ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Southland Times, Issue 23311, 22 September 1937, Page 14

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

THISTLE BEATEN BY CAVERSHAM

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INSIDE RIGHT)

The friendly Association football match between Thistle, the leading Invercargill .team, and Caversham, the winner of *the Dunedin B grade competition, at Invercargill on Saturday provided a good exhibition of the code. It was played throughout at a fairly fast pace and it was noticeable that as the game went on Thistle began to find the pace a little too fast.

Early in the season Thistle was easily the fittest side in the competition and was always going strongly in the final stages of a game. In some of the latter matches, however, it tired long before the final whistle. On Saturday, in particular, Thistle appeared to be a well beaten side half-way through the second half. In the first half the home team, playing good football, scored four goals and should have got more. But it was noticeable that when G. Sutherland retired because of the recurrence of an old injury the combination of the Thistle forwards went to pieces. The Thistle backs must be given credit for some solid work in the second half. McMurdo, the O’Rorke brothers and Muirson, in particular, played good games. Muirson is a promoted junior player, but, on his form on Saturday, he should be playing permanently in the senior ranks next season. His dis - play in goal was excellent. Caversham is a young side and although it failed to hold Thistle in the first half, superior speed and fitness resulted in it turning a deficit of three goals at the interval into a win by one goal at the end of the game. The visiting players showed more cohesion

in their work as the game progressed and, led by A. Williams and McSkimming, the forwards gave the Thistle defence a worrying time. N. Williams, Truesdale and Reid, in the backs, proved more than a match for the Thistle attack and can take a good deal of the credit for their side’s victory.