Strenuous Soccer

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 793, 14 October 1929, Page 6

Strenuous Soccer

CHAMPIONS MEET CHAMPIONS Falcon Cup To Trams THERE was a good attendance at Blandlord Park uu Saturday to witness the final Soccer match this season, and the spectators were worked to a high pitch of excitement by a stirring final for the Falcon Cup. Trams scored a popular win after a hard tussle with Manure wo. the senior }» champion, and secured the trophy for the fourth year in succession. Manurewa made a gallant show ing against the senior champions, but lost opportunities let it down with a 3 —o defeat.

The rain during the week had taken : the sting out of the turf, and the sur- , face had rolled out perfectly for lively j Soccer. Trams turned out full . strength again. Simpson and Spong re-appearing in their usual places, and on the run of the play their presence made all the difference between a win and a loss. The Transporters scored with superior teamwork which was lacking the previous Saturday against Bon Accord, and lack of combination among the Manurewa forwards lost some glorious scoring chances. Although there have been bigger crowds at headquarters for previous games the spectators took more vocal interest in Saturday’s final than any of the other knockout bouts, and both sides were cheered to the echo by their supporters. The game was the “swing it about,” bustle-and-bump type, and in these tactics Manurewa was more conspicuous than its seniors. But Trams’ more studied methods stood them in better stead and yielded goals where “Rewa’s

thrusts were wasted by lack of finish. There was not a dull moment in the whole game, and players became a bit over-keen and argumentative at times. There were plenty of hard knocks of the give-and-take variety, but some of the staid Trammies took the robust methods of the juniors rather hard. A LIVELY START

Right from the start Manurewa sailed into its more experienced opponents with any amount of youthful dash, and soon had Batty busy under pressure, but the Trams’ defence was very steady, and Palmer at centreforward for ’Rewa made the fata; blunder of lying too far back when scoring opportunities from his wings were flying to Batty’s gloves or past tho goal mouth. Trams were doing an equal amount of attacking, but Lees was a thorn in the side of the inside men, while Ross A. Donaldson defended vigorously For the first half-hour it was anyone’s game, and then a free kick, for some obscure reason against Lees, saw Christie give Stretton a good opening for the left winger to score from a very narrow angle. This lead gave the Trams more confidence and they kept the pressure up with Parks clearing cleverly in goal, until a line combined movement with Spencer, Spong, Bell and Williams swept over the defence for Williams to head in and put his side two up at the interval. The juniors challengers tore into their opponents on the restart and made things very lively for a spell, but premature shooting from too long a l-ango gave Batty plenty of time to gather and clear in his usual finished style. After a bumpy barrage, Spong brought relief by scooting down the line and centering strongly where Spencer was on the spot for a cool scoring trap. ’Rewa made some desperate raids in an attempt to score and twice Batty was bowled over to clear by a miracle. At one stage Trams had its left wing in the air with both Stretton and Williams on the side line for first aid. AVith a three goal advantage the transporters were satisfied to play for safety first, and relied on defensive tactics to keep the lead with Manurewa hammering away merrily to the bitter end. CHAMPIONS DOWN CHAMPIONS Between the grade champions there was not a great deal to choose in territorial advantage, both goalies having about the same ajnount of

| handling to do. l'ut the Trams' attacks ; were finished off in clever style from I close-up manoeuvres which gave Parks 1 no chance of saving, w hile Manures a j was satisfied to blaze away from a distance, or else found no sharpshooter up for a centre to the goal area. Simpson was freshened up by his spell off the field and was more certain in tackling and clearing than MeKlligott. Christie struck a sultry day at centre-half, with the sliock-headcd Lees harassing him vigorously and unceasingly, and made several audible protests, but the duels between th* two pivots resulted about 50-50. Locv was the more übiquitous with his spoiling work, but Christie scored in the placing of his passes to the from rank. Fyvio and Tinkler also had a lively day looking after two hustling wings, but both got in with some solid stopping work. Sponj? and Spencer were tho outstanding forwards in the bout, but Bell enjoyed himself mixing it m some lively rallies. Parks was sound in the 'Rewa citadel. The fullbacks were strong in tackling, though wild with their placements which were often returned with interest. Lees shone out in the B champions* half line, and battled tirelessly in a strenuous day’s work with good support from Brown and Clark. • Anderson and 11. Donaldson were lively wingers for the suburbanite. ■ but Palmer was disappointing in drop- | ping back to scout fer the ball instead j uf waiting for his opportunities to net. Trams finished up a great season by ; adding the Falcon trophy to the | Chatham Cup and the senior championship, and were enthusiastically cheered on leaving the field. Manurewa has yet another chance of annexing a senior knockout trophy when it meets Thistle in the final for the Thistle Cup on Wednesday night, and is sure to give the Scots a lively go for its possession.

SOME PROMISING COLTS The curtain-raiser on Saturday provided a refreshing bout between the two crack fourth grade clubs. Shore and Comrades, who fought their battles over again in a clash for the Bouskill Cup. There were some hefty colts in the under 18 division, and they showed some clever soccer with plenty of smart team work and good combination. As in the previous games there was but, little between but the odd-goal victory came Shore’s way on Saturday, and they lifted the cup after a hard fight by three goals to two. Shore gained a two-goal lead in the first spell with clever finishing touches by D. Smith at centre-forward; but Comrades drew level with a desperate spurt and it was a ding-dong go for victory. A massed attack by Slior® saw the ball come out to Cowie, who slammed a hard drive back to the net for the winning point. The wind-up of the season will taka place at Blandford Park on Wednesday evening, when the curtain-raiser will be the novelty of hockey by floodlight for the first time in Auckland, Somerville and St. Luke’s being the contestants. The final for the Thistle Cup between Manurewa and Thistle will follow, and the curtain will be rung down on 1920 soccer with the presentation of trophies and prizes lor the season. INTERNATIONAL MATCH SCOTLAND BEATS IRELAND Australian and N.Z. Press Association LONDON, Saturday. In an Association football match at Londonderry today for the amateur international trophy, Scotland beat Ireland by 3 goals to 0. AUSTRALIANS IN ENGLAND DEFEAT OF HUDDERSFIELD Australian and N.Z. Press Association (United Service) LONDON. Saturday. In a Rugby League match today Australia defeated Huddersfield by 1" points to 8. CROSS COUNTRY RUN VAUXHALL SCHOOL EVENT The grandstand of the Takapuna Jockey Club was crowded on Saturday afternoon to witness the finish of the Vauxhall School cross-country race, for which there were 23 entrants. The course was one and a-half miles, starting from Narrow Neck Hall, and finishing at the racecourse stand, after one circuit of the course. Mr. H. Congden, of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Association, and Messrs. Norman Cooper and Barker, worked out the handicaps, and the school stan, ; under the headmaster, Mr. H. Binstcaa, ! controlled the event. The results were.—R- Joshng ( 40sec), time 30min 51see, 1; Bennett (lOOsec), llmin 14sec, -■ 0. JosliDg (105 sec), llmin 3“see, 3. The second lad. who is only eis« l years of age, was given a great reception. Ho was beaten only in the lust couple of yards. In conjunction with the raco tl.orp was a competition between “Houses at the school; Pred Gill’s tearn was awarded first place with 198 point. I *, second place went to B. Wallace’s team with 71 points; and B. Massey’s team was third with 410 points. The race carries tlx© Kohn Cup, and medals were given for first and second P the post by Messrs. Samson ana Mason. f astest time \vc : .tistered by Chambers. . Vauxhall School is pre ' to clain the junior girl champion .mmer New Zealand, the long-db Utxice jumpeof the primary schools, and the championship basketball team. DIRT TRACK SPILL I Press Association CHRIST CHURCH, Today. R. Lovegrove. a prominent Chri?'" , chi;rc*i motor-cycle enthusiast, broK i his collar-bone as the result of a sp i v bile taking part in dirt-track racin i at English Park on Saturday evening-