SOCCER SIDELIGHTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 994, 10 June 1930, Page 12

SOCCER SIDELIGHTS

PASSING NOTES

(By

PERSEUS.)

First Round of Championship.—The lirst round of the senior A championship concluded on Saturday with the exciting clash between Y.M.C.A. and Trams for the top rung of the ladder. With only one point between them, it was realised that it was going to be ,i. gruelling go, and spectators were not disappointed, except by Trams’ poor -bowing against the virile and volatile Young Men. It was regrettable that so much feeling crept into the play, but it had been in the air since 'Prams defaulted in the Chatham Cup night game against Y.M., after a fruitless appeal to the New Zealand Council about the conditions of the local eliminations. Fortunately Mr. R. If. Parfltt kept a strict hold on the players and was prompt in checking hn y glaring breaches, although the grounds for the last penalty against Y.M.C.A. were not clear. * * * Can Y.M. Be Caught?—The majority of the goals scored on Saturday came from free kicks and penalties, which is not satisfactory and should remind players that the easiest way to lose a. game is to lose one’s temper. The win to Y.M. on Saturday gives it a clear lead of three points over Trams, and if it can retain the form shown, the leading club would appear to have a. mortgage on the laurel wreath. But Soccer is essentially a game of surprises and with the lower clubs battUng desperately for points to a.voil relegation they are always likely to stage a shock, and no one would suggest that the Young Men are invulnerable. The present state of the table indicates that there will be as much interest in the competition among those at the foot of the ladder as among the teams at the top. * * * Improved Team Work.—The superiority of Y.M. on Saturday was solely due to the improved combination of the players and the night put in at the “Y” last week with a talk on tactics and strategy was responsible for the betterment. It has always been emphasised here that in addition to individual and team training, the chalk talks with mutual criticism and discussion are essential to team work, and an hour or two spent before each coming game, plotting and planning to play on the opponents’ weaknesses and guard against their strength, will often mean the difference between a win, and a loss. Weak Target Work.—Week after week an outstanding cause for endless criticism is weak shooting and finishing in front of goal, and there have probably been more goals thrown away than scored this season owing to this glaring weakness. The need of "teaching the young idea how to shoot” is strongly indicated and there must be far too much neglect of this essential factor in match winning. The majority of players shoot with the toe, which is never the Soccer way of scoring and generally yields a Rugby goal. The only way to shoot low, hard and true is from the instep, with a sudden straightening of the knee. It is like the difference in having a shot with a cricket ball with a stiff arm, and throwing it with a sudden straightening of the elbow. Most of the inside and certre forwards could do with regular target practice, shooting on the run to improve their poor scoring capacity. Kay and Spencer might be taken as models to copy from in this art. • • * Senior B Positions. —As in the higher grade the clubs in the senior B series are now sorting themselves out, and the race for the honours promises to be even more exciting than that in the upper grade. Philomel, Shore and New Accord are all unbeaten, and the concluding games of the lirst round will he full of interest. It is pleasing to know that there is a prospect of the Shore-Philomel match being the early game at headquarters on Saturday, and giving the best of the B’s a game at Blandford Park will be welcomed by both players and spectators. Those who have witnessed some of the B games declare that they have seen much better Soccer than in some of the senior A displays. The fight for promotion to A grade is very keen, with the two lucky ones still well bidden, but popular fancy favouring the young Philomel lads, led by the veteran Luke, for the championship winners. Soccer’s Popularity Candidate. — Soccer is well represented in The Sun popularity campaign by the enthusiastic and indefatigable honorary secretary of the Minor Division Committee, Mr. Bob Beswick. and he has recruited a willing army of helpers to boost his candidature. Mr. Beswick has devoted a tremendous amount of time to fostering the game among the schoolboys, and with his willing helpers has put in wonderful work in the seed bed of the game, from which the senior clubs reap their harvest. It was through the energetic secretary’s efforts that the secondary schools contest between the provinces was instituted with such success last season, and the work done by the workers among the schoolboys here has set an example to the rest of the Dominion. Mr. Beswick carries the best wishes of all Soccer fans for a handsome prize in the competition when the final numbers go up. Why So Few? Under this caption a Wellington writer asks: • Why so very few on the banks and the side lines at Association matches this season? Last year’s attendances, the Basin Reserve excepted, were anything but encouraging, but this year the interest shown by the general public is still less, and on several Saturdays senior teams meeting on suburban grounds have fought out their matches before maybe twenty onlookers, and few' of them sufficiently interested or enthusiastic to applaud good play or to wax reasonably sarcastic at other times. Even the old club stalwarts who a year or two ago turned out, at the Basin, at Petone. at Kilbirnie, or anywhere else, to lead vociferous sup-

port from the line and to tender halftime advice, have dwindled out of sight. There was a time, for instance, when Thistle, then high up on the ladder, was cheered on its way by a real enthusiast, who brought along bagpipes on quite a few occasions, but he has no successor. Institute at one time had a regular side-line following; Y.M.C.A.’s steady supporters appear to have faded away to almost vanishing point; Diamonds have still a few of their old backers, and so on right through the list. Petone probably holds the biggest regular following—when it is playing at Petone. If the club interest is so small it is not surprising that the interest of the general public shows no sign of increasing. The value of side-line interest is without question—the same two teams which may meet one Saturday and straggle through a mediocre game on an outside ground may meet on the Basin the next week and put up a great showing if the crowd is even moderately interested. The W.F.A. cannot do anything much to stir up greater public interest, but the clubs can, and must.” Auckland’s Falling-Off.—ln a lessor degree, perhaps, the same remarks would apply to Auckland, where attendances at Blandford Park, Devon - port and Onehunga have fallen away from those of four or five years ago and those present are not inspired b'the same spirit of club enthusiasm a* in olden days. They seem to have become jaded or blase. We no longer hear the cowbell carillon of the Ponies, the gong-clangers of the Trammies. the rattles, roars and megaphones which used to urge the players on, and if something is not done there is a danger of Soccer acquiring the Eden calm of cricket, or the cathedral charm of the Shore. The clubs want to wake up their barrackers and get them into training, as there are some tough matches ahead, and a little cheering often makes a mighty difference when one’s side is having a hard fight. SENIOR B CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS OF THE CLUBS

P. W. L. D. F. Pts. Philomel 7 a« 0 14 North Shore . . .. 1 13 Ncav Lynn Bon Accord 7 - 2 30 0 12 Rangers 2 24 14 8 Belmont 2 17 10 Tamaki 2 2 17 18 t; Metro College 7 2 15 24 \ Newmarket 7 1 b 1 « 36 Northcote and Birkenhead 7 6 1 G 20 i Tech. Old Boys . 7 — G 1 7 37 i