SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 19583, 15 June 1927, Page 11

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[Fbom Our Excmsu Cokresfomdent.]

LONDON, April 27. SOCCER. -—Tho Cup Final.—

•A blunder by the Arsenal goalkeeper enabled: Cardiff City to win the F.A. Cup final at Wombloy on Saturday. Ferguson, of the Cardiff City team, sent in a low shot which Lewis stopped. He turned to avoid the rush of a player and the ball slipped out of his hands and rolled over the goal line. It was a real tragedy, and no one could have felt more upset than the Arsenal goalkeeper, who is a Welshman. During the early portion of the game the Arsenal players had rather the best of matters, and twice the crowd yelled “ Goal,” but in each case the ball shot past tho wrong side of tho net, though it was only a matter of indies. The Cardiff goal came late in the second half, and from that stage the Welsh club defended splendidly. The usual, wonderful final scenes marked the proceedings, and groat enthusiasm was displayed when tho Cardiff captain received the cup from the hands of His Majesty King George. It is interesting to note that the Cardiff City team is composed of four Irishmen, three each from Scotland ami Wales, and one man from England. —The League Championship.— Newcastle and Huddersfield, the top clubs in the first- division of the League, both drew on so there was no material change. Newcastle visited West Ham and each scored a goal, whilst Huddersfield received Manchester United, tho match failing to produce a goal. Sunderland failed to profit, as even at home against Derby County tho visitors had the best of matters and won by 2 goals to 1. One of the best wins of the day was gained by Tottenham, the London club defeating Leeds United by 1 goals to l._ Main interest in tho second division now centres in the struggle among the four clubs with a chance of accompanying Middlesborough into the premier division. Middlesborough has already made certain of the championship, and the issue is which will finish second. Chelsea’s prospects were somewhat dimmed at Barnsley on Saturday, when the Yorkshire club beat the Stamford Bridge team by S goals to 0. Meanwhile Portsmouth did well to beat their Hull visitors by 2 goals to U. whilst other prominent clubs in Manchester City and Notts Forest also secured both points. Manchester City prevailed against their Preston visitors, 1 goal to 0, whilst the Foresters scored three times against their Bradford City visitors. Manchester also drew, a goal all, when visiting Sontfiarapton on Monday, so that Chelsea will have to finish well to gain promotion. Middlesborough claim 38 points for forty matches, Manchester City 51 tor forty games, and Portsmouth 31 for thirty-nine. Chelsea still lias a chance, however, having gained 40 points in thirty-eight matches. Glasgow Rangers could only draw when at homo to Dundee in the Scottish League tournament on Saturday, neither scoring. Motherwell gained a point by virtue of to 0 success when receiving St. Mirren, hut Celtic slipp - ' bad;, going; under by 1 goal to 0 v. hen visiting St. Johnstone. RUGBY. Tho soveu-a-sido tournament promoted by tho Middlesex Rugby Union at Twickenham in aid of a. hospital fund last Saturday proved a big attraction, and this form of Rugger is certainly finding support iu England. Tho Harlequins again proved successful, winning the final from Blackhcath somewhat easily, Use margin being 28 points to 6. The Old Blues gave them a harder light in the fourth round, when the Quins only prevailed by 10 points to 5. Richmond also troubled the ultimate winners in the semi-final, only going under by 10 points to 0. BOXING. After bolding tho cruiser-weight championship of England for ten years Tom Berry lias hud to hand_ over the title to a younger man in Gipsy Daniels. Berry is a veteran, and has been before the public for about twenty years, so that it is not surprising he lacked his one-time sliced when meeting the Welshman at Holland Park tins week. Daniels is not a hard hitter, but he soon gained the upper hand and gradually improved Ins prospects as the contest progressed, _ having a good margin of points in his favor at the end of tho twenty rounds. Leu Harvey made further progress bv gaining a decision over J. Rolf at Holland Park, the loser putting up a ,really excellent light. Harvey will have further opportunities soon, one of his challengers being Jack Elliott, the ex-amateur who has been gaining in experience through his United States tour. Exports are divided in ihoiiy opinion regarding tho showing of Phil Scott iu°his contest against J. Okun at Olympia, Considering his advantage in'height and weight, some think lie should have made short work of his task, whilst others consider he boxed nell against a man who was a difficult target. Some of the American party are of the belief that Scott is a bettor boxer than many critics make out, and Okun is probably of that opinion himself. It was unfortunate that the American was ruled out tor hitting low, Scott’s win on a foul being unsatisfactory from many points of view. A boxer who gains the winning end of a purse in this way seldom gets the credit duo to him, oven when his superiority is acknowledged^ Milton ‘Cohen, who beat Kid Paltcnclcn, made a favorable impression, and the American has boon offered another match hero. H ho cares to, ho can face Young Johnnie Brown in a money match, and the pair would appear to bo well qualified to put up *ni interesting go. BILLIARDS. Although Tom Davis, of Chesterfield, beat ju. Inman by a mutter ol J.,Rfo points in their heat of the piolessional /.jlliard championship, ho had a still task to shako oil the veteran. The bn-

tor's safety tactics bothered Davis considerably, and lie did not appear at all comlortaolo during tho first ualt ol Lie match. Tho turning point camo wnen no made a breaii oi dot), alter union iio gained in contklonco and played moro like hiinselt. Other breaks ot 504 and 588 ensured him success, the biggest cltort coming on tho last day. J'Jio two breaks above tho live hundicd mark just about turned the scale and so enabled Davis to tor the championship heat against Tom .Newman at Manchester. Another big break by loin .Recce lias been a feature of Loudon billiards this week. He worked tho balls into the jaws of a top pocket and proceeded to make points until the break totalled 1.34 b, which is only twenty-seven less than Tom Newman's record under present rules. The clever manner Reece played his ball to a cushion when required, so as 1 to conform to tho rule which docs not permit/ more than twenty-five consecutive nursery cannons, aroused much interest, ATHLETICS. Britain certainly has some promising voung athletes coming along nicely, as shown by the public schools championships at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, 11. S. iownend, ol St. Edmund s School, Canterbury, was the most prominent performer. _ He ran with judgment and power in the 880yds,_ winning nicely in 2min 1 3-ssec, which is a new spoils record. The previous best was 2mm 3 l-oscc, made by A. .1. N. Williamson and W. H. Pike. Townend also won the mi!o race an hour later, his time being 4min S 7 2-ssec.

Tin, times may uofc look muoii V. 1 " compared with records, but the formauces arc better than they appear, the day being being cold, with a strong blustering wind blowing. E. G. Breed, of Rutlish School, may develop into a sprinter of note, as no won tho 100yds against the wind in 10 4-ssec. Nor was he far away in tno 440yds, which D. B. Hudson,_ of the Imperial Service College, won in o-sec. Tins latter is a best for the meeting, cutting three-fifths of a second oli tne previous record. . . British experts arc anxious to hear further details of the wonderful three miles Willie Rotola is reported to.have run at New York recently. The cable gives tbc time as 13min 5G l-sscc, and even allowing for' the fact that times indoors appear to bo generally faster than those made on an outdoor track (so far as middle and distance running is concerned), the new figures ax*e astonishing. Much depends on the nature of the kerb around the track at the 36th Armory. If marked with a raised border or flags, tho_ runners probably keep sufficiently wide to cover the distance. If, however, the hno is only marked on the boards, it is possible to run inside the regulation 12m. with tho result that distance is saved at every turn and the full distance shortened. This is all important, and no record should bo accepted unless there is a raised curb or other suitable method to mark tho turns. Small tubs, the size of a medium flower pot, in which flags are stuck make a good kerb if placed fairly close together. Better si'll is to stick a pin (with a ring at the top) into tho tubs and run a tape through the rings, which makes a real border. Nor is it difficult to place a movable wooden kerb into position, which can be kept in the desired place by a few small pins or bolts. GOLF. Some surprise was creak'd when Ted Ray was selected as one of tho players to represent Britain against the United States cracks in tho Ryder Cup matches this summer. He is a veteran, and believed by some critics to ho past_ his best. Ho rather discounted this idea in a competition at Fratton recently, when he headed tho field, which included five of tho players selected for tho Ryder Cup. Ray had a score of 70 in tho second round, a new record for the course, and with a first roam of 75 ho headed tho list with a totaof 145. C. A. Whitcombo, one of the youngest members of the Ryder Cup tram, was second with 147, whilst G. Duncan and 6. Gadd each returned 150 A. G. Havers, tho other member of the team for America being two strokes further off. It has given real satisfaction to hoar that an invitation has been extended to Earnest Whil- - to join tho Ryder Cup team, presumably as a reserve. Most golfers would have picked this steady player as first or second choice, and why he was not picked originally is surprising. Cyril Tolley is again showing excellent form among the amateurs, his 154 at Worthing in the qualifying competition for tho Sussex County championship suggesting that ho is coming back to his best. He was one, stroke worse than D. W. Grant, who headed tho list with 153. Another interesting event was a competition on the miniature course of tho London nil-weather course won by W. A. .Murray with a score of 52, Leri Nettlofold, of Australia., was a stroke behind, and he opened by doing the first hole in one. It should be added that the hole measures 20yds; nevertheless it was a good debut for the Australian.