CHATHAM CUP SOCCER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 13

CHATHAM CUP SOCCER.

THE NORTH ISLAND FINAL. HONOURS TO NORTH SHORE. TWO EXTRA SPELLS PLAYED. In the Chatham- Cup contest, which is played annually to decide the premier Association football club team of New Zealand, North. Shore (Auckland), defeated Hospital (Weilinston) by 4 goals to 3 at Blandford Park on Saturday afternoon. The same was the .North Island final -of the series, and the victory entitles the North Shore eleven to contest, the Dominion final ..with Sunnyside, the South Island champion?, at Wellington next Saturday.

Although it was by no means a first-class exposition of football, the match was evenly contested at a rattling pace and was spectaclar to a degree'. There we're few dull moments and the large crowd of spectators thoroughly enjoyed itself. Excitement reached a high pitch when the second spell terminated and the score stood at 3 goals all. This necessitated the playing of two extra spells of 15 minutes. During the first of these, North Shore took the lead and held it.

It is extremely unfortunate ia such an important game that the deciding goal 6hould have been, one that was open to dispute. From the stand and other parts of the ground, Jay,-the North Shore centreforward, who scored it, appeared to be decidedly off-side. The referee's decision was not well received by a large section of the crowd, although the visitors took it in the beßt sporting spirit. At the same time North Shore's performance was most creditable in view of the fact that three of the players had not properly, recovered from injuries, and two of the positions were filled by juniors. In the visiting team there were no fewer than nine representative players. J .. :: Shore Open the Scoring, "Winning the to3S. North Shore defended the Grafton Bridge goal and from the kickoff Hospital penetrated to the home team's area. A free-kick relieved the pressure and for North'' Shore Bird' started Palmer on a raid. The right wing eyaded Syrnon ami Thompson, sending in a high shot that sailed straight for the goal. Porteous fielded the ball and punted clear amid applause. Play hung round Hospital's goal for a few minutes until came to the rescue. Brown received and started his right wing. A' crisp move ended in a smart shot from Anderson. Lipscombe saved at the expense of .a .corner, which, was- not > turned to , account. * " Both sides had now settled down and were doing well on the slippery ground. There was not much attempt at concerted play, but there was plenty of spectacular action, with the scene of operations constantly changing at a rapid pace. In North Shore's half-line Baxter was playing grand football and it was not long before he made an opening for his forwards that wa3 crowned with success. Dacre received and beat Symon cleverly to centre. Jay took up the running and spurted through. Following up like a flash Dacre was in position to accept a pass and score with a stinging shot, giving North Shore the initial lead. Determined retaliation by the visitors followed. Gibb and McKee kept their forwards on the attack with judicious placing, and the North Shore backs were soon hard at it defending. Ferguson and Anderson on Hospital's right were showing good understanding, and only sterling defence by Gerrard held them up. Eventually Ferguson worked clear and swung the ball across. Lambert, on the left wing, hooked the ball to-goal cleverly and found the net, equalising the scores. Visitors Take the Lead.

Ensuing piny was fast and exciting. Bradshaw and Woollev on North Shore's left were frequently making ground, but could not penetrate. A sweeping rush by Hospital endangered the home team's goal and Ferguson wnfl just too high with a neat header. Back again. Hospital were awarded a free-kick for an infringement by Palmer. Symon placed the ball nibely to see hot work in front of North Shore's goal. Anderson beat Jones in an exciting tussle^and scored,with a snap Shot. Hospital, 2; North Shoi'e,' -1. • Those who thought the visitors would now commence to asert their superiority were soon forced to change' their opinion. A few minutes' of stubborn midfield play followed, and then Woolley and Jay for North Shore broke away in a dazzling run down the centre. Beating the whole of the defence Woolley went through to score like a veteran; but the referee had whistled for ft penalty before the ball was netted. Baxter beat Porteous with the spot-kick, and once more the tally was even—two all. From the re-centre the pace became even faster, the players exerting every, ounce of energy. Bradshaw got through on North -Shore's left and shot from almost on the .gbaKKne., Porteous stopped the ball, but fell in doing so, and there was an open goal with nobody up. Hospital were by no means idle and Lambert, on the left', got several good chances, but failed: to use theni. North' Shore's third goal came from the right. Baxter, who had changed to right half, received from Colebourne and made a nice opening for Palmer. ' With brilliant footwork the wing'man beat Symon and Thompson to swing -across a perfect centre with the rest of;his forwards in line. Jay dashed through to put his team in'the lead, . In the closing stages of the spell both goals were often visited and Gerrard was conspicuous in ' defence for. North Shore. Lipsoombe . also saved his charge brilliantly from some difficult shots. H a W _ ti me arrived with the scores: North Shore, 3; Hospital, 2. Even Second Half. On resuming play was even and was carried on> at a merry pace. Hospital made strenuous efforts to equalise and during a hot attack on the North Shore goal, White, the visiting inside left, .was injured and had to, retire for a time, reappearing later with his head bandaged. It was obvious the players of both teams were , feeling the strain and the excitementi Over-eagerness spoiled i chances at both ends when goals looked certain. Twice Woolley hit the upright, and during a Hospital attack Lipsi conxbe was drawn from goal and' Jones just got back in the' nick of time to save from Anderson. " '• " "• As. the spell wore on there was a noticeable slackening off and the shock attacks became only spasmodic. Victory for North Shore looked certain when there was only five minutes to go with the score unaltered. Then Hospital rallied to some purpose. W'hite &ot'ari opening and sent in a light-ning-like drive, which Lipscombe just managed to. turn over the.bar. From the corner North Shore cleared, but Gib.b was immediately back to repeat White's performance. From this flag-kick the ball went to Newman. the visiting centre-forward. With a powerful drive lie scored the best goal of the t day, in spite of the fact that North Shore's >goal was packed. The score was 8 all :and a moment later the whistle sounded for full' time, * ' The Extra Time. Two extra spells were accordingly ordered and amid one continual roai of applause from the onlookers the players seemed to take a new- lease of life. Up and down the-field the ball was carried with renewed vigour. • From a corner against North Shore Woolley 'broke away in a spectacular. solo run down the centre. Ho drew the defence and then put out to Palmer. Jay and Woolley continued to race toward the Hospital goal, getting .well ahead of Palmer, ; who was limping badly. However, the right wing ipanaged a beautiful centre and Jay scored smartly, although he appeared to be well off-side. * . .. I There was no further scoring. The teams ' changed over for the final quarter and continued to battle away gamely, but most of their dash was gone, and the game had developed into an endurance test. Palmer had' to leave the field ' before the final whistle brought a memorable game to a close with the scores:— North Shore .. .. •.. •• f Hospital ... •• ■■ ' S Mr. H. W. Eiddolls was referee. BROWN SHIELD MATCH. WIN FOR SOUTH AUCKLAND. [by telegraph—own correspondent. ] HAMILTON. Saturday. For the third time this season South Auckland has successfully resisted the efforts of visiting teams to wrest from them the Brown Shield. Wangamii were the challengers to-day, and the game resulted in a win for the hom© team by 2 goals to 1. Most of the play in the first half was in the visitors' territory. At halftime the scores we_re:—South Auckland, 2; Wanganui. 0. Play livened up in the second spell and Wanganui had the home team on the defensive most of the time. Just before the game ended the visitors secured their first and only goal. CHRISTCHU RCH COMPETITIONS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. ] CHBISTGHURCH. Sunday. Association football matches' played yesterday: resulted as follow.—Technical Old Boys, 5, v. Lyttelton, 0: Nomads. 3, v. Thistle B. 0; Kaiapoi. 3, v. Villa, 2.