SOCCER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 22

SOCCER

By "Vanguaro"

SENIOR GAMES

THE FIRST DRAW

SOME .SURPRISES ',

SENIOIt A.

The first draw in the senior competition played last Saturday resulted in two surprises.. Y.JI.C'.A., last year's champions, wen; beaten by Petono, and Thistle were ' defeated by the 'newly promoted senior. B ,team, Waterside.. Diamond.' had no difficulty in beating Marist, and tliougli it is extremely, early; in the season to pick winners, it might be said that in all probability Diamond, Petone; and Waterside wili be teams that'will be sure to figure in this, season's championship.-.-"■■<■ Marist Beaten.' . . , ' To attribute _ Marist 's. defoat to the fact that they', fielded; almost, a new team on Saturday would hardly be fair: to Diamond, but there is no doubt that the personnel of the- Marist team was one: reason why tho club was beaten. Individually, they made; & creditable showing "at times,-'.but there was ■no .combination, cither iii defeuc&; or attack.-.. On the other, hand, \ Diamond combined nicely, and-towards the end of. the first, spell they ,over-ran their opponents.. . In the second half, Marist made a.brave showing for. a while, .but they, could not.break through the ..Diamond, defence, nor .could they hold .Diamond back for long. ■. At times the Marist forwards got away, /but usually it was 1 not for, long.- - On the .day's .play .Diamond wore vastly a better team, and their win was well deserved. ,Marist still' have Hickey .between the .posts, and, on. Saturday he gave a fair exhibition, of goal-keeping. He was a bit too slow once or- twice, when, more by good luck than good management, he saved his. side, but to com-' .pensate for that he, brought - ( off one very,. fine save. 1 ■'. .He appears 1 to be much about the. same" <is; lie was last season. There has been an alteration, in the entire full-back .line. Thomas, who last .season captained, the team, from, the half-back..,..line,; played at right full-back, and had for, his partner Andrews. Both gave a. creditable 1 display, though Thomas was inclined to kick-: somewhat ■ wildly' towards the closing, stages'of the game. Andrews was , called upon frequently, and. gave a moderately, good-display. ..The feature of ,t-he/ : two wing; halves is-their size. . Both—Wilson,■; and ..Kelly—aresmall, players, and in .-this respect suffer;ed a. disadvantage-. „ .lit"-, spite, of the. opposing big ), forwards -they^ played pluckily, .and were not afraid..to tackle. Burd, the centre,'.,was: the best, back on the, field. He played, a good.defensive game, but did not shine,in attack. The entire half line was ...weak in. attack, the most outstanding. '. fault being their inability, to;,pass. . The,forwards were disappointing. 'The two fast wings, Barton and "..Cudbjy .were again prominent,: as.was.also. Marchment,. but '■■tli 6 'iiho" lacked a. good- centre-forward and inside 1 right. On, several,. occasions the..van broke .away,, but,-,there, was .no combination among, the.;,for wards, and tht>: attack' lacked thw dash and finish that characterised .the'rtcam on former occasions. A general' all-round im•provement is necessary before Marist will go very far.this . season. Combination ,is the team's, most -.pressing need at the present time, but of course that can. bo obtained .only by play. ■ ■Diamond are fortunate this season ;in being able to::obtain the services of Wyatt as goalkeeper.!:.: 'On Saturday, though not'called upon to a great extent, h6 gave a sparkling display, and brought off one excellonfsave. Guest and WotherspOon made an ideal pair of full-backs, Guest particularly 1 proving troublesome' to the Marist forwards; .who simply could not'pass him. The half-back 'line—J. M'L'eod, T. Wotherspoon, M'Coi'uuek—was . sound, and proved, itself useful'in attack and doi'eiicc. The two wings, B. M'liood and Stark, played with their .' dash.\Stark being responsible for some; very pretty-touches. inside men, Bait /and. Smith,, were": always' prominent, Bait particularly: 1 so. ' M'Phai].-, made an average centre,, and if he did nothing brilliant, he made no great mistakes. ■ '■' ■ ■■ ■■ ..'■ • ■ . Petone's Good Showing. ■ Petono demonstrated! last Saturday that they arc going to be a hard team to beat. Tile showing made against V.M.C.A, was by no means' perfect, but it was good, especially-^for so early iv the season. Both.,sides played, well, and very cleanly, the game being quite a good one from the, spectators' point of vioiv, more especially/in the first half.,: In. their forward line Petone have five players who .'jw.oi'k with. , a mutual understanding,' .^nd- who know soin'othirig about-the': difficult, art; of ;guiding the leather;? between .the, upL rights. BfTbfts',in thisl latter. direcr' tion. were.not,too gooctv. ori Saturday., perhaps, but .that, was largely owing to the" very strong ,southcfly' wind. The back division.; of tha"-te')im'.is- souiid, the: halves. feeding the forwards. well,. With advantage {some .; of :th|>:b'acks:, could learn, to keep the ball-lo^v.ei- ■ when, kicking up field. A. ,b.ali-r.4aches:its. objective quicker if.it travels; in a. stranght line. To kicli:.highviji' :a:.'wiud such as ;w;ts blowing, jast, Saturdbyis to .court disaster''sometimes,:, fo.r 'jtljc bull goes anywhere except,:t:q. : (;he fla'c'c' intended. Between the foiwurd .lines, of the two 'teams there was-Ja. marked: difference, Petone showing ,adihirablb combination and the . y.M.C.A; fronfcpino showing little, .although individually, they ■work,cd hard. . Both !goa!-keepers gave . a. good exhibition, f-LucaSj I.the custodian, being especially.• brilliant ,at times..'■■;■ With a little-'liriore practice •V.M.C.A. should prove t^ be a formid-' able team, a'.liard'ipn'e to score, against even if they do not notcli^a great many goals themselves.' Petonei'.on' the other hand, .may.ybe relied jupon]to;pile up the :gbals against,any,but. tho strongest opposition, and .it iooks as .if'their prospects for the. coming, se'ap.oh are excep-, tionally bright. ■', Tribuie', should be' paid to : the- spirit'-iiyov-hichVSa.tm-dayte game was played:- it :%yas.■■'admirable, arid very seldom was. tn'ef-Ayh'istle no&d----;ed.'-;:... ',;:;-. .; ;i^:'; : , Condition Tells. ,:■;>;; V> - -.; ,;•"■'■. , : ■■ ."lia'rly :in:.'the sc;is,p.iv;b;:iJb"-does not' ex* poet to fiiicl' teams sin:ttlfj|i pink 'of -condition that iHfly,:beSlnvivi'dcnce later.'. Last Saturdday;:;Avhen.|Y.M.C.A. and petone tried .'conclusions;|a very steady southerly wind swept tho length of the Peton« ground. Against this Y.M.-

U.A. had to ..contend during the hrst spcJ), and a formidable'obstacle it was. It took all tho sting out of tho Y.M.C.A., and when they changed ends they, were not able to take full advantage of what was then a big handicap to Petoiui. Pctonc, on the other hand, seemed to be in better training, and, although tho game in tho second spell lost some of the rapidity which had characterised the first half, they wore comparatively easily able to hold their own. - . ■ Waterside's Good Start. Waterside and Thistle played an unattractive game at Lyall Bay last Saturday. Tho high southerly wind that prevailed throughout the match,and the roughness of the ground were the main 'causes' of this, but no'doubt it was due in some measure to, the usual early- - season "rawness" of the players^ 'Tho cross wind made it,'difficult to control tho ball and tho players made it harder by skying the ball continually. Under the prevailing conditions such tactics might have been of use to the backs in clearing, .but forthe i forwards were justifiable only for occasional chance shots from the .field when a ball swerv-, iug in the- wind might have, caught the goalie'out of place. ■■ '• ■ ! The teams' appeared to 'bp evenly matched and tho game was always keenly coutested. Thistle had slightly the better of the first half, their more' coherent forward division giving them some advantage. The score at halftime, however, was 1-1. In the second half the Waterside team showed :a marked improvement, and by forceful attack and sound defence brought off a win by the odd goal-in three.. ■■ . As a combinatio'tt the Thistle forward line was fairly good.' The left wing appeared the stronger, Houston, and Cunningham, ably helped by Wheelan at left half, executing some good con-: certed movements. ■■ Wellwood, the right winger, deserves mention for his corner kicking. Even in the teeth of the wind ho could usually place the-ball right' in the goal mouth. The halves were of only medium strength, but the backs and goalkeeper -were.a. very, safp trio. Cullen and Longbottoni were outstanding from the Waterside forwards, each playing/ a splendid game. If the forwards as a whole were up to. their' standard Waterside would have little: to y fear. As 1 was the case with- Thistle,: the Waterside halv.es were not conspicu--■ously. good, but,thoy 'played a steady, game. The two full-backs and/ the, goalie were also very sound. -. ; Hutt's Good Opening. , The Lower Hutt Senior i, B •, eleven made, a very promising,"first, of, the season showing at Lower'Hutt, against Petone last Saturday; but it was distinctly unfortunate that the game was marred by .the accident to Petone's goal-keeper, Taylor.' "Goalies- frequently; come in for bad bumps and collisions,: but it is seldom that they .crash as ; heavily as did Taylor, and'leave the field for the hospital with a six or so weeks' stay before them. . Broken' legs are as a rule the privilego of mid-field players, ..so that Taylor may rightly, enough regard himself as doubly unfortunate. •■'".' '.•.'■""•'.'■• Lower Hutt showed „ themselves strong in defence right -through 'the play, and just as weak in attack, also right through the game. Petone had a.very, fair .chance during the^first -spell of running up a tidy scOre, '.-''■ for.-'., tlib southerly was all in their favour, but Cordiner, Gardiner, .and '-Butlandj ,^the latter in goal, were a great trio. Biitiand, particularly, shewed out as. a goal-keeper who may later catch more than the public eye. He knows his job and does it coooly and altogether effectively, though now and again he risks an extra step or two with the ball'when hard pressed. ' :. ■ , . '. Hutt's: forward, line was very loose in attack; there was a'general' semblance of combination, but not very much more. Still, this was a -first of the'season match and-fine play • can hardly.be expected.right away. The centre did not excel in finished football, but really efficient centre forwards are few and far between. Petone showed even loss combination than did Hutt, but heve'again the first; of the season remark applies with equal force. Both'teanis are keen and have* opportunities in the matter of training facilities not available, to. some of tho," city, ■teams. There is no reason why. they should not be well up 'on the-: table as tho season advances. Need for a Captain. . ..."■' In "my travels through" New (Zealand with the last two visiting teams I'was greatly impressed by ; the non-existence of a rear player-general, or, "to put it more plainly, the game in New Zealand is. without :a capable captain, writes Colin Eeid, the Soccer coach. I avow this to be a fact after making a careful study of every provincial side, in the country, and it only'goes-to 'prove' that the selection of a captain has been made too haphazardly. Theselections are either, made because the player is an indispensable man. in the representative side of some years' standing, or he is popular amongst the other players; and is looked upon as ■ deserving the honour conferred. , „. ' i . . Now, in my opinion,, this not .only refers to representative sides but .to club teams as well, as without a capable, captain the side must play as individual^, and'that is what is wrong with the game in New Zealand to-day. Too much individualism and not enough team work. ... ■ ." '„' . -■' '> In any sphere of business a body of men must have someone; to supervise the job in hand, and in a job' where team work : counts, ■to get that., job.- through successfully that; body of men must have a capable overseer who .is conversant with every branch-of'the trade, so as -■ to.' be able 1 to have', his , staff running as smoothly a3,; possible,: probably shifting one man to assist another to speed up.that part of tho job that would: otherwiso' probably- holdup the work, and have,some of his staff marking time, and ;so . carry - out the work to a successful issue. . •■:.' ■ '„' , That is-just the relative position of the captain of a team,'and when the right' classi- of player is to bo found leading a football'team, then you'will find that' side 'a very','hard proposition. : Now I : come to the' ■. point of who should appoint the captain. ' ■In my opinion that is a matter 1 which should be loft in the hands of the management or .selectors of the team.'' Should their selection not prove, a successful one, it is their duty to:the team .to rectify their error of judgment: and make a : change. ' ' . , '. ', ■'■'.■'■; , As to the'touring'side, I am strongly in favour, of the/ appointment being by the players comprising the party,, as the position holds more responsibilities than iii the case' of the club side. , In recent years we have had with vis Australian, Chinese, and Canadian touring teams visiting us, and in ail threo instances the captain had been appointed before leaving for this country by.' the management,'' but it was found" in. each case * that- a'change of captaincy would' -probably have benefited the .side voii the playing .field, and in each case. 'results/., proved- th.'il; the assumption was fully ■ justified. ': Captain's Duty.', „'. ; ; ,1 will endeavour to show, what is expected of a player who aspires to fill the position of captain, and at the

same time give a few hints that may be beneficial generally. In the main, the appointment should ■be, made of the player who., can show first initiative, as the game generally . takes so many twists" of fortfune,' and it is the quick-thinker who will succeed. Secondly,-lie must be a leader, of men, without allowing his responsibility to Jift'ect his own game. Lastly; lie should be able to hold his side-firmly, and in la manner so as. to encourage his men to further effort; never forgetting to encourage, and at' all times proving capable' of playing the game. At this stage lot me say a word about the position of the team coach, and what he means to the side. Coach and Trainer. •' Coach and trainer are two distinct jobs in a team's outfit. In many cases the men never get credit for the'work they. do. A trainer's job is. to prepare the tc:jm physically, and have them fit and .well when the time for action comes. The coach, on the o t ther hand, is really the "man behind the. gun." It is his duty to prepare tea,m tactics, and to instruct the captain^ and team as to the- tactics to bo employed in every game played. Very .rarely arc two games played alike. He has to keep introducing- something, new and effective to the best of his ability, and he should'make a careful study of the teams to be met- in the competition,' and get to know their pet theories, if any, so that his team will' ■ take care that these theories are not allowed to function without counter attacks. The coacH, therefore, may rightly be classed as the "brains of the club," and the club which is in the happy position of having the services of a^good coach is to be. envied. Should the team pos.sess the, services of a co.a6h, then the onus falls on the captain to have Jus side conversant :With the tactics to be adopted in any garni?. So we now see that the captain has more to think about than giving a friendly shake of the hand to the opposing' captain, and tossing the coin. It .may happen that he has to transfer a player from'one position, to another during the progress of the game to bring about a different formation of play.' Such amove was seen in the Test game with, the Canadians at the' Basin Beserye. During the second spell of that game the: Canadian captain, when New Zealand was leading 1-0, shifted five players so as to adopt different tactics, .and again, later, he shifted three players, when he altered his. formation, again. Very few people were, aware of these changes having taken place. .Do not advertise any change by giving. verbal instructions..' The changes can easily be prearranged and quickly carried out. The quick thinker will very often have t{ie opposing side guessing, even although it may only be for a short space of time; and in time, anything may happen. How many-good player? are very ofteu made to become just ordinary players through being appointed captain? Theirs is not the temperament to have such responsibility',. thrust on them, and in their endeavours to' carry the team along their'play-suffers considerably, and the team loses the services of a capable player when he could have retained his brilliance, had he not been placed in a, position which he was not capable of filling. New Zealand ahd ' Wellington-were fortunate when they had such a born leader as "Geordie" Campbell, and until such time as another Campbell is found the selectors of New Zealand and Wellington teams will have to'do a. lot of hard thinking. ' ■ .-' ■ .

Goals Cli. V. W. D. L. ]?. A. l'ts Diamond ; x' l o u ;i l 2 Pctonc l• • x 0 0 3 ■ 1 .2 Hospital "X. X 0 0 4 2-2 Waterside X X 0 0 2 X 2 Marlst .X 0 0 1130 ■y.JI.C.A 1 00 2 1 3 0 Institute 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 Thistle :..' 1 0 01 1 2 0