THE SPORTING WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 15478, 28 April 1914, Page 2

THE SPORTING WORLD

[From Our English C oßrxwondent.] LONDON, March 20. FOOTBALL. A' new “page of history tan be written In connection with the international soccer championship, which for the first torso <m record has been won by Ireland. 'The representatives of the Green Isle beat England and Wales-, and their third engagement was with Scotland at Belfast cn SScturday. The luck was all against the Vr*g?in>vm. three players, including -the goalkeeper, being injured and forred to retire far a time). One. indeed, had to leave. the field for good,, and at length Scotland scared. Reduced to 10 men, the Koine side strove hard, end with only fve mere minutes for-play Young scored, and so the tally even. There was much enthusiasm, and most followers of the Ca are pleased that th© championship at hurt gone to Ireland, rememberi g the many Wank years- ' ' , Turning to doing© In league quarters, the Aston Villa men gave a wonderful illustration of forward play against Manchester United. The visitors were 2 goals : up at half-time, and, adding 4 more alter the interval, simply outclassed the Umted players. Th© win is all the mote noteworthy because the Villa figures in 4 be semi-final of the Football Association cup. It is not unusual to find a club still in. the running concentrate chief effort in she ceaire to reach the final—always providing tb» league championship is beyond reach. Last veer Aston Villa ran up to Sunderland for league honors, but beat the for nortbernare lor the F.A. cup. It looks o«M« oq Blackburn winning this years championship, and the writer fully expects to see the Villa retain the F.A. trophy.

Another important league fixture on Saturday brought Burnley and Liverpool into opposition. They also figure m ihe ■ami-final of th® F.A. cup, the former against Sheffield United and Liverpool against Aston Villa. The match served to show the Burnley forwards to advantage, as they scored 5 goals to 2 by their visitor Sheffield United, the other eemifiTmtiat, did not show up particularly well when visiting Chelsea for a league match on Saturday, losing by 2 goals to 0. Th© Yorkshire team may have had an eye - n the replay with Manchester City on Monday. winch they won, thereby qualifying to oppose Burnley. It would be difficult to imagine more stivers® conditions than those under which tie Ireland v. Wales Bngby match at Belfast was decided. Mud, wind, and rain tried players and onlookers alike. Nevertheless, it was a big struggle. It was mainly a forward game, and though the visitors had the best of it, Ireland assumed the lead after seven minutes. Jvst before tire interval, however, Wales eqralised. The second half was barely started when another try enabled Wales to take the lead, and near the end a try (which, was converted) secured the Welshmen the win by 11 points to 3. The result adds to th® interest of the England v . Scotland match to-morrow, and England mustdraw at least to secure th© international championshipTENNIS.

There are not many games a', which the amateur champion can claim superk vity over the professional champion, so that the success of Jay Gould over Q. Covey for the world’s tennis championship stands out an a fine performance. The Amem au showed wonderful form when he opposed E. H. Miles for the amateur champ sonslup of England in 1906, 1907, and laoß. Although still in his teens, he gave the English, veteran a great game, winning m tne two latter years. When it became known that he ha dchallenged Covey, of England, the wold’s professional champion, many good judges recognised that the latter would have difficulty In retaining the laurels he won in 1912. Few thought he would be so badly beaten, however, and it is evident that the young American m ioc have shown wonderful form at Philadelphia this week. To secure seven out of eight sets was indeed a pronounced win, whflst the scores, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. 6-6, 6-1, abow how superior he was. The winner gets a gold cup, value £250, plus the honor, to mart his win. whilst Covey's share of the ■‘gate” will enrich him by £4O& ‘ The match makes one wish we had more meetings between amateurs and professionals. We see them in opposition at Association football, on the cricket field, at golf, tennis, rackets, on the Turf, and wader certain conditions at boxing and billiards. There is room to extend it and amateur athletics would be all the purer’ if money were offered as the spoils of victory in some of our races. BOXING. The visit of the King to the assault-at-»rmm promoted by the 2nd Life Guards has given great. satisfaction. The Royal support of boxing will prove a big set-back to the- spofl-sperts, and the boom will continue. His Majesty was much interested In Use Wells r. O’Keeffe exhibition, and closely followed the more serious beat*. Matters promise to he interesting in the near future J. Sorrell, the American middle-weight, has fixed up a match with Bandsman Blake, and O’Keeffe and Sullivan are to clash for the middle-weight title Wells is also likely to be busy, for in addition to his coming match with Coffey (the Ixish-American), efforts are being made for a rot urn match between theEngHshmau and Gunboat Smith, who beat him in New YorkATHLETICS.

The Cambridge University athletes were given a fine trial for the intervarsity sports when they opposed a strong'team got together by P- J- Baker, an old Cambridge ‘Blue- The feature of Hho event was the meeting of W. A. Applegarth, the 100 and 220 yards champion, and G. Perrot, the new star at Cambridge. The latter woo his ’varsity “100” in lOtsec, and he managed to beat Applegarth by a foot on Saturday, doing XOfsec against the wind- Applegarth is not really fit, bat he is well, so that Perrot must bo put down as a real champion. The positions were rever*od in the 200, the Cantab starting badiv, and finishing 2yds behind Applegarth, in 20|sec. Another notable performance was K. Powell’s win in the 120 yds hurdle race, with the watch showing 15|sec. The men hod t he wind at their backs, however, which must have-been a great help. None of the Other wins call for special mention, the adverse conditions making times slow. I| was a well-Bontested meeting, Cambridge rimming the day by six events to five/ ■-

—‘Real Stayers—-

71** unfortunate competitors jn the National Cross-country Championship last Saturday had » faying experience- The «W» was e*ooptionaUy hilly, whilst the coalitions were terrible. A strong and cold wind, » downpour of rain, and very heavy going fully tested the runners. Upsets ware many, E. Glover (the holder) and 4, £. Sanderson (tho Midland champion) being awmg those who failed to finish. Muon was expected of A. H. Nichols, the southern tampion, but he was eoon in difltonlfaos, though he struggled on for the sa& «f his team, finally finishing gift. Ilit conditions senawd to trouble 0- 1. BafoU, th® steeplechase champion, least of all, 3»d he finally won easily by 52s«g from Sergeant F. O'Neill, of the Connaught Rangers. The latter is an ex-ten-mile fiat champion, and ha ran with fine judgment, gradually improving his position, and passing severs I men in the last few milts. Rufreil assumed ‘ the lead at absnt three miles, and soon went right away, ft will be interesting to see how Tie will fare in the international race, when he wig meet Glover, Nichols, and Saunderson again, as well as Keyser, of France, Am to fain team race on Saturday, there w» a hj»« reversal of form. The Surrey 4-v- was beaten by Herne Hill in the southern championship and the Birchfiekj Harriers failed in too Midland, but the clubs were first and second at Chesham. T1» Surrey cracks finished 6, 9, 21, 23, 28, 29, making a total of 716 points,' to Burchfield’s 144. The 2nd Battalion Connaught Bangers secured third honors with 189 pouots, and the forward position of the soldiers gave much satisfaction.

EIU.IASDS. Sportsmen who saw tie final s**B* the Stevenwn t. Beeoe match in the qualifying bent of the billiard championship »c© not likely to forget it in a hurt?. Stevenson's victory looked assured when he commenced the last session with, a load of 529. Beet* gradually drew up, however, and secured the load at 8,565, though Stevenson again assumed command, and was 90 to the good when it became necessary to adjourn play until Monday morning. Stevenson apparently felt the ordeal more than his rival, for lie only scored 34 points for 10 visits to the table. Reece showed more confidence, and he finally ran out the winner by 115 points with an unfinished break of 144. It was a fin© performance on the part of Reece to score 1.040 points to his rival’s 601 on Saturday evening, and his coolness at the finish surprised and delighted his admirals. Beeco and Inman commenced the championship licat in the afternoon. Beth displayed great caution, Inman, as is usual, going in for a lot of safety play. Beeo© forged ahead on the third daV of the match, when he gained a lead of 743. This was mainly due to splendid breaks of 551 and 202, his average in the evening being the wonderful one of 150. He was right off his gam© the next day, however, andInman gradually drew up, being 120 points in front when play ended. The match has a long way to go yet, and w© khall probably 'have further changes. [lnman won.— Sporting Ed. E.S-3 IN GENERAL. Somerset and Gloucestershire had an exciting struggle in their county hockey match, each scoring two goals.It becomes more evident that the Cambridge ’Varsity golfers are very strong this season. Their latest performance was to defeat the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society by 9 matches to 3. Several' important lacrosse matches claimed attention on Saturday. The strength of the game in Middlesex was shown by the county team beating Surrey by no fewer than 20 goals to 5. A more even struggle wae seen between Kent and Essex, the former winning by 8 goals to 5. Another very important fixture was the meeting of Old Hulmeians and Heaton Mersey in the North of England Flag’s final, which the former won by 9 goals to 6. The English polo players are shaping well in their practice games at Madrid, and are hopeful of regaining the American Polo Cup when they cross the Atlantic in May. Some remarkable motor record® were accomplished at the Brooklands track yesterday. Driving a Sunbeam car, Jean Chassague covered half a mile in 15.035 ec, and the mile in 29.025ec. The latter represents 15).73 miles per hour. He also went on and finished two miles in 60.515e0 and five miles in 2min 37.785ec. A London promoter has offered a purse of £BOO for a match between Bomb. Wells and J. Savage,, of America,