ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1933, Page 10

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

THE MATCH WITH MANAWATU GOOD COMBINATION : THE FACTOR. accurate passing wins the day Soccer's claim that its fascination lies in the skill- with which its -science is applied has rarely been more clearly demonstrated in interprovincial., football than on Saturday at Palmerston North. Manawatu. defeated Taranaki by six goals to four because as representatives the players possessed the cohesion and understanding of a good club team. Indeed, the fact was apparent that the men had played together often enough to weld them homogeneously. In their periodical matches with outside combinations —an advantage that Palmerston’s central situation make’s possible—the men had acquired an expertness in positional play that stood them in verj good stead. Even to a person unacquainted with the code,, it must have been delightful to watch the studied movements in which the ball weaved its way past ooponents to reach a waiting player. He* in tum, would redirect it on another rapid course to the next point of attack, and so, with lightning speed, the ball would zig-zag the field to reach Corkindale, the centre-for-ward, who scored four- goals of the six. Lyons’ capture of the final goal was the result of a ' splendid'piece •of tactical On the other hand the Taranaki players by nd means' disgraced themselves.. It was generally. conceded that it was one of the finest matches seen at Palmerston North. It was fought to a finish; and the spectators were on their toes as the ball flashed from one end to tire other. Excuses for the defeat are not needed, but in fairness to Taranaki, it should be pointed out that at least two of the star inside men were suffering the effects of an indispositions, the effects, of which were heightened by the motor ride from New Plymouth to Wanganui and from Wanganui to Palmerston. At least one man had very recently been in bed with influenza. Other adverse factors were the unaccustomed shortness of the ground—it’s length is the minimum 100 yards—and the slippery nature of the turf. The fact that all the Manawatu goals were shot from within the goal. area would seem to indicate that the visiting backs were on occasions not as staunch as they might have been. Despite the fact that he was one- of the players who were off colour, Wilson was a great asset to his side, his goal from’ some - distance out being a noteworthy effort. He is an experienced sharpshooter whom Taranaki is exceedingly fortunate to possess. But if any Taranaki players deserved special mention, it was Millar (Stratford), outside right. Three of Taranaki’s four goals were scored by him, two of them, at least, with a dash that secured. him wellmerited approval on all. sides. He showed himself to be a forceful player who could follow up an opportunity on his wing with speed, determination, and accurate shooting. Unfortunately, however, the opportunities did not come his way as often as they might have, for Millar was somewhat starved of passes. “Home and Home” Matches. The match at Palmerston was the first this season in the annual triangular inter-provincial (iontest between Manawatu, Wanganui and Taranaki. A conference of officials at Palmerston during the week-end resulted in a decision that “home and home” matches should be played for a trophy to be presented. This will mean .that Taranaki will have to visit Wanganui this season and that Wanganui and Palmerston North will return the visits. At the meeting of the executive of the Taranaki association on Tuesday night it was decided to make inquiries about grounds for the matches at New Plymouth. These inter-provin-cial visits will be the means of creating a much wider local interest in the code that ’is already launching itself into popularity. . Primary School FootballTiie friendly matches between teams of schoolboys at the New Plymouth racecourse on Saturday gave promise of gratifying results. Similar matches are being arranged for next Saturday, while op. Tuesday, night the newly formed Primary Schools’ Association is to meet at New Plymouth to arrange the inauguration of schools competitions for trophies on the following Saturday. Central, Fitzroy, .West End and-Waitara already heave teams in the field, and there is talk of teams being formed at other New Plymouth schools ‘ and at schools at Stratford and in neighbouring districts. To save the expense of buying jerseys in the meantime, it has been decided that the boys may play in shirts, which will be dyed free of cost by a New Plymouth firm. Funds are needed by the schools’ association and the secretary (Mr. V. Parkinson) has opened a subscription list. It is stated that if funds are available there is a possibility of a representative school team travelling to play a. match away from Taranaki. Soccer a World-Wide Game. The records of the International Federation, which was formed 29 years ago, show that the Netherlands and Denmark were the first countries after Great Britain to form central associations. This was in 1889. Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy followed suit before the century was out. The following table shows the year of the establishment of a central body, or, alternatively, in one or two cases, when the first international match was played in the countries named:—

The game was, of course, being widely played in some countries long before these dates.

Netherlands 1889 Spain ' 1913 Denmark 1889 Brazil 1914 Belgium 1895 Portugal 1914 Switzerland 1895 Siam 1916 Italy 1898 Poland 1?19 Germany 1900 Yugo-Slavia 1919 Uruguay 1900 Egypt 1920 Hungary 1901 Estonia 1920 Norway 1902 Latvia 1921 Austria 1902 Costa Rica 1921 Sweden 1904 Peru 1922 France 1906 Czecho1922 Paraguay 1906 slovakia Finland 1907 Turkey 1923 Luxembourg Roumania ■ 1908 1912 Bulgaria Bolivia 1923 1925 1926 United States 1913 Chile