SOCCER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 110, 12 May 1931, Page 5

SOCCER

A LESSON BY SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL MATCH , DEFEAT OF ENGLAND. Under the caption, 4 4 Scot land Gives England a Football L< sson,” the Daily Telegraph of March 30 describes the international match in which Scotland beat England, 2—o. The teams were:— Scotland.—Thomson (Glasgow Cel tie); Blair (Clyde) and Nibloo (Kii marnock); McNab (Dundee), Meiklejohn (Glasgow Rangers) (captain), and Miller (St. Mirren); Archibald (Glasgow Rangers), Stevenson (Motherwell), McGrory (Glasgow Celtic), McPhail (Glasgow Rangers), and Morton (Gias . gow Rangers). England.— Hibbs (Birmingham); Goodall (Huddersfield Town), and Blonkinsop (Sheffield Wednesday); Strange (Sheffield Wednesday), Roberts (Arsenal), and Campbell (Huddersfield Town); Crooks (Derby County), Hodgson (Liverpool), Dean (Everton), Burgess (Sheffield Wednesday), and Crawford (Chelsea).

‘"Scotland did not need the help of her Anglo-Scots, after all, to bring about the downfall of England in the vital match, the result of which means a tic in the International Championship at Hampden Park (writes Frank Coles), [n the presence of a record crowd of 129,810 people England were well and truly humbled by 2 goals to nil. 4 4 Taken as a whole, the play touched a disappointingly low level, but the Scots rescued it from the commonplace by giving us one glorious quarter of an hour of the real thing at the beginning of the second half. In that short, spell the game was won and lost, and I will tell the story of it straight awav. “Having held the England forwards with surprising ease in a first half i which was featureless except to the keen student of strategy, Scotland came out again with their sleeves rolled up ready for battle. Cautious defence, the game which means keeping the other fellows out at all costs, gave way to dofinance. For the Scots had discover ed that the English attack held none of its supposed terrors, and promptly they proceeded to give the Saxons a football lesson. 4 4 For fifteen minutes, then, Scotland throw every ounce of effort and every scrap of skill into a grand offensive, which succeeded beyond their brightest hopes. “1 felt uneasy for England when, just after the interval, Goodall allowed 1 himself to be tricked by McGrory, a happening which would have meant a| certain score if Merton had been a shade quicker off the mark in dashing in to meet, the centre-forward’s pass. “From that moment Scotland shaped like a winning team. Back they came to the attack, hot on tho goal scent.

From Archibald and McGrory, Hibbs made perfectly-timed clean-cut saves to remind us once again what a polished goalkeeper he is. All was well in that quarter, I thought. “But the Scots persisted. Stevenson hold on to a lively and difficult ball just long enough to draw thi defence into false positions; McGrory, who was smothered so surelv by Roberts in the

opening stages that he had scarcely counted, began to make himself more and more of a nuisance, and the veteran wingers, Archibald and Morton, were getting the English defenders worried and unsteady.

“When, therefore, the home country forged ahead in the sixteenth minute of the second half the goal was richly deserved. It originated from a corner which, in the opinion of nearly every one except tho linesman who made the decision, should not have been awarded. Morton took the kick, and from a ruck of players '.he ball came out. to Archibald, who shot as hard as he knew how.

‘‘lt Hibbs had had an unobstructed view I am sure he would have saved, but. he could not get a sight of the ball until it was within four yards of him. Out shot is right arm, desperately. Instinctively 1 realised that it wmuld be a lucky save—if it came off. The ball struck Hibbs on the forearm, was deflected to the goal-line, and, pounced on by Stevenson, was in tho back of the net in a flash.

“Good going for Scotland, I thought, but surely England would be coming along with the right kind of reply? Before that could happen, before, in deed, the crash of cheers which greeted Stevenson’s success had died away, England’s goal fell again. The Second Goal. “The tragedy of this second score was that Goodall and Hibbs, two players who had inspired the utmost confidence, were both at fault. Goodall, going into tackle Morton, mistimed his rush, floundered, and left the winger a forty yards’ clear run. Morton halfshot and half-centred and Hibbs showed the good goalkeeper’s intuition when he ran out to cut off the. danger. Unluckily he pulled the ball down instead of catching it, and McGrory racing along with a rare burst of speed, promptly drove it into the net. 44 That settled England, and, apparently, satisfied the Scots, w’ho slowly but surely returned to their first-half defensive plan. It would have cost them dearly, this voluntary surrender of the initiative, if Hodgson had taken advantages of two priceless opportunities, one made by Crooks, and the other by Crawford, in tho last twenty minutes. But Hodgson each time was a fraction of a second slow in shooting When these chances came his way he was playing as a man who had lost confidence. “It was, as a matter of face, a bad match for Hodgson, and also for Burgess, England’s obvious shortcomings in attack being directly attributable to the poor form of these inside wing-for-wards. They showed far too much anxiety to part with the ball as soon as they received it. No attempt was made to unsettle tho Scottish defence by drawing the half-backs, and the consequence was that the well-covered Deau did not get a single chance of a shot at goal. The passes that came to him were always in tho air, and with Meiklejohn giving a wonderful exhibition of tho third-back guire—he was Scotland’s finest defender—Dean’s qualities as a goal-getter could never be exploited.

4 4 Nor did Crooks and Crawford receive the support they were entitled to expect from Hodgson and Burgess. The English attack scarcely ever moved with the smoothness of Scotland’s. There was no understanding and no method, and the fault, I repeat, was with the inside wing forwards. The defence, on the other hand, was splendidly together, except when the second goal was scor-

4 ‘Some people were of opinion that Roberts did not justify himself. I disagree with them entirely. Roberts played no better and no worse than I expected him to do. That is to say, he reproduced his Arsenal club form. He was just as effective as Meiklejohn as a middle-back, and no defender was so useful with his head. Obviously Roberts was brought into the side as a stopper, and no one could have done the job more thoroughly.

“Campbell, true to reputation, was the best attacking half-back on the field. If at times he went too far forward, leaving a dangerous looking gap in the defence, he had behind him a consistently sound back in Blenkinsop, who went through the match without making a mistake. Strange, on Roberts’ right, could not wholly subdue the clever scheming at the McPhail-Morton wing when they were holding the ball,, but he made several fine attempts to set the English attack going in the last half-hour. The only real chances Crooks had of making a clear run came from Strange. “Scotland decided wisely when, once again, they pinned their faith to Meiklejohn, of the Rangers, and built their defence round him. This stalwart centre-half played the game of his life. I he English forwards may have made his path easier in the manner I have already described, but no man could have worked with greater enthusiasm or got better results. He realised that although Dean was not receiving the through-pass on the ground, there was always the danger of a Dean header, and he did not give England’s leader one chance, either with head or foot, to put Thomson to the supreme test. “Blair and Nibloe, the backs, did not start with Meiklejohn’s confidence and sureness, but before half time even they had made the great discovery that the England attack was out of tune. Blair, who was not an original choice—he came into the team in place of Crapnell—was inclined to kick wildly at times, but he and his partner had fewer anxious moments than the English backs.

As for tho Scottish attack, the 129,000 spectators have to thank Stevenson, Morton and Archibald, i n the order named, for providing that wonderful fifteen minutes in the second half—the quarter of an hour that reminded us that ball control on a windv day and a dry ground is not of the dead arts. ’ ’