TOWN BEATS COUNTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22469, 13 July 1936, Page 16

TOWN BEATS COUNTRY

THREE GOALS TO ONE Although winning by 3 goals to 1, Auckland 1? gave a disappointing display against Country A. The game in the early stages was fast jfnd fairly open, but later depreciated and, although it was played on an almost perfect surface, there was a surprising amount of mishitting. The teams were:— Auckland B.—Andeison, King. Rowden, Ross, Lawry, Fenton. Alexander, Vipond, Cnrin, Grace. Country A. —N. Franklin, E. Dunning, J. Bellingham, R. Kelly, G. Ashton, C. Harvey. L. Bright, M. Bay (captain), J. Grimmer, L. Wyatt, J. Smith. Auckland did not combine well, and several other weaknesses were revealed in the team. In the second half tho Auckland players, particularly the backs, were tiring rapidly. Although the forwards were all from the same club, they did not appear to be as strong as usual, and made several mistakes in the circle. The halves were fairly strong, but they did not combine with the forwards to the best advantage. King was the better of the Auckland fullbacks, but, like his partner, Rowden, he was obviously tired toward the end. As might be expected, Ray was the most piominent cf the Country forwards, but he showed signs of losing his former dash. All tin forwards worked well together, and in tho first few minutes showed good discrimination in the use of push shots. The Country halves played a solid game, while E. Dunning, at fullback, treated the spectators to one or two of the prodigious hits for which he is noted. In goal was Franklin, who created a fine impression with his keeping during Country Week last year, but although his anticipipation was almost faultless, he occasionally lacked stopping power. Early in the game Bay worked into a scoring position, but his shot went high over the bar. A right-flank movement took Auckland to the other end, where Franklin saved a fast shot from Corin, but when Corin shot again the ball slipped between Franklin's pads. A scramble in the circle gave Fenton a chance to score. Play remained fairly quiet until Vipond netted from a short corner just before half-time, when the score was:—Auckland B, 3; Country A, 0. Immediately after tho interval Ray went through to score, and following that Country bioke through the Auckland defence and pressed round the goal for some time, during which Anderson made several good saves. Just before time Fenton crashed a hard shot into the net, but the goal was disallowed for "sticks." The final score was:—Auckland B. 3; Country A, 1. Messrs. A. Williams and E. J. Hewitt were umpires.