ASSOCIATION NOTES.

NZ Truth, Issue 152, 16 May 1908, Page 3

ASSOCIATION NOTES.

(By "G.R.")

The Association match -between the "-Ramblers' and the Wanderers, which" -should have taken place on the Basin Reserve, did not eventuate owing to the groundsman decreeing that the turf was too soft and would be injured by the players "going hell for leather" after the ball. To the writer, this nursing of the Basin Reserve for the benefit of cricketers seems not only absurd, but altogether too unfair to the devotees of the winter games, who far exceed m numbers the cricket players who use the Reserve m summer. As to the footballers injuring the turf,

kthe statement is ridiculous. Football -is flayed on many of the County cricket m England, notably the Notts ►and Yorkshire (Brainhall Lane) grounds. «md yet the cricket pitches do not suffer kou these grounds, but on the contrary,., i|tre henefi.tted by the «*work" put into ■them. ; All that ig.necessary is to give the ! ground a ' rest for a w.eek or two before ,tlue commencement of the season to ensure a perfect vracket. The action of tho : Wellington Rugby -Union m attempting to 'Iboss the show" per medium of the City ■'Council, is one of the most despicable » >acts siroxtsmen can. be guilty of. The Wellington Rugby Union were the cause of the "Soccer" players being banished fromtheir home at. Miramar by the use of that! commodity that . they kave so vigorously •pretended to despise, "fififchy lucre," and .now these atreocates of ""purity of •sport" are desirous of ousting "kindreds* ■«p©rts" from the Basin Reserve, on five* SSaturdays during the season, not for the* reason they {so glibly state— the accommodation of their patrons—but for "sordid i cash;" which the controllers of amateur Rugby would have the public believe, they [would shudder to touch. If it is not the "root of all evil" that the WJLU. areaf- 7 ter. why da they wish ta charge for ad- : mission ?

As there was no play at the Basin, a number of "Soccer" supporters journeyed to Athletic Park to -witness the match between the Swifts and Rovers. In the^ first half the Switts did most of they pressing, but their shooting was miser--'---.able. Wills as a centre-forward, is a fail-, jlire. He is too slow and lacks confidence. Siv himself. Several tiroes he had the goal at his mercy, but preferred to pass to Rogers, even thpugb. that player was not <gp wen placed for the shot at goal. 01-. wer at oiftside left w.as very disappoint?-- - ;:»ng. - He has a .bad habit of running the<i *ball back whlcij series to display his : .clear control and manipulation of 'the !%ill hut dbes'not increase his team's ><shance of gettinjf.,g»ais. If this player. W9QI4 cemfete nuare sickly, his work would be of gr.ea.ter acfeaniage to his side. Thegoal which resulted- from his centre on. iSafesrfay w#s due to the timely manner jjsn vmdx he parted with the ball, and if r le ■will always use the same precision the-' .Swifts should increase their ' goal average. Rangers worked well at inside leftf , *u.t failed to ma£e ojienings for him*e]f. 1 Several tuaej h& could have extricated. Oilier from ttJfficurt positions, had he placed hiHjts»lf m a position where Oilier coylrl have, nassed him the ball. On the riahi wing Scdtt playpd a grand game, alia was well fed by Lowe, who played with his head. Why Dulguan continually left Scott with a clean run m is not understandable. As it was. a judicious long pass by Wills to Scott several times during the game would have resulted m the downfall of the Rovers' goal, but Renfrew apparently cannot pas§ with his left foot, and many splendid opportunities were consequently lost. Grave, Tempest and "White, the Swifts' intermediate line, all taclded well, but each of the trio lacks judgment. F-rjequently these players robbed an opponent! of the ball, and, instead of steadying themselves and passing to their forwards, they kicked the ball m any direction, with the result that their good tackling was spojlt. Similarly with the backs. Pye-Smitb. was a serious offender m this respect. Time after time Pye-Smith robbed the opposing forwards and then lunged viciously at the ball, sending it out of the field altogether. Elson was not 50 bad; he did not rush m so rashly, still liis placing can be considerably improved. The Swifts' backs are a vigorous pair, who play a strong defensive game, but require steadiness when placing the ball. The combination of the Swifts can be considerably improved with a little practice, and a few lessons on tho blackboard on combination should work wonders m the perfection of their methods. The Rovers ? front-rank players were Streets ahead of the Swifts' m their passing and combination. Barry at cen-tre-forward kept his wings together m grand style and passed judiciously to the right or the left as openings presented themselves, his • passes being mainly low down and excellently timed. O'Shea and Martin, on ths left wing, combined well, and the latter had hard luck m not registering a sroal m the second half, Jamicson m goal just getting his fingers to the ball and saving at the expense of a corner, which, however, Mr Davidson, the referee, did not award, bub granted a goal kick. No fault is to be found with Mr Davidson for this ecror, as he wasnstin a position to see, and his decision was therefore correct. The writer, however, was just behind the goal and saw that Jamieson handled thp ball. On the right wing, 'Robinson and Qillespie showed pretty combination and Jamieson on one occasion saved a shot from the former by getting his knee to the ball just as it was about to pass the post. Gillcspie placed some pretty centres, but during tlie last twenty minutes fell off and shot very badly. A centre from Martin was converted into a goal, but should have been saved. Elson, however, obstructed Jamieson's view and the ball passed him unawares. Barnctt at centre-half, was a distinct success, and rendered every as- , tistance to the front rank and was always ready when called upon to defend. W. O'Shea, at left half-back, was. the besfc plajcer on the field, his placing when feedl ing the forwards being excellent and his >-fcaclcling all that could be desired. Bethell at- right half-back was very erratic. He tackled fairly well, but never fed his fprWards properly, simply contenting himself with a long kick, -which, as of ten as not, was speedily returned by the opposing backs. Martin and Duignan are a good pair of backs. The pair have each the usual weakness exhibited by other New Zealand full-backs, that is, they will keep to the centre of the field and neglect the outside men, with the result, .that these were frequently able to gefc a\ long run, unchecked. No half-back can successfully cope with two forwards, and the sooner full-backs realise this the better it will be for their teams. Pull-backs uhould realise that they have a duty to perform m preventing the outside men get* ting m their centre. Under the conditions that are now observed an inside forward ',has only need to draw the opposing halfback, and the outside forward has then a clean run m before the full-back can get from his position to tackle him, whereas if the full-back were m his proper position, he wpuld be able to challenge the outside forward as soon as the ball is travelling m his direction.

The result of the match, one goal each, was not a fair criterion of the play, the Rovers' play being far ahead of that o£ the Swifts'.

If fox-wards would study for a little while the sort of game to play they would quickly realise that the main secret of, scoring goals is to send the ball to the centre whilst the defending backs ; and half-backs are on the run towards their own goal. When the attacking forwards initiate a run that is at all serious, the defending backs and half-backs are compelled to run m the direction ol their own goal, m order to get into a. position to frustrate the attack. Then, invariably, mder these conditions, comes a time when the proper thing for the man m possession pf the ball to do is to centre it or pass it short, or shoot at goal himself whilst the defending backs are yet facing their own goals. If the man misses this opportunity his chance of scoring becomes considerably minimised. The most dangerous manner of attacking goal is, after having got the defenders on the run towards their own goal, when the outside forward gets away with the ball and drives it across goal at the right moment, to allow of the opposite outside or inside forward coming up at full speed, taking the ball at the run and banging at goal. The outside forward's long pass should be timed so that it crosses the goal well out of reach of the goal-keeper, even if he runs out. The outside forward on the opposite wing has then an excellent chance of scoring, as it is very difficult for the defenders to intercept a long pass trom the wing which crosses goal about fifteen yards distant from the uprights.