REPRESENTATIVE SOCCER

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1933, Page 9

REPRESENTATIVE SOCCER

TARANAKI V. MANAWATU. SCHOOLBOY CURTAIN RAISER. Representative honours will be contested at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, to-morrow afternoon, when the Taranaki Association football team and Manawatu will play their second match in the inter-provincial triangular cup competition. In July Taranaki visited Palmerston North, where Manawatu won by six goals to four in a match that was remarkable for its fast passing movements and the reserve power let loose by the home side during the last 20 minutes. Later Taranaki defeated Wanganui by one goal to nil, and Wanganui defeated Manawatu by one to nil. There fore, with one more match each to play, the contestants still have equal chances of winning the trophy. Soccer is the game that draws crowds of over 100,000 in Great Britain, and though the standard of play here cannot be compared with that of first-class British teams, the quality has certainly improved greatly in recent years, and weaving passes with foot and head keep the game flashing from one end of the field to the other. The personnel of the Manawatu team was not known at New Plymouth yesterday, but should Coombes, Corkindale and Lyon make the trip they will be a trio of adepts on whom it will be necessary to keep a careful watch. The Taranaki team has been chosen as follows:— Goal: Atkinson (Pirates). Full-backs: Wood (Albion), McKay (Caledonian). Half-backs: J. Thomson (Moturoa), Parkinson (Albion), Ashley (Waitara). Forwards: H. Millar (Stratford), Blyth (Stratford), C. Ibbotson (Albion), Wilson (Waitara), Hill (Caledonian). Reserves: Rendell (Albion), Phillips (Albion). The substitution of Wood and McKay for Bensley and Jones, who went to Palmerston, is considered to have strengthened the defence, while with Parkinson, an experienced team pivot, as centrehalf, the half-line should prove highly useful both in defence and attack. In the forwards, Hill and Wilson are both veteran sharp-shooters who can turn a ball very skilfully into the goal, and Ibbotson and Millar are both noted for their dashing play as representatives. Blyth is a good forward, too, though it has been questioned whether Phillips would not do better.

As a curtain-raiser the boy representatives selected from the 12 school teams at New Plymouth will play the unbeaten Waitara team. The boys will return today from Wanganui, where they have been taking part in the three-day North Island primary school tournament. The Manawatu representative team will arrive at New Plymouth by car at midday on Saturday. The visitors will be the guests of the Taranaki Football Association at luncheon, and after the match, which will commence at 3 o’clock, will be entertained at dinner and a social gathering. They will return home on Sunday.