Championship Soccer

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 87, 4 July 1927, Page 11

Championship Soccer

* Thistle Still Leads

Smart Scoring By J. Stewart

THE Soccer championship advanced another stage on Saturday with Thistle continuing on its unbeaten career at the expense of Ponsonby. Barring accidents or arguments, the Scots now appear as certain winners of the senior honours. Shore defeated Northcote comfortably and is again in second place, while Navy and Trams fought a drawn game on the Dock ground. Floods caused the Y.M.C.A. and Onehunga game to he postponed, and also interfered with the progress of the junior competitions.

POSITION OF TEAMS After the second series of the second round the position of the teams is as follows: Gls. Ch. P. W. L D. F. A. Pts. Thistle .. 9 9 Shore .. .. 9 6 2 1 28 14 13 Ponsonby' . . ..9 5 3 1 26 20 11 Tramways .. 9 3 4 2 17 17 8 Navy •. . . . 9 3 5 1 26 24 7 Y.M.C.A 8 2 4 2 17 27 6 Onehunga ..8 1 5 2 14 25 4. Northcote . . 9 1 7 2 14 35 3 THISTLE V. PONSONBY The deluge on Thursday night, ■which caused »the abandonment of all games on the City Council parks, left Blandford Park very soft, but all the surface water had disappeared in a quick fashion, which speaks well for the improved drainage. But further showers as the game progressed made the playing area very sloppy. Despite this a stirring contest was staged with a surprisingly large crop of goals scored. Neither side was at full strength,

Thistle being minus Kay and Hislop, its rep. wing, while Ponsonby missed Innes in the front rank. The veteran, J. Stewart, was the hero of the game, and four of Thistle’s five goals came from his clever opportunism. After travelling down to the third division to carry out some valuable propaganda work with Mount Albert, the old-timer has been a great ..utility man for the Scots, and proved himself a great water dog for the soft road to goal. Ponsonby went off with plenty of dash and looked as thought it might be the first to lower the leader’s colours, but the reconstructed Thistle eleven settled down as the game progressed, and although the “Ponies” put up a gallant fight, they had to admit defeat at the finish by 5 goals to 2. For the winners, Zoull reappeared in goal, and again proved himself a clever custodian. Reid at back was always safe, and was well supported by Ferguson. The half-line was very solid in both defence and attack, Dickson’s kicks from the corner flag being remarkable with a sodden ball. . Cumming and Dunsmore combined well on the right wing, and D. Stewart worked hard in an unaccustomed berth at outside left. Ponsonby never lost heart, Bell being conspicuous in some solo work, while

Money and Adshead were always a dangerous wing. Wright stood out among the “Ponies” halves, but O’Brien stuck gamely to his task of smothering the Scots’ right flank and had some great duels with Dunsmore. Pickett worked like a Trojan to stem the Thistle invasions, and Watts could not be blamed for the state of the score board.

NORTH SHORE V. NORTHCOTE The Devonport Domain was in perfect order for the meeting of the old rivals among the northern boroughs, and the Shore colts proved too lively a handful for the ’Cote to hold. The black and golds showed a return to th’eir early season form, and by notching two goals in each spell won comfortably in the finish by four goals to nil. Renshaw made his first appearance this season, and strengthened the half line with his steady play as the strangeness wore off. Colebourne at centre half showed greatly improved form, tackling strongly and supporting his front line with good judgment. Gerrard started in the centre postion, but soon dropped back to his old position, where he played his usual finished game, and was well backed up by H. Smith. The Shore van was well plied with the ball, and proved too fast for the blue’s defence. The outside men were the most conspicuous, Cleal being responsible for some clever dashes with perfect centres, while his placements from the corners were unfailing in accuracy. Moore, at outside left, showed a fine turn of speed, and scored two good goals from long-range cross shots. Woolley and Jay were sound inside men, and Whitley harassed the opposing backs and goalie with his hustling tactics. Northcote, which usually performs well at the Shore, was disappointing to its supporters and failed to produce its best form. Lyon had a busy time in goal, and was caught with the ball oftener than usual, the backs not being so safe as usual. Thompson was the pick of the half line and kicked strongly, but found Cleal and Woolley a lively brace to watch. The Northcote front rank also lacked its usual dash, and failed in combining together. They worked hard individually, Wellborne being noticeable for some clever footwork, but the attack lacked sting at the finish, and Lipscombe was rarely pressed to keep his goal intact. NAVY V. TRAMWAYS

The Dock ground was in a saturated state as the result of heavy rains, but the going appealed to the sailors, and they only missed a victory through a* penalty kick against them just on the call of time, a dirawn battle ending with two goals each. Neither, side was at its full strength, and surface conditions were against the players showing their best form. But a good even tussle resulted, although the honours were with the men-o’-warsmen on the run of the ,play. Both goalkeepers gave a good exhibition, Batty being clever in clearing from the mud, while Stables could not be blamed for the two goals which found his net. Miles figured conspicuously, as usual, in the naval defence, and Gilmore was useful at centre half. Pitcher and Walker on the White flanks got in some good runs, but the line lacked cohesion, the run of the ball making combination difficult. Next to Batty, Simpson was the most prominent of the Corporation defenders, but the half-line found the going bothersome. The Tram forward line was mostly drawn from the reserves, who were unable to do themselves justice on the holding surface.