SOCCER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 108, 10 May 1933, Page 4

SOCCER

■By>

"Hampden."

The first round of the Wanganui Football Association’s Shield competition was brought to a close last Saturday. On No. 1 ground, which was in lair condition alter the rain, the surface was slippery and this did not make lor sure footing. Thistle had io unit to defeat by Woollen Mills by It/ goals to three, though it appeared as if there was scarcely that difference between the two teams on the play. Had Kidd ..cored from a penalty awarded Thistle the result might have been different, but that is just the luck of the game.

The winners all played a good game. Duke, Al unroe, Rusting and Ah ikle made the most of the weak defence against them, in which Walker and Little alone shone. Kerwin was the most cgective half, while Task< r was lhe steadier of the two backs. Chesnut gave a sound display in goal. Thistle’s weakness lay in the halfback line, where Kidd alone was a regular player. Chambers is a newcomer to the game from the Rugby code and was inclined to follow the ball all the time. He improved iu the second spell. Kidd bad a roving commission, with the result that he was not so effective as usual. The forwards were without support and suffered accordingly, Heath and Dashfield alone touching their usual form. Being one [ layer short seemed to affect the whole team and they failed to adapt themselves to the handicap.

On No. 2 ground Eastbrooko and Athletic met in what might be termed a water novelty. Ono Eastbrooke player, on being taxed at the interval with being five goals behind, was heard to remark: “Just wait till the second half. We have not got our sea legs yet.” He was justified by the result us Eastbrooko scored four goals in that period. However, they finished three goals behind, Athletic winning by eight goals to five. In this game there was no outstanding player, if one excepts Boyack on one side for his leading out, and Gray on the other side for his strong play. Barron, by general accord, won the diving competition when ho made for that shot from Killeen in the first half.

On Victoria Park Rangers juniors beat Marists by four goals to one, but they were scarcely three goals better. The Marist defence gave away two goals through carelessness, one from a penalty and the other by a mis-kick. Tho outstanding player on view was Bates, the outside left.

In the other game Eastbrooke justified the good opinion formed of them by defeating Thistle by three goals to one. Thistle, however, were shorthanded. Tho second round of the Shield competition will begin next Saturday, but only eno game will be played, that between Athletic and Thistle on No. 1 ground. Thistle aro in exactly tho same position as they were two season’s ago, two points for the three games, yet that year they forced a deciding game Will history repeat itself!

Woollen Mills will entertain a Palmerston North club in the new competi lion on No. 2 ground, a fl whichever club comes hero may be assured of a good game as the Mills arc playing well.

Eastbrooke will travel to Palmerston North to meet tho other Palmerston Club. As this is to be a points competition tho games should be keen. To bring the code still further forward it might bo possible to bring a select Wellington side to meet a combined team of Manawatu and Wanganui players. Unless stops are taken to deal with the problems that have arisen, like cankerous growths, in Association football in Great Britain, modern tactics will arouse, in the near future, a storm of resentment similar to that raging in Australia over tho leg-theory business (writes Charles Buchan, famous international Association player, in the London News-Chronicle). When it comes it will not take the form of a short, sharp cloud-burst, but will be a tempest likely to shake tho structure of tho game to the foundations. Nowadays, players are using their brains not so much to develop tho finer points of tho game as to counteract the wiles of their opponents and to stop them from exhibiting their skill. Football is becoming negative, not constructive, and already the creative geniuses—the Alex. Jameses —of the game can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Much of its spectacular appeal has gone—only for the time being, I hope—and in its place there are vigour, hclterskclter Kick and rush methods, and a certain amount of recklessness. These aro the harbingers of th© coming storm. • * * •

What are the main causes of this negative policy, this “body-line bowling” of football! Firstly, tho sliding tackle, by means of which a player can hurl himself at an opponent’s feet, ami, if he does not obtain the ball, can stay the progress of the player. Secondly, the calculated obstruction, whereby any player can hinder an opponent from playing the bal’ by deliberate interference. 1 could mention* other and more reprehensible practices, such as the double-footed tackle, as the result of which 1 have heard the sickening crack of a broken log on the field, but I will let tho two suffice.

They aro two of tho chief reasons for the decline of football, and before king they will be tho storm-centre. Unfortunately for the game, they come within the laws. Tackling and obstruction aro merely words in the rules—words that arc neither defined nor explained. and which the player can interpret in his own way. Club managements can help to prevent tho gathering of the storm clouds. The majority of directors and managers alike have the “win at any price” slogan constantly in their minds. It is the result that matters, not tho game. True, this is because tho penalty of i failure to-day is severe and fraught with dire consequences, yet tho importance of success cun be stressed unduly. When a player takes tho field with these words ringing in his ears, words that I have heard many times: “Wo must win to-day; get stuck into them, lads; 90 minutes’ hard graft,” ho U likely to be given tho impression that his performance will be judged, not wholly by his skill, but by the amount of energy ho puts into his play. Ho will place vigour before artistry. It would create a much better atmosphere if the management concentrated on establishing a spirit that put “playing , the game” first; one that enabled'the players to step on tho field saying to themselves something like this: “We must win if wo can; but wo mur‘ provide an exhibition worthy of tho game and one that will do credit to the club and its players.” In that case the good ship of football would commence to sail on a calm