WORLD OF SPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1924, Page 5

WORLD OF SPORT.

EVENTS IN ENGLAND, FIRST "SOCCER” INTERNATIONAL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) (All Rights Reserved.) London, Oct. 23. England Tlha a sorry record in Association football since the war, and the victory gained against Ireland on the Everton ground this week was very pleasing. There should, of course, have ibeen no doubt about The result, but in these days Ireland draws heavily on their countrymen engaged in the game in this country, and hence are able to place a very much stronger side in the field than would otherwise be possible, if they selected men from their own clubs. * Under these conditions they had won one and drawn two of the last five games prior to this week’s contest. On the present- occasion they were defeated by three goals to one. The authorities have declared that a determined effort is to be made this season to improve England’s position, and several experiments were made in the team which beat Ireland. Though the result was satisfactory, the form displayed, however, left a good deal to be desired. A young player named Bedford, from the Blackpool Club, was tried at centre forward. Last season he scored more goals than any other player in the League, and there is no doubt that he is a very dangerous man in front of goal. He scored once on this occasion, but he was not a real success. However, men with far greater reputation's fared no better. Walker

and Tunstall, who formed the left wing, were expected to be a great combination. but the latter was sadly disappointing. and Walker descended almost to the level of his partner. The most unsatisfactory part of the team, however, was the half back line, and it is possible that this accounted for the little success achieved by the forwards. The defence was sound enough, but' it was clear that many changes will have to be made for the game’with Scotland. This does not, of course, take place •until the last month of the season. In the League Huddersfield still have, the distinction of being the only undefeated club, but though they are at the head of the competition, both Notts County and West Bromwich Albion are level with them on points, the Yorkshire club’s only advantage being on goal average. This equality amongst the leaders suggests that the play is on a common level. Indeed, the Arsenal, who are tenth on the list, are only three ■points in the rear. So far the season ha* been more notable for the failure of certain sides than the successes of others. For instance, Sheffield United have won only one of eleven games, and Cardiff City, who held the leadership until the final match of last season, have done little better. Other very disappointing teams have been Bolton Wanderers and Everton.

EXPERIMENTAL BILLIARDS. The billiards match between Newman and Smith, under the experimental conditions laid down by the champion, attracted a good deal of interest, but 1 am afraid only in the sense that any novelty is likely to do. There is an impression t-hat the public are getting tired of seeing big 'breaks. That, at any rate, is what is said, but 1 do not think so. So the new rules were framed to make the game more difficult, and in. this they undoubtedly succeeded. While at times fairly substantial breaks were made by both Newman and Smith, they had to struggle so hard for the points that the methods seemed laborious. The result was. in fact, that the game was robbed of some of its most attractive features. Indeed it was not billiards, and the play deserved to be called by some other name. It is possible that top-of-the-table play, which has been brought to such a fine and calculated art, tends to become monotonous, and Newman’s proposal that the red ball should not be replaced on the same spot after it has been potted twice has something to commend it. At any rate, it opens up the game and introduces new methods of break building. But if the authorities adopted the change there is little doubt that the professionals would quickly overcome the difficulties which they experienced at first, and that in a short time points ■would be scored with equal facility under the new laws. It is likely that this part of the experiments will be considered, but the suggested abolition of the “D” in baulk can never be carried out, for the simple reason that it makes some of the chief strokes in the game almost an impossibility.

ABOUT ROLAND TODD'S WIN. Mr. Eugene Com, your boxing correspondent writes: <f l find there is a Sharp division of opinion as to the merit or otherwise of Roland Todd’s victory over Joe Bloomfield at the beginning of the week. On the one hand it is laid down that our first middle-weight has still one of the most wonderful of all defences and that he remains a tremendously difficult man to beat. On the other hand—and I ani disposed to share this view—it is held that Todd is not so good as when we saw him against Angle Ratner. I do not see how he can be; neither Todd nor any other man can expect to be up to concert pitch after many months of idleness.

“However, it is to be hoped that, now he has become active again, he will see that it is a long time before he curls up in his shell. Talking about the danger of laying off for an indefinite period, I will wager that when Dempsey fights again we shall all be saying that he is on the down grade, -and this the champion himself fears. ‘Tn his case it is not his fault that there are such long intervals between contests. For really, whatever the big dMim beaters may say or claim, they ■are as far off digging up a man worthy of a fight with Dempsey as ever. The cock, as represented by Firpo, will not •fight again. People would not tumble over themselves if Tom Gibbons were brought out once more. Wills, In my opinion, has very obviously passed his best. But we have yet to make sure that Jack Rennault, one-time sparring partner to Dempsey, is as formidable as he has been represented.

“I believe Dempsey is quite honest when he tells me, as he did in a letter I had from him the other day, that he has never been out of fighting shape. 'But the long holidays he is obliged to take are all against him. So with Todd, Jack Bloomfield, and the rest, who are ■Dione to hibernating.

the BOMBARDIER’S DESIRE. *'T took the opportunity of trying to find out during the Crystal Palace tournament, at. which I was pleased to ■help in the refereeing of the many contests, whether Bombardier Wells really intends to come back. I foimd that, although he was much out of condition, he had seriously thought of trying his luck once more. I was very pleased to learn from him that he will not fight again, unless he satisfies himself on the score of physical fitness. It would hurt me very much to see Wells make an unholy mess of things if he came back to the ring. “About this tournament at the Crystal Palace. Although it did not introduce us to any young heavy-weight of championship possibilities, it certainly proved that there are no end of youngsters who are starving for a chance to appear before a big public. If we are to discover better boxers, if we are to improve th* standard and the general character of boxing, I believe we may only do so by having as many open competitions as possible. In a way the Crystal Palace tournament meant the getting back to the old days. It was certainly such another competition that brought Charlie Mitchell to the front. “I thought the best and most promising youngster at the big glass house at Sydenham was a soldier named Harvey (Ist Devons), who put up a truly great show in the final of the bantams. He was beaten, it is true, by Kid Socks, of Bethnal Green, who, by the way. improves every time I see him. but Harvey is so surely of the right stuff that I hope he will stick to the game whenever he is free from soldiering.

“‘And now about Billy Mack, of Liverpool, whose I's rounds contest with Joe Rolfe, the Bermondsey welter and prodigy of ’Peggy’ Bettinson. at the National Sporting Club, I saw last Monday night. I have an idea that he was far from satisfied with the verdict, which made him a loser on points, but, although many felt that they would not have enjoyed the job of finding the winner at the close, I formed the opinion that Rolfe just got home. RODFE’S GOOD SHOW. ‘Mack is a very good iboy, and we should hear much of him in the near ‘future. 1 was much taken by the ruggedness of Mack, and, like" Rolfe, he was splendidly conditioned. It was not a contest remarkable for brilliance, but it was nevertheless one that I enjoyed. This victory by Rolfe must be deemed to have appreciated his stock considerably. Between ourselves, I feared that he would be without the experience to outpoint Mack; indeed, at one stage it seemed aS though Rolfe would be punched into defeat. His gameness was wonderful, and now, since Johnny Basham. I understand, will help to add to his boxing knowledge, Rolfe may be said to have got fairly on the road to championship class. “If I havfr a fault to find with him on Mon/F.y it was that once or twice he was afraid feo let his natural self rip. All the time I thought lie was fearful of making a boxing blunder. He suggested that he had brought his copy book from the class room. However, tlie experience he gained by his fight with Mack must do him a power of good. Such a full-blooded tryer as Rol’fe is bound to make headway. He could not possibly be in better hands, and with all the encouragement that Bettinson is giving him, I snail be very disappointed if he does not realise the expectations of his discoverer. You may take it that Rolfe will be again seen at the club very soon; and, now he has won against such a capable performer, he need no fear his next opponent, whoever he may be.” TBtfE TURF. Nothing in Hie way of a race between only two horses, writes “Centaur,” your racing correspondent, could have exceeded the brilliance of what

was seen when the Duke of Westminster’s Twelve Pointer (favourite for the Cambridgeshire) and Mr. A. R. Cox’s Caravel (the Manton representative of the Cambridgeshire) met on Cesare witch Day for the Select Stakes over a mile, with the first-na med—the elder by a year—conceding lOlbs and winning by a short head. I cannot recall anything like it for years past. The circumstances were rather peculiar. In the first place, those very fine horsemen, as well as jockeys, Bernard CarslaJke and Frank Bullock, were the riders concerned, and the latter was on a horse whose capacity to stay a mile was open to some doubt, though as this was a match lie was apparently backed with immense confidence. It was anticipated that Bullock would “wait” on the other one, whatever the pace, and so Carslake was forced to assume a role wi’icn be dislikes, and which could not be in favour of the older horse, who lias usually won his races after being waited with. Thus did they come across the flat, and every now and then Carslake would take a look back to find out where Bullock was, what he was doing, and when he was going to tc*hiallenge. The point is that Carslake did not allow himself to be surprised. He had started to work in real earnest on Twelve Pointer just as soon as Bullock did on Caravel. This happened immediately after leaving the Bushes, land from that point we saw a magnificent finish, quite reminiscent of when Neil Gow beat Lemberg for the Two Thousand Guineas of 1916. Caravel gained:, and I am not sure whether he drew level—it must have been n -.very near thing. Both jockeys rode at their best, without relying on their whips; in fact I thought the horses were too close for whips to be used. Had a dead-heat been signalled no one would have been surprised. As it was, Twelve Pointer had got home by a short head, due to the quick way Carslake had set him going before Bullock could get his speedy horse to grips. Bullock deserves the greatest praise for the way he rode, and altogether it was la most exhilarating episode, especially coming as it did after the shock administered by the A&a Khan’s 100-1 Charley’s Mount in the Cesarewitch. It is appropriate to mention here that the Aga Khan has secured first retainer on the services o'f Carslake for next .season. It will b“ vaoailad that thia

brilliant jockey won the St. Leger on Salmon Trout for the Indian potentate. Carslake’s severance from the stable which he has served so faithfully for many years—that at Stockbridge controlled by “Atty”\Persse—ls a perfectly friendly one. When the opportunity serves, Canslake will, of course, ride for his old stable, but in the meantime Mr. Persse has engaged Harry Beasley for 1925. He has made an excellent choice for, since coming over from Ireland, fi couple of seasons ago, Beasley has proved himself a first-class all-round jockey —as good “over the sticks” as on the flat —and at no time in his career has he ridden better and maintained a higher standard of merit than during the present campaign. While on the subject of retainers, I may mention that Joe Childs—who has no superior, if an equal, in races over a mile—will wear the King’s colours next season; Archibald, the American, remains associated with Gilpin’s stable, though actually first claim on him is held by Lord Woolavington, who has a lot of horses also under the care of Fred Darling at Beckhampton; Gordon Richards, just out of his apprenticeship, and one of the most (promising of the younger school, will be leading jockey to Captain Hogg’s important stable; while Frank Bullock will continue to ride as first jockey for Lord Astor, though I imagine Mr. Cox, as the owner of Picaroon, one of the best 'two-year-olds of the year, will have some claim on him. Picaroon, as a matter of fact, won the Middle Park Stakes—‘The Two-year-old Derby’’—in the most convincing style from Sir John Rutherford’s Solario by a length and a half, with Mr. H. E. Morris’ Manna a neck behind the second, and other good two-year-olds like Sir Edward Hui ton’s Ooojah, Sir G. 'Bullough’s El Cacique, Sir A. Bailey’s Commuter, and Mrs. 'Whitburn’s Field Argent, in the rear. Picaroon is a delightful ecjj/ with a quiet, sober, temperament, length and scope of physique reminding one of the wartime celebrity, Gay Crusader. Manna is unquestionably a colt of class, but without the liberty of action of the other. Possibly . the handsomest horse in the field, however, was Solario. He has commanding size, substance, splendid limbs, and that character which one looks for in an aspirant to classic honours. El Cacique, the Argentine-bred one by Tracery, is <

only of average size and, perhaps, less than that. He seems to be a ficrj- sort, and, after tearing his way to the post like a mad horse, he was far from docila on arriving there. Commuter is an imposing, big colt (in the same stable a« Solario), while Oojah has been liked iver since he first appeared in public.