SATURDAY’S SOCCER

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 12

SATURDAY’S SOCCER

Y.M.C.A. Collapse Before Thistle in Rugged Game

ST. ANDREW’S BEAT ROVERS So*!cer enthusiasts who gathered at North Street Park on Saturday afternoon must have been disappointed. With the grounds in probably the best state they could be and with Thistle meeting Y.M.G.A., both winning teams of the previous week, one would have expected fast, interesting play. Instead, spectators were treated to a patchy exhibition, in which Thistle managed to make better* use of their opportunities. Towards the end of the game Y.M.C.A’s. defence crumpled and it was just a question of straight shooting. The final score was; Thistle 9, Y.M.C.A. 1. ihe notable features of the game were misdirected kicking by the backs and confusion among the forwards. This applied almost equally to both teams. The teams w’ere:— Thistle (maroon): H. Kempson, G. Downes, Boddell, Curtis, Petersen, Hearscy, Young, Moore, Allan, Glaister, Hurcombe. Y.M.C.A. (colours): Davidson, Brougham, Howard, Pritchard, Collis, Carruthers, Ward, Harkness, Dingwall, Harvey, Gatley. Thistle took the initiative from the outset and harried the Y.M.C.A. goalmouth, but the defence held and this, combined with atrocious shooting by the invading forwards, kept Colours goal intact, even to the extent of making a few effective counter-sallies on their own account. One of these reached dangerously near Thistle’s goal, the attackers being awarded a penalty. Dingwall’s kick struck the crossbar. Trapping the ball from the rebound, Allan was off downfield and a bright piece of rush passing among Petersen, Allan, Moore and Glaister resulted in Moore dribbling in close to shoot past the keeper. —Thistle 1, Y.M.C.A. 0. Keeping up a surging attack on Colour’s penalty line, Thistle forwards strove to consolidate their lead. With a sudden burst of speed Peterson and Alllan were away again, Peterson carrying on solo to give the goal-keeper no chance.—Thistle 2, Y.M.C.A. 0. The whistle just saved Y.M.C.A. from another goal, but the Maroons were soon harassing the custodian again. When the goal did come it was a fluke one. From a corner Collis (Y.M.C.A.), who was standing below the crossbar, caught the leather on his head and sent it the wrong way.—Thistle 3, Y.M.C.A. 0. With a sudden inpsired burst Y.M.C.A. swung into attack, taking the defence by storm. They were awarded another penalty and Dingwall made no mistake about it this time.—Thistle 3, Y.M.C.A. 1. From the kick-off Thistle attacked and their forwards, tumbling over one another in their eagerness to score, managed to do nothing but play some amazingly bad football, Y.M.C.A. clearing without much difficulty and attacking brightly in turn. Gatley, on the wing, was rather unlucky when shooting from wide out in the face of attack, he skimmed the ball over the cross-bar. Colours were holding their own and did not seem at this stage by any means a beaten team, albeit a badly harassed one. A clearing rush by the Y.M.C.A. inside forwards saw them come near to registering, but Thistle, taking the goalkick well downfield, soon had the tables turned. Allan secured and made a solo dash. The defence was non-existent. It was not even within sight. He had nothing to beat but the goalkeeper and he took it quietly and made sure of it.— Thistle 4, Y.M.C.A. I. This was the half-time score. The second spell commenced when Allan and Peterson were together in a freak piece of dribbling which ended in both tumbling over each other and the goal-keeper, the ball continuing its merry journey to the b§ck of the net. — Thistle 5, Y.M.C.A. 1. . Smart work by the Colours goalie saved the situation several times, but he could not stop the inevitable. Coming up the wing like a meteor, Hurcombe, centered right to Allan’s toes. The centre-forward transferred to his inside-right, Peterson, who placed the ball well and truly home to give Thistle a 6 —l lead. Play quickly returned to Y.M.C.A. territory, where it now seemed domiciled, Hurcombe being unlucky with a shot which struck the cross-bar and Glaister doing likewise a few moments later. Play was becoming very ragged, both teams settling down to a rally of misdirected and useless long kicking. A hopeful sally by Y.M.C.A. was shortlived and Allen secured and made a dash for the circle, but the custodian beat him cleverly. At last Glaister secured from the wing and shot high and hard. It was only a question of picking it up.—Thistle 7, Y.M.C.A. 1. Following in quick succession came two more goals. Allan secured the first, taking the ball from a smart centre by the right wing, Young, to shoot into the net. Hurcombe beat the goal-keeper with a running kick from a long angle. This brought the score to 9—l, and the final whistle saved a double-figure margin. Mr. A. Locke refereed. Saints Beat Rovers The defeat of Rovers at the hands of St. Andrew’s came as a surprise. The final score was 2—l in favour of St. Andrew’s, the half-time tally being St. Andrew’s 1, Rover 0. For Saints A. Young scored both times, while Cyril Hart was responsible for Rovers’ goal. It was a fairly ragged game, neither side showing last season’s form, cohesion being mostly notable by its absence. The teams were:— St. Andrews; Lyon, Turner, MsSheffery, Peterson, Askam, Stevens, Bell, W. Young, A. Young, Rickard, Horne. Fairclough, Laing, Sullivan, C. Hart, Anderson, Dempsey, Kendall, Pagan, Hart, Donnelly, Armstrong. Mr. S. J. Bennett refereed.