Soccer Knockouts

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 407, 16 July 1928, Page 6

Soccer Knockouts

Chatham and Falcon Trophies Y.M.C.A. Defeats Chatham Holders SOME lively Soccer was witnessed on Saturday when the local final for the Chatham Cup and the first games in the Falcon Cup knock-outs were staged. Y.M.C.A. proved too good for Ponsonby, holders of the Chatham Cup, and will now represent the Auckland area in the next round. In the Falcon Cup ties the holders, Tramways, had a close call against Belmont, ancl as a draw resulted a replay is necessary. Onehunga was eliminated by Shore, and the other clubs to pass into the second round are Y.M.C.A., Ponsonby, Northeote, Manurewa, Corinthians and Metropolitan.

GPIIE diverted attendances to other gruunaa, where cup ties were proceeding, naa an efxecu on the gate at Bi.anui.ora Bark, where a good garnering was rewarded by two lively knockouts and some iree goal-scoring. Jr'onsonoy was without Bell in tne haunne, a junior, uauQock, replacing him, while tne Y.M. middle line was weakened by the absence of Dick, ana Whaley appeared as substitute for uoouman on the left wing, signalling nis senior debut with a brilliant goal which brought down the house. Y.M. EARLY IN THE LEAD

Y.M. defended the bridge end, but overneau conditions favoured . neither side, and, apart from one or two sort patches, the playing rieid was in good order. From the outset the Y.M. attack carried much more snap and decisiveness than the Ponies, and the Young Men’s defence was the more reliable. In the opening stages, the Ponies produced none of the thrust and elan which overcame ai opposition iast season, and crow ) u them tho champion club team of u.e Dominion. It was only when half-time was drawing near that the cup holders got within a goal of the winners, and showed some of the old fighting spirit in a desperate attempt to even matters.

Soon after the start, Y.M. were nearly through, but Humphreys lost a priceless second, and the ball, in manoeuvring for an open goal, and innes seemed certain to score at the other end when Otter cleareid cleverly. Then Humphreys made amends by fastening smartly on to a good placement by Chalmers, and gave Watts no chance with an angular drive. The Y.M. veteran nearly repeated the dose a little later, but Morry Williams intervened. Y.M. kept pressing, and a lively raid saw tho colt Whaley let fly a left-footer which passed Watts like a flash, and find the net. It was a thrilling climax to snappy play, and was deservedly cheered. The double reverse nettled the Ponies, and Evan Williams made an opening for Wilson to send over, and Stewart cleverly added the finishing touch; but in spite of strong volleying, Ponsonby was a goal to the bad at half-time. Y.M. LANDS A KNOCKOUT The Ponies made some lively sorties on the restart, but Clanachan and Otter were 100 per cent, safe, and a clever move through the Ponies’ left by Grant and Chalmers saw the former slam a hot one into Watts, and Humphreys dashed in, to net from a wreak clearance. This caused the holders’ hopes to slump heavily, and the Ponies’ defence became very ragged, frequently faltering under high pressure from the volatile young men. The knockout blow came when McAuslan cleverly drew the defence out of position and sent up the centre, for the irrepressible Humphreys to dash through unopposed, and complete a useful hat trick with a drive that rattled the rigging of the net. In the closing stages he was threatening Watts with a fourth goaifinder when brought down by Wright close in. and “Watty” cleverly cleared the spot kick for the offence. YOUNG MEN’S GOOD DISPLAY The performance of the Y.M. was as impressive as Ponsonby’s was disappointing, and the local finalists should have every confidence in outing the surviving clubs from the North and South Auckland areas. Paton had a quiet day compared to his vis-a-vis at the other end, and was safe in clearing what came to hand. The veterans. Otter and Clanachan. were in fine form at fullback, but were a little lucky in facing the stand-off tactics of the opposing van. The halfline showed improved form, but may still prove a weak link if called on to meet a burly pack of Huntly or Hiku-

rangi miners, not to mention a clever quintet of artists like the Wellington Marists. The Y.M. front line was at i + s very best, and easily the equal of any club five in Auckland. Humph-

reys was right at home in his old possie, and showed great generalship by lying well up between the opposite backs, waiting for

opportune openings Chalmers and Grant got most of the ball, and proved a clever wing, with a strong thrust, while MeAuslan and Whaley fitted well into the picture on the left' flank. The Ponsonby defence was patchy. M. Williams got through a lot of solid clearing, but his partner Miles was often much out of position, and Wright was usually in the wrong place to convert defence into attack. For the most part, the Ponies’ van was lacking in support, and had to go foraging for the ball to avoid starvation. The outside wings were almost frozen out, and, but for some spasmodic patches, the front line was rarely seen in action. FALCON CUP KNOCKOUTS

On the Domain, the Shore team put paid to the account of Onehunga (last year’s finalists), with a very emphatic win by four goals to two. The Devonport club started without Tipton, who had taken the wrong towing-path under the impression that the Devonport Domain was the arena for the contest, and later on McCluskie, from the fourth graders, was substituted after playing a hard game in the lower division, and performed quite creditably in his first senior appearance. As a goal-keeper, the Shore brought Eric (“Scotty”) Craig out of his retirement, and the dashing fullback of some seasons since proved the right man for the job with his commanding reach and Rugby experience at the handling code. Ho kept his goal intact until nearing the close, when a doubtful

decision went against him as he caught the ball outside his line and turned inwards to bump off a darging charger, iiie Shore forwards showed a welcaine return to their best form in the nrst spell, Jay and Moore each bagging a brace of goals before Woolley went lame after a crash, and was compelled to retire for treatment to an injured knee. Renshaw was tried at centreforward, and played a heady game in holding the line together, feeding his wings with admirable judgment. The Shore defence was very safe, and kept the Manukau men well in check throughout. Cummins gave a sterling display in goal for Onehunga, and made some spectacular saves under a regular bombardment from the lively Shore line. The Onehunga backs were hard pressed and harassed by the Shore colts playing right on top of them, and bustling them for the ball. BELMONT SURPRISES HOLDERS The Falcon Cup holders, Tramways, made one of their rare appearances at Devonport to meet Belmont in its first elimination test. The youngsters gave the service veterans the shock of their many years by leading them from the kick-off till right up to near the final whistle, when Tinkler tore in from wing-half to save the holders from extinction with an equalising goal. Simpson was the only absentee from the Trammies, who were strongly reinforced by the appearance of Christie, the ex-Thistle player, who

was prominent throughout the game in both attack ! and defence. and 1 worked like a Tro- j jan to stave off the! threatened defeat. Belmont was handicapped by the ab- ! sence of Murphy, i the stalwart fullback, T.ithfnw fa.lline:

Lathgow, tailing back from the half line, and bringingin Mackay from the reserve force. The youths in claret-and-blue upset calculations by taking off with a dashing raid, in which Hamilton secured a long pass, and ran through on a solo stunt to beat Batty with a swift low shot. There was a good gathering of barrackers for both sides, and loud cheers for the Trams when Spencer equalised from a lively scramble near Belmont’s goal. Belmont ran to the front again when another left flank movement let Allen through, to drive a hard daisy-cutter past Batty, and Belmont was one up at half-time, in spite of Charles being a casualty. The game was fast and furious in the second spell, with typical cup tie play, and the defenders too good for the attackers. It was not until time was nearly Up that Trams made a desperate effort and evened the score. Although the light held good, the referee felt disinclined to continue the high tension game, and decided to call it a day, leaving the knockout to a future bout SOME PROMISING JUNIORS Some of the junior clubs who made their first appearance in Falcon Cup contests gave promising displays, and it augurs well for the future of the code to note so much future talent in the making. In the curtain-raiser at Blandford Park, the Manurewa team gave some bright glimpses of clever play, and proved too good for Tamaki, which turned out a sturdy eleven, needing only a bit of coaching in the finer points to form a formidable side. Glen Eden put up a gallant struggle against Northcote, but went down -with its colours flying. Metropolitan journeyed to Glen Eden and downed Swanson in a lively game by six goals to three Corinthians carried too many guns for Rangers at Onehunga, and passed into the second round with a 4 —2 victory. BIG TUG-OF-WAR

IN ST. BENEDICT’S HALL Arrangements have been made for a big tug-of-war competition to be held in St. Benedict’s Hall, East Street. Newton, on the evenings of Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11. Open to allcomers, the competition will offer trophies valued at £ll to the winning team, £ 3 to the second and £1 to the third. In addition, Hugh Wright, Ltd., will present each member of the winning team with a halt-guinea order. Each team will consist of six pulling men and a captain and there is no weight restriction. Entries close on July 26. The competition is being run in conjunction with the Ponsonby Catholic Tennis Club’s fair.