ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3886, 4 September 1928, Page 53

ASSOCIATION.

By

Corner Kick.

CHATHAM CUP FINAL. Northern’s second venture in quest of the Chatham Cup trophy again proved unsuccessful. The team was defeated in the final at Wellington by the Petone Club by the narrow margin of 1 goal to nil. The winners’ score was not the result of a brilliant effort. Farquhar took a long shot from 30 yards out, and Coates, in attempting to head clear, deflected the ball into the net. The mistake, which was a most unfortunate one for the local team, was commonly attributed to Scouler in error. Northern was unfortunate, too, in the fact that M’Tavish, the regular centre-forward, notified the club of his inability to travel at the last minute, and the veteran Ruddiman was prevailed on to fill the vacancy. The actual gate money was a record for a Chatham Cup final, the total amounting to £lBO, and the visiting team wiM get back all the expenses of the trip. As a result of injuries, both Scouler and Baird will be unable to turn out for the remaining engagements of the Northern Club. Commenting on the match, the Wellington Evening Post states: — A wildly enthusiastic crowd of about 5000 witnessed the last stage of the triumphant march of Petone along the hard route to the Chatham Cup final at the Basin Reserve. A stirring game, typical of Cup Tie fixtures, ended in Petone defeating Northern (Otago), the South Island champion club by the closest of margins—1 goal to nil. The ground was much better than was expected after the heavy rainfall of the previous day, and except for a fairly strong southerly the conditions were almost ideal. Northern struggled along bravely against the wind in the first half, and although Petone scored the only goal of the match before the interval, the southerners’ mastery of the ball and footcraft was superior to that of the Wellington team. The supreme test came m the second half, and Petone, by a fine display of courage and stamina, held the precious one goal lead so dearly won in the first half, and left the field amid tremendous enthusiasm victors. Northern proved worthy foemen, and upheld their reputation for clean, sound football. Neither side was particularly good in combination, but, if anything, the visitors were the better in footwork and as tacticians. Northern failed in front of the goal, and had the best advantage been taken of the fine play of the wingers Petone would have required more than one goal to win. The whole of the Northern defence lines were splendid, and not once did the Petone inside men get through, and the one goal scored came from a long shot by Farquhar. M Cormack, M’Lean, and M’Dowell were the best of the visitors’ forwards. Petone's forwards made the mistake of using the M formation instead of the better W method of attack in the first half. The left wing pair were really weak for a great part of the game. Steel was none too safe, Haines being the better back. Petone owe their win chiefly to the great play of both M’Vean and Campbell. The Petone centre-half was in the thick of the battle the whole 90 minutes, and stood out most conspicuously of the 22 players. Both sides were given * glorious opportunities whiqh were not taken. Both, too, had a slice of luck hovering in the background.

MR COATES PRESENTS CUP. Both teams assembled on the grand stand at the close of the game, when the massive silver trophy was presented to M'Vean, the captain of the winning team, by the Prime Minister, Mr J. G. Coates, who also presented medals to the members of the winning team. There was a sea of faces in front of the stand, and the Minister was accorded a very hearty reception. . Mr F. Campbell, chairman of the council of the New Zealand Football Association, introduced the players to Mr Coates, who shook hands with each of them. Both he and Mr Campbell congratulated Petone upon their success, and Northern upon the splendid fight they had made. In fact, said the Prime Minister, it looked in the first half as ifthere was only one team in it. They knew Petone were good, but not quite so good. Good sportsmanship had been shown on both sides. The following is the list of winners of the Chatham Cup trophy to date:— 1923 — Seacliff (Dunedin). 1924 — Harbour (Auckland). 1925— Y.M.C.A. (Wellington). 1926 — Sunnyside (Christchurch). 1927 — Ponsonby (Auckland). 1928 — Petone (Wellington). SCHOOLS’ TOURNAMENT. Under the auspices of the South Island Primary Schools’ Association formed at Christchurch last year, this year’s tournament took place at Greymouth. This was the first ocasion that Westland _ has been honoured with the competition, and those who made the trip speak very highly of the arrangements for their comfort, the only objection being the necessity of having to ’ play two matches in one day. This, however, has always been a bug-bear at previous tournaments. On the way up and back, passing through Christchurch, the Ot*go boys were well treated by their Christchurch friends, and Mr Wallace, who was in charge of the party, speaks very favourably of their conduct both on-and off the field. The A team from Otago, whilst not being successful in bringing away the shield with them, acquitted themselves verv creditably, ana had the honour of defeating the Canterbury A team. Reporting on the tournament, the Grey River Argus states: Very bad Conditions prevailed for the concluding matches at Victoria Park of the South Island Primary Schools’ Association tournament, in which nearly 70 players from the Dunedin, Christchurch, and West Coast districts took part. The f round. was a quagmire, and the boys ound it very hard to hold, their feet, whilst the play proved most arduous, and at times much slower than it would have otherwise, been. The result of the tourney Was a win for the Canterbury B team, which did not lose a game, and won four of its, five matches, the draw being that in which it met the Otago A team, which was the runner-up with three wins and two draws. It had been anticipated that this team would fight out the final, but

the Coast A team, who filled third place, gave them a very hard tussle in the last match of the tourney, and neither side scored, thus leaving Canterbury B team a point to the good. The positions of the teams were as follow:— Team Points. Canterbury 8., .. .. .. 9 Otago A 8 Coast A .. .. 7 Canterbury A .. .4 Otago B 2 Coast B 0 The success of the winning team was due partly to the fact that many of its members are good-sized boys for their a K e >. and, despite a lack of combination at times, their individual work was often excellent. Otago A probably showed the most scientific football, combining finely, but the winners showed their quality b) playing a draw with the runners-up at the outset of the tourney. The players in the leading teams were:— Canterbury B: Casson; Cooper and Mitchell; Cook, Matthews, and Carter; Hall, O’Reilly, Cole, M’Cann, and Jordan. Otago A: Anderson; Simpson and Ruddiman; Ramage (captain), Ross, and Houghton; Brown, Beattie, Crabb, Cope, and Campbell. West Coast A: Speakman; H. Lindbom and Marsh; Walworth, Kiely, and White; Roberts, De Freatus, Boote, Duffy, and M’Hugh. As the result of a ready response locally to the request for subscriptions to defray the cost of the trip, it is pleasing to record that the association will not be required to make up any deficit. SECOND ROUND OF THE KNOCK-OUT. FOUR TEAMS IN SEMI-FINAL. Fine, warm weather conditions prevailed on Saturday, when the second round of the local knock-out competition was played. Maori Hill. Northern and Mornington were successful in their respective games, and these teams, together with Seacliff, who had the bye, will take part in the semi-final. The games resulted as follows:— Maori Hill 3 goals, Technical nil. Northern 5 goals, Mosgiel 2 goals. Mornington 3 goals, Y.M.C.A. 2 goals. THIRD GRADE. Leith 1, Technical nil. Port B 5, Northern C nil. FOURTH GRADE. Port 12, High School VII nil. E.F.A. TROPHY.

AUCKLAND DEFEATS WELLINGTON WELLINGTON, September 2. In the match played on the Basin Reserve, Auckland beat Wellington for the E.FA. Trophy by 3 goals to nil, before a good attendance. Wellington made several chances in the team from the one that defeated Canterbury, and Auckland was strongly represented. The Governor-General and his staff were present. The teams were as follow:— Auckland.—Batty, Garrodd, Simpson. Tinkler, Christie, Jones, Humphries', Innes, Spencer, Davies, Chalmers. Wellington.—Fletcher, Steel, M’Girr, Farquhar, J. Campbell, M’Cormack, Barton, H. Campbell, Longbottom, Smith, Stark. Mr B. Martin was referee.

Soon after the kick off a clever breakaway by Auckland on the left brought disaster to Wellington. Chalmers raced along and squared to Innes, who put the ball in the corner of the net out of Fletcher’s reach. Auckland 1, Wellington nil. The visitors were playing fine football. Stark, with a great burst, beat Christie, and sent in a heavy drive, which found Batty saving miraculously. A second later H. Campbell shot again, and the save of the Auckland goalkeeper nearly “brought the house down.” Auckland went away again, combining well, until Chalmers sent in a good kick from the wing. Fletcher saved splendidly. A second later the Auckland forwards showed pretty combination in Wellington’s penalty area, but this was overdone, and Steel kicked clear. The first corner in the game came off Farquhar from Chalmers. The winger placed file ball perfectly in the goal mouth for Innes to add the finishing touch. Auckland 2, Wellington nil. The local team was trying hard to score, and better results would have followed if Stark had lifted the ball into the goal mouth inste: of shooting for the goal. Longbottom was giving Stark every chance, and the winger was not slow to respond, being the only Wellington forward up to this juncture who was worth his salt. Chalmers, on the extreme left for Auckland,' was also playing an excellent game, beating the opposition time and again. J." Campbell opened up well to his forwards, and, with the ball in the penalty area, some good chances were given, but not one of the inside men was equal to the task. Keeping* up steady pressure, Auckland again found the net, the kicker being the ever-waiting Innes. Auckland 3, Wellington nil. Play was now up and down, with Auckland always having a little in reserve. Wellington was giving a lamentable exhibition of football, but M’Cormack, with a pass, sent Stark away, the winger parting splendidly to Smith, who shot point blank for goal. Batty made a fine save from the rebound. Longbottom fired one in, but the keeper was at the top of his form, and cleared for a corner. Half time was then called with the score: Auckland 3, Wellington nil. In the second half Auckland pressed from the start, but Wellington had now wakened up, and was playing with better understanding. Farquhar was instrumental in opening a likely Wellington attack, sending the ball over to Stark, who lobbed it into the centre. H. Campbell hit the ball with the wrong part of his foot, and it rolled past. From Wellington’s goal kick Christie received, and sent out to Chalmers, the winger squaring to Innes, who completely missed, allowing M’Girr to clear. In a moment Wellington was at the other end, where the usual playing round in the penalty area took place. The ball hen went out to Barton, whose header dropped on to the top of the net. Another excellent chance for Wellington was missed by H. Campbell, who was off his balance when he received a pas from Stark. After the winger had. brought the ball well up, Farquhar had a great shot from well out, but

found Batty safe. The Auckland halves and forwards were playing great football, passing to each other with perfect understanding. Every man was in his place, and there were no wasted b-alls. M Cormack and Stark brought play cleverly to the other end, the latter spoiling by shooting past. A few seconds later Wellington was nearly through, but the finishing effort of -Smith just grazed the post, with Batty beaten. .With time drawing on Auckland was simply playing with the Wellington defence, giving a delightful exhibition of how the game should be played. Stark raised Wellington’s hopes when he dashed through after receiving a perfect pass from Longbottom. the winger’s shot unfortunately going past the far post. Another good chance was missed by Wellington. Longbottom received from M’Cormack, and passed to Smith, who had a clear goal. To the consternation of everyone, he sent past. In the dying moments, Stark struck the bar with a left-foot drive, and from the rebound Farquhar sent in a solid first-timer. Time was called soon after, Wellington saying good-bye to the coveted trophy. The final score was:— Auckland 3 goals. Wellington Nil. AUCKLAND GAMES. AUCKLAND, September I. Belmont 5 beat North Shore 1. Onehunga 1 beat Y.M.C.A. nil. CHRISTCHURCH RESULTS. CHRISTCHURCH, September 1. Villa 2 drew with Western 2. Sumner 3 beat Thistle 2. Nomads 1 drew with St. Albans 1. Rangers 1 drew with Brighton 1.