ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11148, 5 August 1914, Page 3

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

Beautiful weather prevailed on Saturday, and consequently «onio good' games of " Soccer " were witnessed. What would hare been a. (rood name (that between Ohristchureh United and Sydenham) -was spoiled by the rough sward at Park Royal. After a. hard tussle United retired defeated by two goals to one. Rangers and Sunnysido provided a fine gamo which was brimful of incident, the'former winning by four goals to two. Linwood Corinthians defeated Nomads by two goals to one, -and as. a, result Sydenham are now level with Nomad's, and have a match in hand. Tho following tabic shows the position of tho Senior teams to date:

o g> r ~ !111 !1 I I?J Q n a

The best match of the afternoon was that provided by Sunnysido and j Rangers. Tho combined work of the winners was very good. Tho shooting for goal could be greatly improved upon by both of these teaans. Sunnysido wero without tlio services of Bissett and .Newall. Dave Fullerton was also missing, having been transferred to Stoke, Nelson. Rumour has it that Dave will be back next season. Canterbury will miss him sofoly on Saturday against Wmganui. ■As usual, George Norman was Rangers' best performer. He kept Stafford and Waterland busy on their respective wings, the latter playing really well at outside left. Norman's penalty goal was a fiue effort, and gave Curtis no chance to save. Honours were very fairly even between tho Norman brothers on their respective siiies. Hyslop played a sound game and His play with Norman was of a highHis play with Norman was of a high class all through, Tato was a tower of strength to Rangers' defence, which is not very formidable. He gave a. sparkling display in breaking up forward rushes. feturroclc was well on form, and relieved very nicely several times when Sunnysido woro in close proximity to the Blues' goal. Harriett gave a sound display, of goal-keeping. He is very safe when handling tho ball, and is also a good kick.

For some reason or other Rangers started off with nine men, two me: 1 being; on the line in full war-paint. Possibly some " stars " wcro expected. However, when Sunnysid'o scored first there was a rush for tho dressing-room, and Sellers and Edwards soon filled tho gaps. That one goal evidently save Rangers a bit of a fright. Incidentally it gave a black eye to. Rogers, who headed through, but camo in contact with one of tho Blue backs. E. Norman was always dangerous in front of goal. Some of his shots went dangerously near, and each had' plenty of ' gmger" in them. He kept Porter and Chamming always on the move. In Chamming, Sunny side have a promising left-winger. lie is fast, and on Saturday was responsible for some excellent centres, the last of which enabled Porter to score easily. He went down the line, and near the corner dropjfed a magnificent centre to Porter s toe.

Rogers played a Heat game on the left wing, (inside). His first, goal was ?» rGWarQ fast following up. Peters .made bis reappearance in the Green ranks. Ho missed an open goal shortly after tho commencement, but improved as the game wore on. Porter is not playing at all well this season. He has lost a lot of his dash, and his shooting is poor. He also has developed a bad fault of turning back when coming near the defending half, instead of passing to his inside man. VVaideli and Johnson played fino clerensiya games—the latter especially showing wonderful improvement. He s^rulHell t a l in keeping Norman's tally down very considerably. Curtis, in goal, made some good savea. He had no hope with the P e rrn,'t- y kick , George Norman's. Those old rivals Christchurch United and Sydenham clashed at Park Rayah 'A more strenuous game it would be hard to jind. Bumps and charges were greatly in evidence, tho players taking full advantage of the referees leniency. Sydenham showed better combination than their opponents, and were good value for their win. Whenever in°the region _ of goal, tho forwards had a shot—just the reverse to the opposiing forwards, who seemed as if they wanted to run the ball through. Harvey scored Sydenham's first goal —and a good shot it was too. 'He was of greater service to his side at inside left.

Conquest scored the second and winning goal with a thumping shot. The forwards went up the field in a line, and Conquest shot hard without wasting a moment. The Blues kept up the pressure for the greater part of the game, but could not increase their lead. Mayo wae effective at outside left., his running being very fast, while his centring was uniformly good.

Ward and Golightly took a lot of watching. Both gave "Swift many anxious moments.

M'Creanor could not "tumble" to the rough ground, and consequently was not seen to 6uch advantago as usual.

Sweeney worked hard despite a nasty kick on the knee. He showed wonderimprovement in his forward passes, while his tackling was as effective as ever.

Cornish played a brilliant gamo at full-back, and appears to be going as well as ever. Ilis accredited slowness was conspicuous by its absence. He was too speedy for Wainscott and Co. on countless occasions.

Baker was not in his usual form.'' He could not judge the erratic movements of the ball so well as his partner. Tennent gave a masterly display in goal. He executed some excellent saves. A stinging penalty-kick was cleared by Canterbury's top-notcher custodian.

George Swift in the opposite goal, showed himself to be a goalie of tho top-order. With an inferior 'keeper Sydenham's tally would have assumed much larger dimensions than 2 —l. Williamson played a strenuous gamo at full-back. His kicking was generally well directed.

Graham continues to improve. Ho shows great promise, and uses lib head greatly to his side's advantage. Baxter did well, but missed an absolutely open goal from about two yards range just before the final whistle. Hard luek! Hawkinzs «-as the most effective forward. His displays of late have been a decided improvement on previous efforts. Ho is fairly fast, and p-at in some nice centres.

Wainscott and AValson did nothing to call for special mention—save to say a lot of r.puoaling for off-sido, penalty and corner "lacks—but Kef. "Williamson is not so easily bluffed. At Ricln)io.n<l Nomads: lest tiro moi'fi points. This timo at the hands of Liuivooil ( Witiiout in any way visaing to detract Jtum Lin-

SATURDAY'S CASES. SYDENHAM DRAW LEVEL WITH NOMA: S. <%' CENTRE FOttWIRD.)

wood';; win. it must bo !..-•••] i.ist Nomads took tho field with a ivcak team, in fact tho weakest lor many a long day. Parsons brothers were promoted to the Seniors to fill up the gaps, but xveio entirely out of iheir depth. The quality of " Soccer" displayed was below Senior standard, and the only combination during the whole of the game e.iiue from the Lin wood team—and then mostly from Hill and Harris.

Another veteran in the person of W. Harris is showing the younger ones how to play, and how to score goals. He is one of tlio most consistent goal-get-ters in the Senior division this year.

Mitchell showed good football, and will be eagerly watched next Saturday.

MacFarlanc and Ue.nnett played gcod games at back, the former appearing to have once more got back into form. Clay was the outstanding man for the losers. Ho played a gruelling game. Pass after pass ho gave his forwards, only to see every chance thrown away. Van Brunt again took the field, and scored Nomad's only goal. His kneo evidently caused him some concern, as ho carefully refrained from "getting into it."

All competition matches will be off on _ Saturday on account of the Brown Shield match at Richmond Park. -iir Moore, formerly a figure of noto amongst Ofcigo referees, recently witnessed the Nomads at Christchurch receive their first defeat of the season, at the hands of Hangers. Having seen Canterbury's best in action, Mr Moore offers Otago players the encouragement that they can bent Canterbury. Mr Mooro is now a player instead of a referee, being captain of a Y.M.C.A. Senior eleven at Xrivercargill. There has been a great deal of comment on the inclusion of Tom Forrest in the representative eleven. Somo of tho critics ever that this "veteran" is too old to piny representative? football. That argument will not bear analysis, for Canterbury's teams have always bad "veterans'' in the. field. Tom Forrest is younger than Bipett, md who would suggest leaving him out of the team? Baxter, with forty years behind him, is still as good as any half in our midst. Cornish, at thirty-eight, and with twenty-five years' active football to his credit, can still keep his place, and give performances second to none in Canterbury, j W. Fullarton kept on playing and playing till he himself stood down—much I older than Forrest. Then we have i George Black, who with Cornish fonn j tho best right full-backs in Canterbury for many years past. Selectors must nick a team en form. MacFarlano's showing against Westland was poor, and in competition matches has been poor also. Against Hawke's Bay both Baker and M?.cFarlanc gavo wretched displays, and no unbiased mind was surprised that tliey were overlooked. Clay and Fullerton were continually covering them up. Against a strong team the red and black team would have been in trouble. In Forrest's two games this season he gave such displays that the selectors had no alternative but pick him for tho position. I am of the opinion that the selectors are making a great mistake in playing Clay left half and Baxter centre. It is freely stated that Clay has never yet played in this position. On the other hand Baxter is recognised as a sterling left half, which position he has filled this year with great credit against Westhnd and Hawkers Bay, so why not allot these men. their proper places? , On Saturday night there was a large gathering of members and supporters of the Rangers at the Oxford Hotel to bid farewell to Mr M'Cormack (treasurer and captain of the second eleven), who has been transferred to Wellington. After a very pleasant evening had been spent Mr M'Cormack was presented with a case of pipes. Tho recipient replied. Afterwards those present adjourned to Dennis's for supper. Mr M'Cormack was a very popular officer and member of the club. One and all wish him every success in his new 7 surroundings. The Rangers have decided to form a cricket club, and enter the City and Suburban Association's competition. It is stated that they h->ve some good talent in their ranks. They have made application for the use of tho new Association gronnd in Cranford Street.

Sydenham . 10 7 1 2 19 11 10 <1 omads . 11 8 3 0 30 13 1G Bangers . 9 4 3 2 22 19 10 Limvood 0 . 10 3 S 2 15 22 "'8 Sunovsido . 9 3 6 0 l'J 23 6 United . 9 1 a 0 10 28 1