SECOND ASSOCIATION TEST

Evening Post, Issue 11, 13 July 1936, Page 16

SECOND ASSOCIATION TEST

AUSTRALIA'S DECISIVE WIN

ASHES RETAINED BY 10-0 VICTORY

New Zealand was not expected to win the second Test match against the Australian tourists on Saturday afternoon, but few foresaw the magnitude of Australia's victory. Exhibiting the almost mechanical • precision that has delighted the spectators wherever they have been, the visitors had no difficulty in scoriii"five goals in each half, without being seriously threatened them? selves. The New Zealanders were exceedingly disappointing as a side, and to a lesser extent individually, and although they were handicapped after the first twenty minutes of the game by the loss of McQuarrie, the Otago left-half, through an eye injury, they never looked like an international team.

■ ■'■_ A crowd of about 8000 people saw die match and extracted their amusement not from the one-sided clash between the teams but from the clever play of the visitors, especially in the last quarter of the game.

With two Test match wins to their credit, the Australians retain the Ashes.

The game fell short in interest and skill of the standard set at the Aus tralia-Wellington match. It was obvious from the start that the Australians were out to make every post a winning post, an ambition which was reflected in the robust nature of their play as compared with their previous Wellington performance and with their subsequent play in the second half of Saturday's match. Three New Zealand men had to. go off injured_in the first spell, Cleal for a couple of minutes, Cawtheray for some time longer, and McQuarrie permanently. Australia's second and third goals were scored while New Zealand had only nine men, the absentees being Cawtheray and McQuarrie. It was. difficult to understand New Zealand's reason for playing only two halves, after McQuarrie's retirement. Whether their tactics were meant to be attacking or defensive a full half line appeared to be a necessity. The actual position was clear enough from the.start: New Zealand could not possibly have scored as ■ many goals as the Australians, and that being so the sensible thing to do was to concentrate on defence, even by weakening the forward line. Had the half line been maintained intact by the dropping back of one of the vanguard the score would probably have been the same, but the New Zealand ten might have appeared as more of a combination and less of a rabble.^ As it was an unfair burden was put on the two remaining. halves and the two backs. That they stood up to it as they did was to .their credit. : MACKIE PLAYED WELL. Outstanding on the losing side was Mackie, the Wanganui right-winger. There was a host of doubtful critics when his name was announced, but they had, to admit that he was" the best of the forwards on Saturday. His' elusive runs down the wing were always troublesome to Osborne and Sharp and his shooting was easily the best on the New Zealand side. He was really unlucky in hitting the uprights and the bar tune after time. Innes, the captain,, was one of-the. disappointing men. His strategy, born of long experience, was apparent too occasionally to be of much use. At centre Cleal was patchy, flashes of good individual work enlivening an otherwise mediocre display. Ives and Skinner worked hard on the left-wing, but were also a disappointment. This applied particularly to Skinner, whose performance .in the first Test was reported to have been excellent " DEFENDERS WORKED HARD. Todd and Sutherland, the two halves had a thankless1 task and they did it well enough. . McQuarrie was good too, in his short tune on the field. Cawtheray and Haines were the two hardest-worked men on the field and they acquitted themselves well against vastly superior odds. . In goal -Smith' was below representative standard and most Wellington followers of the game would agree that either of two ilocal custodians would have done better. Smith was sure enough, given plenty of time, but unreliable in .emergencies. The greatest weakness in the New Zealand side lay in its almost complete lack of combined effort. They played as individuals and as twos and.threes but rarely as a teanj. Little need be said of the Australians except that their game was far prettier to watch ■towards the end, when sure of their victory, they stopped goalgetting and played exhibition football, delighting the crowd with their crisp and effortless passing, their uncannily tricky footwork and their complete understanding of one another's intentions. H any of them were outstanding they were Wilkinson and Price, right-wing and inside-left respectively. Their skill was slightly more noticeable than that of the others, high though all of it was. ■ • The teams lined out as follows:— i NEW ZEALAND. Goalkeeper: Smith (Auckland). Full-backs: Cawtheray (Canterbury) and Haines (Wellington) Half-backs: Todd (Wellington), Sutherland (Otago), and McQuarrie (Otago) •Forwards: Mackie < Wanganui), Innes (Auckland), captain, Cleal (Auckland) Ives (Canterbury), and Skinner (Otago). AUSTRALIA. Goalkeeper: McNabb (N.S.W.). . Full-backs: Evans (N.S.W.) and Osborne (N.S.W.). Half-backs: Bryant (N.S.W.), Harden (N.S.W.), and Sharp (South Australia). Forwards: Wilkinson (N.S.W.), Cameron (N.S.W.). Smith (N.S.W.), Price (N.S.W.), and Donaldson (Queensland).

Referee: Mr. George Jackson. Linesmen: Messrs. G. Forbes and J Sanderson. '

Australia kicked oil agarnst a light northerly on a perfect playing surface New Zealand thrilled the crowd in the first half-minute when Mackie got clear down the right wing and centred to Cleal, who eluded the back and had McNabb beaten all the way, only to shoot a little wide. • Midfield exchanges slightly favouring Australia gave place to another fine run by Mackie with Cleal and Ives making good use of his centre against strong opposition from Evans and Osborne. Donaldson and Price were doing most of the raiding for Australia, but the first goal came from the right Wilkinson sent to Smith, who,slipped the ball V Price and the last-named, in a handy position, took his time ana slammed home an irresistible shot, after nine minutes of play. Australia 1, New Zealand 0. Cleal was off for a while with an injury. Todd sent Skinner away and the latter cross-passed to Mackie, who fumbled the shot with McNabb out of position. New Zealand's forwards were easily holding their own, but found the defence a rugged one. Australia forced a corner on the left, but a free kick relieved New Zealand. Wilkinson sprinted up his wine and- swung

the ball across to Donaldson from whom it went back to Price, whose final shot was yards wide. The visitors were using their right wing more, but Cawtheray and Haines held them in check. SERIES OF CORNERS. Donaldson's footwork took him through, but Smith's confident handling kept the goal intact and an Australian corner on the right was ineffective. McQuarrie was injured in the head and was taken to the dressingroom, New Zealand continuing with two halves. Offside play by Ives spoilt a New Zealand sortie and play swung to the other end, where Smith cleared magnificently. Cawtheray was treated on the side-line for an injury to his mouth. Price made a tricky run to balloon the ball behind for a corner, from which * a melee ensued. Haines cleared the ball on the goal line. Sharp lobbed- in a high one that Smith tipped over for another corner on the right, without result, and Wilkinson sped away from Haines to see his parting shot deflected by the New Zealand 'keeper for another futile corner on the right. With only nine men New Zealand were having a hard struggle, >and in another Australian raid Smith's clearance was weak, and Cameron sent the ball back into the net after twentyeight minutes of play. Australia 2, New Zealand 0. Four minutes later Smith, the visiting centre-forward, eluded the disorganised defence and tricked his namesake the goalie to place a gentle shot again into an empty net. Australia 3, New Zealand 0.. Cawtheray returned to the field and the New Zealand forwards got away, but were stopped by vigorous tackling. Australia .were attacking persistently, and from the left Donaldson whipped in a sizzling shot that beat the goalie all the way. It was the best goal so far. Australia 4, New Zealand 0. Wilkinson snapped the ball up near the half-way line, took it upfield in a brilliant run, and transferred to Smith, who again defeated his namesake with a fast, low drive. Australia 5, New Zealand 0. " Mackie beat both Osborne and Sharp and unloosed a left-foot drive that hit the cross-bar. Australia's centre-for-ward threw away two good chances by aimless shooting, and Donaldson shook the outside of the net Innes and Cleal wove a way past the Australian halves, and the ball went to Skinner, whose shot gained a corner on the left. From it Mackie's bad luck was again apparent, his shot striking the upright. Cleal shot just a trifle wide as half-time sounded with the score: Australia 5, New Zealand 0.