SOCCER

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 26 May 1927, Page 9

SOCCER

CANADIANS’ FIRST MATCH.

DECISIVE WIN AGAINST TARANAKI.

The Canadian Association football team opened its New Zealand tour yesterday, playing a. Taranaki representative side at New Plymouth. The home team was defeated very _ decisively iby a margin of nine points, the final score being Canada. 10 goals, Taranaki 1. The visitors’ play received the highest praise from the critics on the bank, and they left little doubt in the minds of the onlookers that they could have increased their score very considerably bail they wished. Bremner (New Plymouth) shot the only goal registered against the visitors. The teams took the field as follow: CANADA. (Eoyal blue, white cuffs and collar.) Goal: S. Tait (captain). Full-backs : C. Crawley, E. Edmunds. Half-backs: J. Monaghan, W. Brolly, H. J. Pavnter. Forwards: J. Davidson, D. Turner, W. Gibson, D. Archibald, P. Francis. TARANAKI. (Chocolate and amber.) Goal: Royston. Full-backs: Davis and Bears. Half-backs: Freakley (captain), Brown and Stewart. Forwards: Breinner, Spedding, Ramsay, Hill, Humphries.

THE PLAY

Canada won the toss and decided to play in the. slight wind in their favour. Hill set, .the ball in motion and Taranaki immediately attacked), but Kd moods relieved with, a .great kick. Midfield play ensued, and them the Canadians assumed the aggressive, their attack ending in Monaghan sending outside. A moment lafcetr the Canadians returned to the attack, and Turner had a low, shot at goal, which just went wide. From the goal kick the visitors continued the aggressive, and alter a pretty bit of play by their forwards, Archibald succeeded in penetrating the Taranaki goal. From the kick-off the visitors, who were showing sp endid combination, again obtained possession and carried the leather into Taranaki territory, where they were awarded a corner off Beare. Brown relieved, and play was transferred to the other end, but the Canadians’ defence was too good, and the ball again returned to Taranaki’s quarters, where, after a pretty passing rush, Francis centred beautifully and Turner headed into the neT scoring their second goal. Taranaki attempted to break away, but Edmonds broke up the attack, and with a good kick sent well down the field, where Paynter .passed nicely to Archibald, who again scored. From the kick-off Taranaki attacked, but Hill made a mis-kiek and Crawley had no difficulty in clearing. Another combined attack by the visitors saw Royston save, a hot shot from Gibson, but the Taranaki men could' not relieve the pressure, and following another combined rush by the Canadian forwards, Turner again headed cleverly into tb© net. Midfield play followed, and then Spedding got away, but a free kick checked the rush, and, playing nicely together, they again bore down down On the Taranaki citadel, Turner receiving the ball, and in another beautiful kick which gave Royston no chance, again scored. The Visitors were displaying wonderful combination, and outclassed the home, players in every feature of the game. Francis looked dangerous, but Stewart succeeded in clearing, but only temporarily, for the Canadians again got possession, and the ball travelled neatly from right to left wing, Francis finally scoring. Fi'om the kick off Taranaki had an opening,- a nice, movement being started by Stewart, who centred to Hill and then to Spedding, tlie latter calling on Tait to clear. A moment later Spedding again had a shot at goal, but again Tait cleared. Brolly, a moment later, kicked well down the field, and Archibald called on, Royston to save a stinging <whot right in the corner of the goal mouth. Taranaki a few minutes later had a. wonderful opportunity. Ramsay sent well down the field, a little too far, and Tait ran out to save, but Spedding ju,st beat him to the •ball. He slipped, -and before he could recover himself in front of an. open goal Edmunds rushed up and cleared. Freakley checked a breakaway by Francis and sent out to Spedd'ing, who. beating Monaghan, passed to Humphreys, but the latter’.s shot was easily saved. Taranaki was showing a little more dash, and another linovement among the forwards ended in Hill having a shot at goal, which went wide. From the .goal kick another movement was initiated among the Canadian halves, and then the hall passed among the forwards to the left wing, Francis closing in on the home citadel and again beating Royston. A moment later Davis headed put a shot from Archibald when a goal seemed certain. Play continued around the Taranaki goal, and Archibald had a weak shot at goal which Royston cleared, and play was. then quickly transferred to the- other end, where Ramsay passed to Spedding. and Spedding to Humphreys, who had a good .shot, but Tait again proved sound. Gibson aqd Davidson carried the ball well down the rightwing. and then Gibson centred nicely, Archibald again heading neatly into the net. A minute or two later Gibson, cleverlv beat several opponents, but hi-s shot at goal was not very determined, and the pressure was relieved. The visitors, however, were doing much as they liked at this stage -with the opposition. Thev always maintained their positions, and tlieir kicking was very accurate. A couple of attacks? just before half-time were checked by Davis, who headed the ball away on each occasion. Half-time .sounded with the score: Canada 9 Taranaki 0

SECOND' HADF.^ On resuming;, the Canadians immediately carried play into Taranaki territory, Freakley temporarily relieving; but once again the Canadians attacked, and Davis cleared. Another onslaught was checked as the result oi Francis getting off-ride. Humphries attempted to. get away on the left-, but Crawley beat him, and again sent- the ball well down the field, where things looked dangerous until Davis cleared. Taranaki then attacked, but the effort was spoiled by the ball being kicked too- far and going over the line. Firom the goal kick Monaghan obtained possession and passed to Gibson. The latter beat a couple of men, and then centred to Archibald, who, sent to Francis, the (latter again scoring. Following ’the kick-off the visitors continued to attack, and two shots went wide. P'liay Was then transferred, to the other end, but Ta.it had no difficulty in clearing his goal, the tendency on the part of the Taranaki, fonvatds being to kick too far, while their passing was frequently on the blind. A combined rush by the Taranaki forwards heat the visitors hack, but Taft nan out and again cleared. Taranaki

were playing with more vigour and maintained steady pressure, a.nd Hill had a shot which went wide. A moment later Humphries hit the post with '3. good shot, and then called on. Royston to save another shot. Edmunds, the visitors’ centre half, had to retire through injury. Following a good movement, in which all the visiting forwards were associated, Gibson tried Royston with a hot shot, which was saved cleverly, and Humphreys broke away on the left wing, carrying the ball well down into, the Canadians’ territory before he centred, nicely to Hill. The latter passed to Bremer, and in a. nice shot he beat Tait, scoring the home side’s first goal. Tlaxanaki were now playing with great dash, and for a while they kept the visitors’ defence busy, Brown on. one occasion hitting the cross-bar with a lovely shot. Following midfield play, during which the ball travelled from one side o.f the field to the . other off the heads of the players, the visitors were awarded a corner’, which, however, yielded them no advantage. Returning to the attack, Archibald cleverly dribbled the baili past three opponents, but could not! get any sting into ids shot-, and Roy- 1 stun cleared ' with a good kick. Taranalri. players were frequently caught out of position, and one instance of this let the Canadian forwards away; but Beere relieved, and Humphreys, obtaining possession, got nicely away, but his centre was intercepted by Crawley , who relieved with a great kick which sent tlie ball well down the field. Davis relieved the pressure, and Stewart centred, but Brolly intercepted and again set his backs in motion, but the Taranaki backs again cleared their lines. Brolly a little later had a shot, which went a yard wide. From the kick-off Taranaki got away, a.nd Stewart had a shot which, went wide. Ramsay beat Francis for the ball during an attack by the visitors, and centred nicely, the ball then travelling out to Humphreys, who in turn again centred, but Hill’s shot went wide. At the other end Davidson had a shot, which, Royston saved at the expense or a. corner. During a keen tussle in front of tlie goal mouth another comer was conceded, but this proved fruitless. The Canadians continued to attack, and after a clever bit of passing between the forwards, Gibson’s shot was saved by Royston. Taranaki. conceded two. corners in quick succession, but again they proved fruitless. Taranaki broke away, but could not penetrate tlie visitors’ defence, and play was mostly in the home team’s territory. But the Canadians, though giving a good display of footwork, did not appear to be very determined to increase .their lead. They were getting in some practice, however, and incidentally Taranaki were, no .doubt, picking up a few Points which -would be valuable to. them later. The whistle sounded, with the final scores: Canada 10 Taranaki 1 Mr. J. G. Williamson was referee.

THE BEST YET.

QUALITY OF CANADIAN TEAM.

(By “Onlooker.”)

That the exhibition of football under the ‘‘soccer” code which was given to those privileged to witness the play of the Canadian football team at Pukekura Park yesterday was the finest exposition of the game ever witnessed in Taranaki will be the opinion of all followers of the sport. From start to finish the spectators were shown how the game should be played, and the ball control and position play of the visitors would compare very favouraby With many first-class English teams. To. the uninitiated their anticipation of the movements of the player with the ball must have seemed to be uncanny, and the crossing over of players so that every position was tilled until the movement was completed or broken up must have been a revelation to the Taranaki representatives. The captain of the team is F. Crawley, who will fill that position in the test matches, but for other matches the touring eleven will be captained by a different player for each match. StanTait, the goalie, filled the position against Taranaki, and it was no fault of his that Taranaki secured that solitary goal; in the few instances in which he was called upon to defend his charge he- showed that his reputation of being one of Canada’s best had been built upon proved' ability. Crawley and Edmunds are a pair of sound defenders, who put a lot of power behind their kicking, but never waste a kick; they were never at fault, and their covering tactics were pretty to watch. Ernie Edmunds was Unfortunately injured during the game, hut should soon be well again. The Canadian hacks are going to be a thorn in the side of many of our New Zealand teams. , Jack Monaghan, Harry Paynter and W. Brolly were a fine set of halves, working with complete understanding with their forwards* and backs. Their accurate placing, skilful tackling, and readiness to drive in a shot whenever the opportunity occurred was an object lesson to the player® both, on the

field and on the banks. The forwards showed us that there is only one direction in which the ball should be sent, and that is towards the opposite goal, and that there was purpose behind tlieir methods the scoring of f<*r goals by Don Archibald, three by T). B. Turner, two by P. Francis and one by Jock Davidson shows. 111-luck must have dodged “Bill” Gibson, for this young player has the name for being able to .score goals from any angle. , - Of the Taranaki players it is difficult to enumerate any player for praise or blame. They one affd all played a good losing game, the outstanding phases of their play being the run down the left wing and centre by Humphries which "led to the scoring of Taranaki’s goal by Bremner, the great shot of Brown which rattled the crossbar, and the save by Da-vis when he headed the ball behind with Royston on the ground. Royston was troubled by the sun in the first half, but one must doubt whether this made any material difference. Taranaki were outplayed in every department of the game, and “Onlooker” is certainly going to follow the doings of the visitors very closely.

Perhaps the outstanding feature of the game was. tire small number of infringements of the rules by the players and the clean way in which it was fought. It is seldom that a game is played with so little whistle, and the referee must have found the match one of the easiest games he has ever handled.

That genial Wellingtonian, Colin Reid, is travelling with the visitors as trainer, and he told “Onlooker” that the visiting team were some of the best boys he had ever handled. They recognised that his instructions were given so that they might be benefited, and there was not a merrier partv to be found than the Canadians. They also had the goods, and were going to deliver them. He was of opinion that they were by far the strongest combination that had visited New Zealand, and it would require the New Zealand test, team to give of ..their best if thev were to hold the vistiors and prevail in the series of matches that are to be played. Summing up tlie match, the Canadian team showed strength in all departments of tlie game—hefty kicking when necessary, perfect ball control, accurate short passing, clean tackling, that sense of anticipation. which is so necessary when a game is fast, and the “daisy cutter” style of putting tlie ball from one player to another, iwhich is so much to be preferred .to rliigh kicking, which allows a defender to' get to the .player before the ball is playable. They seldom allowed Taranaki to come over the haf-wav line. Turner and Archibald were the pick of a splendid line of forwards, but every man of the team could be termed fin artist in.the position he occupied. The Taranaki team played as well as the Canadians would let them, and the second half of the match was simply, a practice for the visitors. “Onlooker” is of opinion that had they wished to double the first half score they’ would have had no difficulty in accomplishing the feat, and can only reiterate the fact that the Canadian “soccer” team is the best that has yet been seen in New Zealand.