged defence by Hopper and Nicol held them up fairly well, but Bentley had a torrid time stopping shots speeded up hy the wind.

Petone Play Short. Though Petone took the field with eight players (Newton coming on after 20 minutes had gone), with the assistance of a strong swirling wind, they did the bulk of the attacking in the first spell of the game. Swifts, however, defended resolutely with Dickson starring with heady anticipation in-breaking up the attacks. The Swifts forwards relieved the pressure now and again with breakaways, and Pctone’s goal had some lucky escapes. Heath’s ball control and solo dribbling in this half was the highlight of the game and delightful to watch. Pctone’s best efforts at scoring came from Leslie. Cullen, Verral and McLeod, but Swifts defence prevailed and no goals were recorded in this spell. In the second spell, which only lasted 15 minutes, the order of things was reversed. Swifts were masters of the situation and Petone were hemmed in. Tile only goal of tlic game was scored when Hea tli worked the opening for Lamb to send in a shot which was deflected through bv JlcLeod. With tile coming of a hailstorm, the referee. Mr. SfcQueen, wisely called the game off.

IN OTHER CENTRES

By Telegraph. -r-Press Association. Auckland. —The Rugby Union’s 1936 season opened on Saturday in unpleasant conditions, heavy showers and driving rain and hail making good back play impossible. Marist 8 beat Grafton 6; University 6 drew with Technical 6: Grammar 5 drew with Manukau 5; Training College 21 bent College Rifles 0; Ponsonby 26 beat North Shore 0. Otahuhu, a —Matches were plnyed on Saturday in bleak weather. Grounds were muddy, a high southerly wind blew and showers of rain and hail fell. Good play was out of th' question. Christchurch 17. beat University 3; Sunnyside 6 beat Albion 3; Old Boys 6 beat Athletic 0: Merivale 10 beat Linwood 0. Dunedin.—Southern 7 beat Pirates 3; Varsity A 19 beat Zingari 0; Taieri 16 beat Kaikorai 3; Dunedin 9 beat Varsity B 0; Union 13 beat Alhambra 3. New Plymouth.—Tuknpa 33 beat Unitcd Old Boys 5: Wnimutc 3 to Opunake 8; Stratford 19 beat Inglewood 11: Haweva 11 bent Paten nil; Okaiawn 24 beat Athletic 16; Kapongn 8 beat Elthain nil; Clifton 10 beat New Plymouth Old Boys 3.

(Letters to Editor on Page 13.)