Page 15 Advertisements Column 2

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7871, 5 August 1911, Page 15

Ibut some elevens do not toko, too innclj but of themselves in the first halt, nut Test content with the knoweldge that they can win the game; in the second half. Our team use dilfercnt tactics. Wo work our very hardest till half time, even though it cost us tho energy that would last .us the game through. During tho first forty-five minutes all our, time is spent in attack. We spare no. thing to obtain goals. If our opponents score two goals through, a weakened do* fence it does not make the slightest difference to ns if we caa obtain three, .have heal'd "many hard* words spoken, against our rushing methods of the hrsfcj .half, but I believe in scoring the first* goal because it moans that after that time your opponents are always fighting ' the uphill battle. Playing Three Forwards. At the commencement of the second half our team is drawn up in the usual, way, and so long as wo are easily holding what small advantage we may have obtained wo remain like this. But the moment I think wo are likely to lose it, our tactics are at once altered. As tho. majority of tho sporting public know, we have two exceedingly fast outside men. Wall on tho left and Meredith on the right, also a bustling centre-forward, in. Turnbull. These three men have very often been our sole attack for half an hour at a time. Tho two inside men drop back about a dozen yards in a direct lino with their old positions, and might bo called three-quarter backs, and the three ’halves remain just behind thorn. Wall and Meredith hug the touch line so that.it takes an opposing half-back to look after each one, thus preventing them from giving any extra assistance to tfieir forwards./' Owing to tho .fact that we only have three forwards instead of fivo, there is a big space between Turnbull and Wall and the centre-for-ward and Meredith, through which our three-quarter backs are ready to dash as soon as an opportunity presents itself. This method is only used when we have gained an advantage over our opponents ‘and time is croeping'om It. was worked with considerable success during tho season 1907-0 S when we won the League championship, as tho great nuin- [ ber of goals wo scored in tho first half |of the season will show. All these goals were scored through our opponents not knowing what we meant by playing only three forwards and our inside men dashing through and scoring before they could realise what our intentions were. Tho way to prove tho success of a method of this kind is to take the results of matches over a prolonged period, for however sound a scheme may be you cannot expect it to come off every time. I can remember last season when the United lost four matches in a month, there were a number of letters in the papers pointing out that there* was toov much \ attack and no defence in our game. In reply .to all .these critics., we]