SOCCER

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 141, 17 June 1922, Page 12

SOCCER

AUSTRALIANS' SUCCESSES

THE FIRST TEST TO-DAY

(By "Vanguard.")

The Australians have certainly held their end up so far. Six matches they have played- up to to-day, five they have won, Wanganui, Nelson, Westland, South Island, and Otago each going down before them, Wellington alone standing up to the pace set, and Wellington's win, as has already been suggested, was a win on style and tactics and not on speed, largely a smothering game, not of field length dashes, but of final efforts, and, of course, the sodden state of the ground and the yileness of the weather took. a big part in spoiling the visitors' fine work. Elsewhere the Kangaroos have had better luck with their grounds, and if Wellington's tactics have been adopted in other games they have not worked out as they did here. Tho results of the matches of the tour so far have been:—

Australia., 3j Wanganui, 1. Australia, 8; Nelson, 2. Australia, 0; AVellington, 3., Australia, 2; Westland, 1. Australia,1 4; South Island, 1. Australia, 2; Otagofl. Six matches played, 19 goals for, 9 against.

la-view of the Test match next, Saturday, it was pleasing to local followers to see the success of the Australians against the South Island last Saturday. Without being disloyal, many also hope the Aussies will triumph in the Test played at Dunedin to-day. If they do, it will make the second Test at Athletic Park oven more interesting and bump up the gate receipts at Wellington. Quite a. lot, of folk had a big surprise when they saw Auton's name among the probables for the first Test, probably he was rather surprised himself; certainly j many of his dub-mates were. He has played some very fine games, but if he is included in the final selection he will | have a, big job in front of'him, and will tackle it, too, right enthusiastically. He i is not a reputation player, for one thing, he has not been playing senior gTade long enough to work up a general reputation, and if he does his job as the selector, Mr. B. L. Salmon, expects, very well and good. The Wellington selectors are naturally more surprised than anyone, for in their opinion Anton was not good enough to ' represerit Wellington. However, the proof of the pudding, and so on. Surely Auton will not _ beat Hooper to the centre forward's position. I Certainly Brownlie and Jones were the only Wellington halves who could have been very seriously considered, and Ballard and Campbell should be worth a couple of places in any New Zealand team. If they are not, there are some pretty good men outside Wellington. Taylor must surely have had a big chance, but his name does not appear on the list. Ewing had bad luck in not being able to get away from Wellington, but Claxton is a "good man. The appointment of Mr. R. S^iithgow as referee fox; the Test match next Saturday should prove very pleasing to local followers of the game. He is a man with a strong personality, and thoroughly understands the game and, what is just as important, he understands players. I •well remember a match prior to the war, which was talked about, won and lost long before the actual date of playing. On the day feeling was running high with spectators and players. Bob Lithgow was the referee, and just before the commencement he called the players of j both sides around him and gave them a I little homely talk and some good advice. There was no trouble, and the game was -played in the best of spirits. They knew that the "ref." meant every word he said; but how different, it might have been. THE SOUTH ISLAND MATCH. Commenting on the South Island game, the Christchurch Sun remarks: — "The first goal came with startling suddenness, shortly after ' the second half commenced. Australia had been battering at the South Island defence, and the halves were well down-field, following a corner. Simpson, the Reds' left-half, snapped up a transfer, and, beating P. Doyle and Shenton, sent the ball on to Norman, who, attended by Bissett and Munsie, made a bee-line for the Aussies' goal. At shooting distance, Norman was blocked by Fisher, so he sent back to J. Race, who had followed up fast. The Otago man drove for- goal, and the Australian custodian just failed to reach the ball. Following this success, tHe South Island "defence appeared to throw discretion to the winds, Several times Thompson, the fast Australian left-wing, was left entirely unmarked. W. Bond's attempts to overtake him were quite useless, and, instead of Hogg going out to challenge, with M'Cauley covering him, both backs dropped back into goal. Such tactics just suited Thompson, who lost no time in putting in a high dropping shot. Hogg narrowly missed putting through his own goal, from' one of these centres, and it was more good luck than good management which kept the Australians out. The South Island forwards, when attacking, entirely failed in combination at this stage, and this probably was due to the strict marking of the Blue defence. Indeed, Gibb, the Australian right-half, often entirely neglected J. Rarity, in order to spoil the more dangerous Norman, and so tenacious" was he that Norman was put right off his game. But when , Rarity did break away, he was no match for Fisher,) for the- Otago winger relied more on speed than cleverness, and Fisher nearly always beat him before he could put over his centre.

"W. Brundell's tactics on the other wing were very similar to those of Rarity, andt it was perfectly obvious that the Otago style of play was entirely strange to Norman and Bissett. Race, at centre-half, was the best of the Otago contingent, but he often played the ball right to the toe of the Australian backs or halves.

"With twenty minutes to go, South 'Island still had the lead, but the visitors were gradually wearing down the defence. A smart interception by Gibb put. Dane in possession. The winger worked into a shooting position, and let drive at a difficult angle. The shot struck the cross-bar, and although Wilson diverted the ball out of the net, the referee,' W. Black, decided thai the ball had crossed the line. From the levelling of the scores, tlie South Island de : fence went all to pieces. Thompson simply did as he liked with Bond, the Reds' right-half, and, racing for the corner, -he dropped a centre right into goal. Instead of Hogg and M'Cauley marking the attacking forwards, they packed the goal and unsighted Wilson, who'went down to Maunders shot, but just failed to reach it, The weakness of the South Island defence on the right was now fully appreciated by the Australians, and Thompson was ted consistently. The winger again put, over a beautiful centre. Hogg and M Caulsy, who were again right in goal., jostled Wilson, who hud jumped for tho ball. Kratlon secured, and. \rithotit. opposition, scored the third goal. Had the backs blocked the attacking forwards and left the ball to Wilson, Thompson's shofc must have been cleared. Australia's thvao goals had been scored in ten minutes* but the visitors noiy raa the

South Island defence off its feet, and Maunder made the score four, just be-fore-time.

"Tho visitors' winning points were, in brief, fine tackling and strong kicking by the backs, strict marking by the halves, fast wing play, and good centring by }.he forwards. The South. Island players failed in not being conversant in each other's play—and this was particularly marked in the forwards—and in the lack .of cohesion between the halves and the backs, and the poor kicking of the latter in defence. Wilson, in goal, j gave a fine display. ! With good luck, or, rather, unless bad luck crops up. the Australians will get < through .their tour with men to spare, but the odd men they sent across over and above eleven do not provide a very wide margin to make up for possible | accidents. Of course, extra men mean, extra money, but already there have teen narxow shaves, and bad luck may result in a considerable weakening of the- team available. Once again may I remark that I do not like Fisher's jump and kick style. It is pretty to a degree, and he is sure about it, but there is a big risk that someone's face will be in the way in one of those sudden rushes at goal, and just as big a risk. that Fisher will be charged while in tho ail", which will not be pleasant for Fisaer. No first-hand word has been received ns to the state of his knee, but tfi judge by the accounts of the game ho played against the South Island ieam it did not trouble him greatly. THE ENGLISH TEAM. A professional or an amateur English j team? "Vanguard" does not think for one moment that a professional team could be brought to New Zealand ; at any rate, no professional team of big standing. In the first place, the money would be too big, for though Soccer seasoD6 in England and New Zealand are at eitnur end of the calendar, a trip away from Home would interfere too much v. ith avnngen.ents to be made good by t!:e amount which Australia and New Zealand could offer. There is too much money to be had just across the Channel for a professional team to come across 12,000 miles of water, and then again there are the trainers to be consulted. In any case, would it be wise to bring out a professional team to New Zealand, where sport is' essentially amateur? I think not, decidedly not. Middle-class amateur football is better for the players than any class of professional football, though the man who stands on the bank and goes to see for seeing's sake may think otherwise, but he is not so important a person as the player. GENERAL. NOTES. Happily, the day when rulings of the referee were openly questioned from the line has practically passed, but time went back a year or two at Association Park last Saturday. The spectators were very loud in their .protests, and passed from shouts and shouted questions and demands that the linesmen should be consulted to plain groans. The players took the rulings as rulings for the most part, though several of them were plainly 4ispjeased, and twice one of the backs appealed, and, not being heeded, followed his general appeal by holding the referee back while he talked to him. However, the rulings stood. To "Vanguard" it did appear that certain, of the protests were well-founded.

Complaint is made by a correspondent of the style of play adopted in one match last Saturday, and he asks: When are referees going to put their feet down on rough play? One member of a leading team, he says, is in need of a severe talking to. "I don't suggest for a. moment that he does so intentionally, but he iises his weight too much. One must remember that most players can ill. afford to be laid up through injuries sustained on the football field."

Quite apart from the £ s d side of the question, "Vanguard" may add, a fair thing is a, fair thing. Soccer is first and last a clean game, a game for good sports, and though a man with the advantage of weight would be foolish to excuse himself and to stand aside, as it were, when a lighter man was in his way, he should still not make too much of his advantage. Whether his weight is used deliberately violently or not, bankers, particularly; bankers whose sympathies are with the opposing team, are apt to make the most of incidents. The Roman boxing kings made' wondrously gory showings with their brass-knobbed cesti, but the modern lightweight, with 6oz gloves, is a deal more entertaining. So with Soccer, science leaves bullocking far behind.

A writer in a southern paper has aleo had something to say about a fair thing in strenuous play: "While it is desirable to put some ginger into the play, it should never be forgotten in the exciting moments that to introduce any unfair tactics is not playing the game. Go out to win, but never lose sight of the fact that it is sport. The habit of losing wind in unfair claims is another thing that should be avoided, especially just when your side requires it most. Silly quibbles and protests, often from men who know better, are ungentlemanly. Remember a referee's duty is not a desirable one, or there would be more claimants for the office. In the majority of cases you will find him trying to be fair and to interpret the rules as he sees them. So just this little word to help along _ the referee. Just remember, when in your opinion he makes a mistake, that the perfect referee lias yet to be found."

A feature of the Ma-rists' play last Saturday against Hospital was the fine way in which they stuck to their game. Two goaJs were scored against them in the first ten. minutes, and many teams in the same position would have become rattled and have gone right off their game. Nat. so Marist; they kept going in. great style, and did not get flurried in the least. They eventually scored, and then later drew level. Hospital again obtained the lead, but Marist stuck to it and again draw level. It was an exciting game, and Marist had all the honours in the second spell, while Hospital predominated in the first. Both teams badly want a win to push up the ladder a bit, but the draw leaves them in tho same position. Hospital turned out in bine shirts, as both taams have the same colours. Last season it was J amusing, as both teams had changed into different colours, Marist wearing black and Hospital white. Carruthers and M'ElHgott are a fine pair of right wingers, but they seem to have missed this season the prominence that is their due. They are, of ccraiise, both ex-Wellington reps., and their play last Saturday for Marist was a treat to watch. The former has put on extra weight, but still retains his speed. In Wallis he met an old opponent, and their many duels always proved interesting. Thomas, the Wellington rep', outside right was. as centre half, the best player on the field. The Watersidei's had a treble win last Saturday. The juniors easily accounted for Petone, 7-1. Jenkins (4- goals), Hendry, Nicholls, and Patterson all did their work well. The fifth class team are also doing tip-top, having lost only one point, with a goal average of 10 for 1 against. They defeated Institute 3-0. Condon is a. very tricky player, O'Donnell is solid, and Hamilton and Dore are grand backs. BOYS" FOOTBALL. Tho footballers of to-morrow must noi be overlooked. There is' no doubt that the Wellington Football Association U I doing- excellent -work for the boys, but the position to-day is that boys' football has jrown 10 suoh an extent that it calls for special administration from the W.F.A. The scheme formulated at the boftUimns of the seSson by the chairman ,pi the Boys' Football Sub-Committee (Mr.

Banks) has apparently fallen through, and the boys have been left without any determined policy. If to-day's boys are not properly catered for, senior football in years to come will suffer. Coaches are needed, and it is from the ranks of the old players that coaches are looked for to bring the boys' Socoer football in Wellington to a higher standard. At present, there are about, 1000 boys playing Association football in and around Wellington, as compared with about 500 adult, players. ROUND AND ABOUT. Timaru has Soccer in its eye, and preliminary meetings liave been held with, the view of getting a regular competition under way. From the small hoy:—"Why did the goalkeeper?" "Because the half centreforward." The decision of the W.P.A. in refusing the request of Thistle P.p. for a postponement of Its game' with Petone today was, I think, a conrect one, 'although it will be hard luck for the club, under the circumstances, if they aro beaten. It has been advocated strongly in these columns in previous seasons, that away rep. matches should not interfere with the playing of the local competitions. There are one hundred and fifty-four senior players in Wellington., and it is surely bad policy that because a few of the picked men are away the remainder should be idle. , It is sometimes a mixed bleeeing from a club point of view to have star players in the team. The W.F.A. will sooner or| later have the problem of the player who would rather assist his club than j his province, or his country. This has often happened in England, in the internationals, when a man has played for his cluh in a hard. game in preference to gaining a cap. The remedy is difficult to find, and: one can hardly blame the player if he chooses to do so, as his main interest is in his club, which he has helped to place on the League ladder.