THE ROUND-BALL CODE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 121, 25 May 1938, Page 4

THE ROUND-BALL CODE

WANGANUI’S SHORTAGE OF PLAYERS ' AND REFEREES By “WAVERLEY.” Though the Wanganui Football Association’s competitions have been under way for several weeks, a problem still confronting the controlling body is a shortage of senior players and referees.

By winning their matches on Saturday, Eastbrooke and Rangers are now level with Marist in lhe Shield competition. Eastbrooke scored an easy win on Saturday when they defeated Thistle by the wide margin of 6 goals. Hubbord, in goal for Eastbrooke, had little to do. so seldom did Thistle get near the ’Brooke goal. Gray and Taylor, the full-backs, also had an easy afternoon. They made one bad error in not linking up with their half-backs. Time and again they cleared their lines with hefty kicks and, mainly due to the fact that Thistle had only eight players, the ball went to an Eastbrooke forward. A full-back should try to take the ball to his wing-half and then let the halfback carry on the attack. If he is under pressure his only course is to clear to his wings, not up the centre. The 'Brooke halves only succeeded in keeping the opposing forwards out. They did not at any stage of the game combine with their forwards, despite the many opportunities they had of so doing. It was in the forward line that Eastbrooke were best served. Ward at centre-forward led the line well and scored 3 goals. Clementson and Nelson were the better wing in that they possessed more speed than Petitt and Tasker. It might pay Eastbrooke to bring Gray up into the forward line and play Tasker at full-back. Gray is very fast and is a hard man to put off the ball, while Tasker at fullback would be quite at home and would not weaken the defence. * » * # Healey, in goal for Thistle, had a heavy day’s work. He received little support from the men in front and had no chance with the goats scored against him. It is unfortunate that Thistle cannot field a full team. They have seven or eight players who turn out week after week, but seven players cannot hope to beat eleven, and the game suffers, in that the seven lose heart and the opposing eleven lose interest.

In the junior section the games have been very interesting and the standard of play very high. The Technical Old Boys v. Eastbrooke game was played at a fast pace throughout, and Old Boys scored the only goal of the match in the last minute of the game. Both teams played good football, the ball being kept low all the time. Mclnteer played a great game in goal for Eastbrooke and brought off many fine saves.

Kia Toa were too good for Technical College. They swung the ball about well and made the most of the chances that came their way.

The man on whom the most serious individual responsibility falls In a football match is the referee. He can make or mar the game. No matter how clever the players are they can give only a poor exhibition if they are continually being pulled up for trivial or imaginary offences or if, on the other hand, they are allowed to break the rules time after time without penalty. Referees may be superfluous in the friendly village-green type of kick-about game but for the ordered progress of any competition in football they are essential. Players and supporters of the game, particularly the former, who may have benefited personally in the way of trips to other centres, or even overseas, owe a duty to the game, and they can best discharge it by offering their services as referees. The Wanganui Referees' Association will welcome any new member, and that new member will find the experiences of a referee not without their compensations. Read what Mr. W. Pickford, president of the English Football Association, has to say about referees in that country:— “The games are controlled on the field of play by the referees. They are entrusted with almost arbitrary powers, and are the deciders of all disputed points whose decisions on points of fact are final. They are the timekeepers and have powers to caution or send offenders off, suspend a game, or terminate it. It is rather a severe duty but no one may referee any competition match who has not been examined and tested by local experts, and if he fails to keep up to the mark he is liable to be reported and brought up for reconsideration. “The game owes a deep debt to the referees. It is not all jam. Here is the ideal, as some poet has put it:— Serene stands the little referee. Around him howls the angry multitude. They dance with rage. He is not hurried, his voice is neither high nor low. If you throw things at me, he says, composedly, I will close the ground for a month. And the crowd is awed into silence.

“There is another side to it. Many of them dress in ricketty sheds, get soaked to the skin, a prey to the fury of the elements, have long and lonely railway journeys, and reach home late to a cold supper and a sleeping household. At times they are met with sour looks, resentful gestures, and criticism. Yet they go on doing it, and on behalf of the F.A. I thank them. Every referee may have the Cup final whistle in his pocket. Once there amid the blare of the Guards’ Bands, the splendid setting of Wembley and the presence so often and so graciously given to us of Royalty, is a reward that any man might deem it worth going through the mill to attain.”