THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 123, 27 May 1933, Page 20

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

SATURDAY'S GAMES

In'-view of tho excellent display given by Waterside last Saturday week it was anticipated that the meeting of that team and Diamond would be productive of high-class football. It cannot be gainsaid that tho match was interesting, but from, the point of view of the standard of football it was disappointing, ; Play was inclined to be ragged, and though there were individual flashes of good football they were only rarely seen. Diamond.: certainly were lucky to win in''the last few moments, of tho game; There.was not much difference between the teams; a draw would have been a better indication : of, the play..;; .-..-. - • .Each, side possessed a good .goalkeeper, but Shipp, the Waterside custodian, was called on more frequently than was Wyatt. Shipp handled all that came his way well, and though he never appeared to be. bustled he did not.have much time.to spare on many occasions. Abernettiy, and Guest made a,, better pair. of backs than did O'Connel and Hooper, though, the latter was responsible for some fine work as an individual. Thii Diamond half-line was clefinitely stronger than Waterside's,1 but, Haines, at centro-half, played well for Waterside. Failure to finish off movements properly lost Waterside the game. They fielded the better forward line, but individually let opportunities of scoring slip. PETONE AND HTJTT. Usually, when a game is in the nature of a local "derby," the spectators may expect to witness some keen, fast play. At the Recreation Ground, Petone had as visitors their neighbours from Hutt, and, despite tho position on tho ladder, it was hoped that the teams would serve up a worth-while exhibition. The opening stages actually promised well, as Hutt set-to with their usual abandon, .while • Petone concencentrated in passing movements and quick thrusts on either wing. Hutt, however, continued to lash the ball just too far forward. On the other hand, the wing movements of Petone ultimately bore fruit, and from the centres of the wingers (Baistow in particular), goals had to come. At half-time, the local team had scored three times, without reply from the visitors, who gradually "faded out of the picture" with each increaso in the tally. On tho day, it seemed as if Hutt was suffering from an inferiority complex, especially among the forwards, of whom Jcssup and Batchelor were almost the only ones who cared to keep going. As the game progressed, Petone defence took command and were often allowed to clear or build up an attack while the opposing forwards stood off or tackled half-heartedly. If the visiting forewords failed to play up to form, the 'exhibition of tho home team -was also not up to standard in the second half, though possibly they were content to take tilings easy with their substantial lead. Baistow and Craig centred well, though the former generally placed his corners a shade too finely. To Woods wont the honours of the day. The Hutt defence, though overworked, played heroically. R. Butland made every attempt to stem the tide and never shirked a tackle, whilo McDougall was always in the thick Of the fray. The backs, especially' Gardner, stood to their guns, and Wilkes played perhaps his best game this season, having no chance with thp goals which beat him. Tho opposing defence had an easy afternoon, though mistakes at tho beginning of the game might have been 'costly had the Hutt forwards been as,keen as. usual. McAuslan and Smith gave improved performances to back up their centre-half, while HainCa gave his customary consistent display. MARIST'S FORWARDS FAIL. Hospital fully deserved their 3-0 victory over Marist last week, The Hos-

pital forwards took advantage of their opportunities to score while the Marist vanguard, whose greater skill gave them more opportunities than Hospital had, tost chance after chance.

Play iv the first half was fast, but neither side showed much skill and the game was rarely exciting. The' goalies had an easy time. It was different in the second half. The goalies were kept busy all the time,, and ttero were many exciting incidents. Hospital scored all three goals in this spell. " Although they seized, their opportunity Hospital were weak in attack. Trewick's retirement through injury necessitated the shifting of Jeffery? to centre-half and Hospital fielded only four forwards during the greater part of the first spell. When Trewick did return he went to left wing and the re-arranged forward line read Marshall, Windley, Stanbridge, Simon, and Trewick. Marshall and Stanbridge were in good form, and they were the mainstay of the Hospital forwards. Simon showed a tendency to lie too far back on the field. The halves were good, the only noticeable fault being the "straying" of Jefferys. Gibb and Miles were as solid as ever at fullback, and Ell showed a welcome return to his old brilliance in goal. In goal for Marist, Turkington made only ono mistake which he more than compensated for later by his confident and safe clearances. J. Condon played a sterling game at left-back in spite of his comparative inexperience of first division play. Laracy played his usual solid game. Hard and constant work was done by the three halves, Ilindle, Bird and Duffy. Barton and J. Kershavv were badly missed in the forwards. The wingers, Barrett . and Marshment, were weak, and it was left to M. Condon, Marshall, and T. Kershaw to maintain the attack. ' ; SWIFTS LUCKY. ' The manner-in which Swifts snatched a win from the Technical College Old Boys' team at the Basin Eeserve last Saturday was an example of what luck, plus a reasonably stubborn defence, will do for a side. Swifts did not deserve to win; it is doubtful if they deserved to draw, but for fifteen minutes when the losing team ran all over the victors there was no score. Soccer is, above all things, a game in which chances must not be missed. Technical missed too many. In the first minutes' of the game it looked as though- th^ match would be thoroughly dull. .Then Technical applied pace to the encounter. Swifts responded, and for a while the game was extremely bright. It tailed off after that, and when the second half began there were only two things that really marked the closing portion of the match—the sterling de-; fence of Ogg against some excellent shots, and the sustained offensive.by Technical, who looked . like running their opponents off their feet. The attack faltered at last, however, arid Swifts, taking advantage of the fact, that their adversaries were weakened after a long spell of desperate striving to break through, managed to aniash their way home twice in rapid succession. They could not have, left ifc any, later. • Apart from the matter of shooting—• trying to finish off a movement-at.too high speed—the Technical forwards were a very useful team, and- their combined play of the second half was far above anything that Swifts were able to reveal. On the right wing they, were especially dangerous, and as their speed was matched with unselfishness, they made fine openings for the insido men. That these were not taken saved Swifts. Stewart was especially good, and Torrington and Liddicoat both showed up well. Beadle, Bognuda, and the active Ogg were others who impressed. In the winning team the form was not nearly so even or'so good. Tho forwards wero unable to do much really effective ; work in' the ■ first half ■yvhen they wero facing wind and sun, and the wingers throughout tho game Were, weak, though. ■ Kelly redeemed himself in the second half by a series of fine shots at goal.' The halves wero hard-working,- but did not show that combination ■ which was expected of them, aod the inside men, whose clever work ha xs done' much for Swifts, were not given a really good chance until right at the'end of the game. It is no exaggeration to say that the goals which turned the tables were scored from the only reasonable openings that were made for Shankie and his supporters throughout tho whole of the closing half-hour. Bradford, in. goal, was -once more a great asset to his si.de, and-^the work of the full-backs, while not stylish, was good. " . ..The significant thing about the match was the superior speed shown by Technical, Swifts have always been famous as a nippy side, and Saturday's form was genuine. Technical will gather some notable victims before the season is over. N.A.D.A. LEADS. N.A.D.A.'s win last Saturdty Mrvei to put them in tho lead in tho First.ll Division, and in view of the standard of form shown iv B Division game* some hard tussles are assured in th» future. Both N.A.D.A. and SeatouA gave a rather indifferent display lasfc Saturday at Seatoun, neither tea* being particularly adept iv forward combination. The backs of both team* were solid but not enterprising. After a scoreless first half, during which Seatoun were practically conS tinually in their opponents' territory, N.A.D.A. sprang a surprise by taking two easy goals within a few moment* of • resumption. Grey and the Culled brothers were responsible. This. sud« den change of position appeared t<f have the effect of breaking up what combination there was in the Seatouuj forwards, who spent, the remainder oe the spell in abortive solo efforts. The Seatoun vanguard is- quite capable1 of team work, as was shown in the first half, even though many chances of scoring were thrown away by wild kicking, but it is hard to account for the manner in which they played in the closing stages. Both teams, however, appeared to suffer from, tho same faults. There is excellent;material in both of these sides, which occupy top positions on tho championship ladder, but the main troubte 'appears to lie in the Jack of understanding between some of the players. J' J. Dewar, the N.A.D.A. goalie;' gavo a good showing and made spni'6 pretty saves. Both backs and halves of. tha N.A.D.A. team put up; a solid defence, especially iii the second spell, when they broke up most of the Scatoun. moves. N. F. Bedford, the Be'atoun centre-half, was . enterprising and worked hard.