THE NEW EAST.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 15321, 23 August 1923, Page 2

THE NEW EAST.

CHINA AT, PLAT.

SOCCER MATCH AT SYDNEY.

Fifty thousand Australians left the Sydney 'Show Ground on Saturday •with new ideas about China ( says the Sydney Daily Telegraph). ’ They_ had seen a Chinese Soccer football team nut up what was universally agreed upon as- “a- splendid performance , against a picked New South Wales ■combination—and come out of the struggle with a drawn game An Australian football crowd is. not one to damn anyone.'with faint praise. ■ Collectively, it is, probably the most responsive, generous, and intelli o ent ■ institution of its , kind in the world. The instinct of sport is in its soul, ana while the game.-is on race and parochialism are forgotten factors The play's the: thing,and if the play is swift, clean, and thrilling, as it was on this occasion, nothing else matters, and credit is given where it lg hue, even by rabid barrackers. • ■ ■ As regards Saturday, such a multitude had never'before been seen round ) the oval at a match. It crammed itself into every available space—and a lot. thatywas..not.supposed to be available The seating accommodation was" strained to suffocation, and the crowd overflowed, like a tidal-wave of humanity, upon every coign of . vantage. Roofs, hoardings, windmills, and ■ hastily-constructed stands of promiscuous bricks and boards were requisitioned—and still there were . thousands clamouring on the outer rim for a fleeting view of the field. Earnestness and SKin.

Inclined,/at; first,"'to treat the game facetiously, the onlookers were not long in coming to the conclusion that .Vow South Wales had met its match in lhesc men from China. From the moment of their faint, nervous warcry, the Chinese flung themselves into the contest with - an earnestness and skill seldom .seen in conjunction on the football field. And when they scored, or distinguished themselves by some clever strokes of play, a roar went up from thousands of throats. ' Those who had gone to laugh- remained to cheer. It was an afternoon for the Sydney Chinese colony, which was apparently on the ground en masse—everyone, from the rich merchant to the Campbell Street mystery man.

Thir pride was . obviously insuppressible. Yellow faces wreathed in 1 celestial smiles, and black eyes which \ were so : many boiling cauldrons of excitement —these . were the signs. Barracking, of ’course, there was, but the Chinese is ever happiest when he is silent. Consequently, he did not do much to swell the uproar made by his white brethren. , ■ The inevitable small boy was present in his''thousands, but he. did not, as* he expected/: have the fun of his life ,at the expense- of the Chinese. He was so agreeably surprised at the cleverness of the players that' he contented himself with such oratorical offerings, as “Good boy, One Lung!’* and “Hooray for Chop Suey!” As a matter of fact, the small boy never quite, recoyered 'from the great initial disappointment of not seeing a team decked out in black silk slippers, and pig-tails.