SOCCER

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12455, 25 May 1926, Page 11

SOCCER

WxXL DONE, MARIST! With their backs to the wall, Marisl came to light in the last half-hour of the game with Y.M.C.A. and pulled it out of the fire. Two goals down at halftime, they did not promise to make a fight of it until the second spell was well on the way. After their first goal they improved a little, but they were held for the next quarter of an hour, when they managed to equalise. « • # • It was a new lease of life, and Y.M., instead of being aggressive, became the defenders, and poor ones at that. The halves lost their sting, and both backs faded out, run off their legs, and Prince and McGirr have never appeared at such a disadvantage before this season. Marist made very good use of tactics when the weakness appeared. When the defence drew back on goal they attacked the wings; when the backs drew out they pressed through the centre, and the halves gave them all the support they wanted. Pearson, at centre-half for Y.M.C.A., was far from a success, and Banks, the junior who filled Eton's place, did more than could reasonably have been expected from him. Trott played his steady old game, btft was tired at the end. Ewing was not to blame for any of the goals, and he made many splendid saven. Once he caught the ball from a high dropping shot, and took a drop-kick to clear. Marchment jumped in on him and met the ball with the sole of his boot, but luckily for Ewing the leather went over the top. Y.M C.A. missed W. Nicolle, the brilliant outside right, who had his leg broken a fortnight ago and is in hospital. He is about the best right winger l in New Zealand, and as clean a player as one could meet in a day's march. A couple of seasons with Y.M. have shown him to be a real find and good enough for any company in New Zealand. Worth deputised for him on Saturday, and promises to become a useful man in that position with more experience. Dempster's fondness for the limelight led to Marist taking the lead. He had hardly a hope of going through on his own, but essayed a solo effort rather than swing out to the wing. He met Thomas, who proved the better man, and the Marist centre-half made so good use of the opening that inside a minute it had been converted into a goal. Marist were going now with the vim with which they started, but they nearly left it too late. .Rudolph, the right half, should try and get out of that way of sliding under the feet of opposing players. He is an artist at the trick, and while it is not altogether illegal, it is sometimes dangerous, and then it comes within the scope of the referee to deal with. One or two referees have been dealing with it, and twice Rudolph was penalised for it on Saturday. There is a good chance of the other fellow getting his shins raked with the spikes on his boots, and it is. satisfactory to see that the referees are coming down sharply on anything that savours of dangerous play. Rudolph may be on the small 6ide, but he is speedy and tricky, and the sooner he leaves this one out of the box the sooner he will find more admirers. One or two others are disposed’ to revert to it occasionally, but not to the same extent. , McElligott was a glutton for work. He changed places to go inside in the second spell, and be put a good deal of heart into the Marist forwards. Once lie tried a solo effort, but came in collision with the defence and was in agony for a moment or two in consequence. After Frank O'Connell had attended to him he continued playing. Trott also had a “smack up,'* arid required the St. John man for a moment; and H. Rudolph had a bad spin for five minutes with cramp. • « • • The Soccer on the Basin this season bas been exceptionally good, and the growing crowds show that the public are appreciating it. Saturday's game was spectacular and exciting, and was one of those surprise results that the si>ectators delight in. * * * * SPARKLING AT LAST Nearly halfway through the season the Diamonds have given a glimmering of sparkle at last, and broke tlicir “duck” last Saturday at the expense of Brook* lyn. The Brooklyn lads are a sport- ! ing crowd, and although they were not ! out to give anything away, even to Diamonds, they least of any will grudge Diamonds their initial win. Until 10 days ago Ronnie McLeod had always been a wing player, but the selection committee, idealising the need for more ginger in the centre forward posij tion, tried him out there last Saturday j week for the first time. The experiI ment promised well, and was carried on ; last Saturday, when Ronnie opened the | score for his side. Another game or two in this position j and he may come right into the front | rank of centre-forwards. Ho is fast, a I good opportunist, knows where the goal is, and is not afraid of tackling. Who says Diamonds will not have a man, noe--1 sibly two, in the “Po«siblc-Probabics” I match ? I * * ! Brooklyn should not do more experimenting with their team than can be j helped at this stage of the season. Tn--1 juries have upset arrangements a bit, but why was Bowyer left out of the halves? Hcarne was back in Diamonds team after tho nasty crack which ho got at Association Park a fortnight ago. Ho i won't bo out of it if ho can help it. He was a great support to the forwards. • • « * Alec. Auld is back in the black jersey again. He left Diamonds to go to Hospital, but lias now come back to his old love. Ballard, brother of Charles, is improving, and is doing better at hnlf ! than in the forwards. I?o is not in his brother's class yet. • * • • Bolt, who last season played hnlf. is now being tried out on the right wing. More will be heard of Diamonds yet. • * a • THISLES WITHOUT STING More changes, and not. for the bettor. It was thought that the Thistle had just about settled down for the season, of | course barring accidents, but they made I more alterations last Saturday, and paid I fnr it. Hospital simply romped round 1 them. On the first spell Hospital were not

two goals better than Thistle, for a clever bit of work by Logan and Twynara deserved its reward, but l’oiteous was in great form and not only saved the shot, but cleared a dangerous flag kick in great .style. On his form this season he should be considered for rep. honours. * * * # Thistle's promising start in the second spell proved but a flash in the pan, foi the effort exhausted, Hospital took control and held it to the end, beating Kirkland on five occasions. What is apparent is that Hospital have three or four men whose form is so good that they may be regarded as probables rather than possibles. Gibb should be a cert, and Newman, Anderson and Simon cannot be ignored. * * * * mV^°°i an was most conspicuous in the Thistle attack, but Lothian had not been an - ou tstanding success at centre forward. It is goals that count, and up to now Thistle only have nine to their credit m six games. Only Diamonds have done as poorly as that, and circumstances liavo been against them. ■ „ T f r r ! ."Taylor « a s back in lik, old place in Hustle defence, lint his display was nothing to write about. Of course it was not to he expected that he would shine in his first game, and on a waterlogged ground too. POSSIBLES-PROBABLES A nice little problem for Messrs Williams, Godbcr. and Wilson. On them is the responsibility for finding the tenm which is to meet the powerful combination which is coming down from Auckland on June 26th, determined to administer tile coup de grace to Wellingtons aspirations in the F.A. tronhv competition. ~1 x Jl * as & be recognised from the start that Auckland will be the most serious rnals in the competition, although Canterbury can put up a tough proposition as was evidenced when they defeated Wellington S—3 nn the Basin last year. The selectors fully realise that they have a big task, but the bright feature is that they have taken it in hand m good time. They will in the course of a fe "l flnjs be selecting teams for the possibles - probables’' match, which is to be played at Kelburn Park on the morning of the King’s Birthday, June One difficulty they have to face is the S'w”' 8 ' ori of . Monawatu, Wanganui, and Wnirarapa in the team. The F \ trophy is for competition between four cnt. Ol >.Jn S ° Cla * : ' Ol ' s V but cacll association ran call upon players in any of the minor or sub-associations in their re provinces. . 0 liaTnf t wef P u rtUail7 . have our selectors naci ot -Hatching performances of players in other centres? They can only act on the advice of the local selectors, and it is possible that each of the three minoi fn™ 1 ™ 10 ”' Wellington province base one or two players each up to representative standard. ' For the moment we must confine our attention to the clubs in the Wellington Association, and see what material is offering for the selection of a first-class rep. team. * • * « Of the goalies Tarrant. McVean, and Foiteous Hell deserve consideration, anil perhaps Cutler. Taking them all round PorteoUs seems to hav& been ns consistent ns any. * • • • There is a dearth of good backs. Some are good individually, but tlie difficulty '® t 0 R. et i a ' ,alr work well together i!or that reason it may be better to select, a couple of pairs of club backs who know each other's wavs rather than two good individual players who do no*work well together in harness. For in'l a ?. c 6„ , G , ,bl ; (Hospital) and McGirr (Y.M.C.A.). both good hacks, do not make n good pair. Not that they won’t, but they don t. * • * * So why not McGirr and Prince (Y.M j ™,V °?. a ,P a ’ r ' and Gi bb and Thompson (Hospital) for another pair. It will be argued that there are other backs like 1 itzgerald and Hearne, but they hnve been in the wars and are 100 likely to crack up," and this applies to other players who would otherwise lie entitled to consideration. This is going to be a bad tecrap with Auckland and possible crocks G. Wotherspnon (Thistle) and . , udolpli (Marist) may catch the eves of the selectors. * * * * The easiest part of the job is the selection of halves, for there is some very good material to choose from McKee (Hospital) should be tlio centre half, Burke (Marist) left half, and either Thomns (Marist), or Simon (Hospital) for the other side. Then there are Bell (Thistle). Trott (Y.M.C.A.) —the last not brilliant hut consistent and hard—and McArthur (Institute). Some of the forward positions are. fairly easy to pick, but other* ar*» hard, very hard. The loss of Nicolle (Y.M.) makes the right win# the hardest of all. The best solution seems to be to try Logan (Thistle) in that position, although he is usually a left winger, but his versatility is in his favour. Otherwise McElligolt or Anderson should go there, but Anderson (Hospital) is better inside, and Dempster is a dashing inside right, but is too selfish. It is the team spirit that counts. * # * * Genrdic Campbell seems to be out of it for the present, so the choice is very restricted. Newman (Hospital) is about tho best, and McLeed (Diamonds) may show bis worth at that position in the next week or two Lothian has not shown himself good enough so far. Charlie Ballard., although a winger, might be worth considering as the pivot of the forwards, but Newman should have a place, with Lothian as a possible inside left. Stark (Y.M.), is doing well, and Stocks (Diamonds) once showed signs of nomine to the front. Then there is Cudby (Marist) as a left winger, and May (Institute). Smyth, of senior B, is a vory promising lad. • • ' » * Two selections therefore are:— Tarrant; Prince and McGirr; Thomas, McKee. Burke; Logan, Dempster, Newman, Lothian. Ballard. Porteous; Gibb and Thompson: Bell, Jeffreys, Simon; McElligott,'- Anderson, McLeod, May and Cudby. Reserves—McVean, 11. .Rudolx>h, Trott, Stark, Daniello. • # * • A NAP HAND The Waterside team ns a whole did not play up to their usual standard on Saturday. The combination of the forwards ami understanding of the defence were below par. Of course the heavy nature of the field had much to do with their poor showing. ' Institute, on the other hand, were combining their piny splendidly, and the half-backs were feeding their front lino in fine style. Institute well earned the victory of five goals, which might have been doubly increased. The bulk of the defence of the wharfies fell on the shoulders of Albert Bolton, left back. Turner turned some good shots away, but was not his self, .being weak in many respects. Bolton —who is gradually coming to the fore as a back—did some very good defensive work for his team. Ho is a valuable player to his club. Neil McArthur was Ihe star half nn the field Time and again he set bis forwards on the move. J-To played a wonderfully heady game. * * • * Art. Tarrant spent a lazy time in goal

for Institute, having very little to do. He had a few good Tins to divert from McKay, but not sufficient to keep him warmed up to it. Wellwood and McKay were the most prominent of the Waterside attack, McKay being tho star. Wellwood made several good rallies, but did not seem to have the same persistency as McKay. McKay never gave u|i hope, anti was about tho only wharfie to give Tarrant something to really do. The Institute inside trio, Maddox, Gill and May, are pretty to watch wsen on the attack. Their understanding of each other’s play is almost perfect. May was the shining light of the line, but both Maddox and Gill were also prominent. May’s play on Saturday was such that it drew the attention of one of the selectors. Without Maddox and Gill to assist him he would never have come on so quickly. Some of Jimmy Smith’s centres were noticeably feeble. However, he showed much improvement as the game advanced. Jimmy can still hold his own with any as a winger, and Institute know it too well. * * * * Mathers did not find the heavy going to his liking, for he had several good chances, but failed. His outside partner, Dick Nickless, endeavoured to work up some combination with him, but Mathers was not having any. Gerald Bell and Calvert are a safe pair of backs for Institute. Bell is the more brainy player of the two. He proved a source of much annoyance to the attack, time and againsending them back. The respective centre-half-backs, Jeffries (Institute) and McLelland (Waterside) both played up to reputation. Jeffries showed better, understanding than McLelland with his front line. The Institute half has been longer at the game than McLelland, but the young Watersider is coming on splendidly. * * * * Cox allowed May to draw from him his charge twice, and on both occasions Gill netted Despite the big score of five against him, Cox diverted many ugly shots, and altogether gave a good exhibition between the sticks.