ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18545, 4 May 1922, Page 2

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL NOTES

By Corner Kick. Once, again, the winter season is with us. and althou&lHti seems' no, time since :Corner Kick’,"put doWSm his-jicn', -football has opened for another year. There has been no marked difference either "way in the number of teams'playing in'The O.F.A.’s competitions, but: the interest-' is very much greater, no doubt, throughr 'the promised visit of the, Australians,; ’ln this respect players will be interestejd to know that the passages across for “thh Aussies” have been fixed. , They will be; with us in Dunedin, probabiy. by the first express from the north on Monday, .JiJne 12 arid play Otago hero on Wednesday, May 14, arid New Zealand — the first test—on Saturday, May 17. The annual meeting of the New, Zealand ■Football Association was held in Wei-. lingtdn, .last Thursday evening, and Otago was represented by its two delegates, Mr C. E. f ordham. who lives in Wellington, and .Mr. L. H. Scott, of Dunedin. The latter 1 tabled a lengthy report at Monday night’s . meeting of The 0.F.A., the chief item ',‘6l; which concerned the Australian tour. •'< : i It .is ,hoped that suitable grounds will be obtained for both games—preferably Carisbrook, r 'The O.R.F.U. has already been approached by the 0.r.A., and there is every prospect of the executive of the bigger winter;, sport materially assisting its sister code. ";”! ‘ • • , Tljef/'selection of the Otago team ’will require' the attention of the selectors within the next three weeks, at any rate. Quite a good side is .available for selection, arid in this, connection,, it is worthy , of ; note thateapim© seasoned players--are'-again to be fpiind.in the ranks of their old chibs. ■ Th'e'-'Ne'W; Zealand sides are to be selected by Mr B. L. Salmon, of Wellington, who who has been 'appointed sole selector. As far as Otago is concerned, he, will co-operate with Mr W. Fullartbq;,qf; this city. The First Grade competition nag grown by the inclusion of the tWoTlpw, teams—Seacliff and Taieri. This will mean a little extra travelling by the town 'elevens, but, as the distance is short, the fixtures'against these teams should, prove interesting breaks for the city sides in the course of the two rounds. '1 "Corner Kick” understands, the Seacliff ground has. been considerobly altered and improved, and its turf now compares more than favourably with that of any of the to\yn grounde,"'*""" ; Seacliffteam is ouitc new grade footballj .and .in Spite vof) being up .'against last year's'dup wirmfers; they put-up a good fight last Saturday. Experience will teach, arid ’ when: they get learned in the art of combined play! the town teams will require to'-he dn-,;the 'qtdS* * - Maori -Hill; . who did so* well •towards the end of last season, are fvgarff •‘'gbirigf' to he a good side. They had - Northern thinking on. Saturday. . ; The correct; score in the match.Kpitangata v. . Southern was four goals to nil in. favour of„' the former. ' . . ' Association Football is in a very ■ flourishing condition in. the North..lsland, according to information ■ received Jrom-Northern assciations. 'Wellihgf6n Idftd-the way, with some 116 teams in the various .competitions and Auckland run "a’ vdrycldsc Sfecond with three-figure entries. The Manawatu Association which has only been in. formation for a year, is. making great strides, and as evidence of the popularity of-the game’in. Palmerston North, this association controls 16 teams, including six senior teams. The code has also been introduced into the schools and the Manawatu Association are to be congratulated on its success. According to the Canterbury delegate on the New Zealand Football' -. Association the prospects of the. season in Canterbury are excellent. Thirty-one'entries have been received, including nine senor teams, and it-is pleasing to report that the game has been revived in Ashburton. , Ashburton has been allocated a match against the visiting Australian team this season, and this fact should be a big incentive to the progress of the game there. Canterbury, also report that four secondary schools have adopted the ‘‘Soccer” code, and some interesting football should be seen, when these teams challenge for the Skerrett Cup,, that magnificent trophy at present held by the Otago Boys’ High' School. The great trouble throughout New Zealand to-day, which is .impeding the progress of the;, game, is the acute shortage of suitable grounds. The Wellington Assosiation is - very fortunate *in This respect. Some years ago they purchased “Association Park” and at the present day owe only, about £7OO on this very fine property of six and a-balf acres. Only recently they refused an offer of £7500 for this ground, and it v. seems •) that - the' Otftg.o - 'Assftoiatibn acted very un.visely when they sold Corinthian Park some 10 years ago—what a glorious opportunity it missed. At the time of purchase “Association Park” was valued at roughly £3OOO, and although the Wellington Football- Association had great difficulty in meeting its obligations, to-day it owns one of the finest grounds in Wellington. ‘ JUNIOR JOTTINGS. The Oval was in good order and conditions were, generally conducive to good football, albeit the rather long grass showed the game pp a bit. Halfway lines and centre circles should be marked on all the grounds, and corner flags procured. Major Fleming had the early match on No. 2 ground to referee, and once started (Y.'M.CTA. being slow to muster), had a snug task. High School were soon, goalhunting, and notched a .couple before the game was very old. Their new forward line will take some licking into shape- to show; the combination of last year’s line, but the energy and will are there, . and prao.tice will do a lot. The left-winger played a fine game, until a twisted ankle intervened.—Hard luck. ThaV. inside right wants plenty of shooting practice. Y.M.C.A.’s forward work was slow and lacking in combination, -and waa easily dealt with by High School’s sound defence. The Y.M. forwards need to swing .the ball about a good deal more, centre to wings and . vice versa. Their full backs, right or left as the ball is situated,'should stand, much closer ;up to' the the , one covering the other at an angle and say 15 yards back. Let them remember how, their opponents’ backs placed them-! selves and do likewise. _The Second Grade match between Old Boys and Christian Brothers provided a stremious go in which the. Old Boys lasted the/ better. The game was chiefly a tussle between four good Old Boys’ forwards and v <jentre-hajf, and the Christian Brothers’ The latter had heaps to do,- and, with the goalie, did it well, although visibly feeling the strain of the pressure towards the end of the game. The --Greens’- forwards showed little combination, their bag of six goals- being largely presented to them by several weak spots in the Old Bpys’ de*®n°e-‘, The Green wingers were weak. Much wor k on the part of the Greens’ half-backs was wasted by their forwards failing to secure the ball quickly. Too often they; were, smothered before being able . to do anything to advantage with;, the’.ball. In this respect, the Old Boys’ centre-half did a great lot of useful spoiling work. Towards the end of the game he was getting :,.too far forward. The Old Boys did not improve their combination by shifting the left wing to inside right. He was a “passenger” throughout; and., could well have.been left out on the wing. Perhaps the hat had something to do with it. Am surprised, Old Boys, to feee a forward wearing !a hat. I The Christian Brothers team needs to complete its supply of jerseys—it is not usual to see such a motley set of colours representing Christian Brothers. Likewise Southern on the next ground. Their, game with Morningtop was. ragged enough without-being made to 1 appear more so by the variegated colour scheme. Last year on the Oval on one occasion -(Fairfield v. Technical Old Boys, I think) 1 actually counted 14 different jerseys worn by 22 players! How do the referees manage? In this respect I might mention that the Referees’ Association brought the matter before the meeting on Monday night, and it is hoped that the junior players will take the hint.

The Southern-Mornington game calls for little enthusiastic comment, but doubtless each Saturday will see rapid improvements in the combination and skill of these teams. “Soccer” 'lends itself to rapid improvement with match practice and greater physical fitness. To maintain a really fast game requires plenty of “bellows.”- 5