THE ASSOCIATION GAME.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 794, 18 April 1910, Page 5

THE ASSOCIATION GAME.

COMPETITION MATCHES COMMENCE. UNSATISFACTORY OPENING. Diamonds (2)> defeated Ramblers (1). Y.M.C.A. (1) defeated Thistle (0). Rovers won from Wanderers by default. Swifts won from Petone by default. : The various. championship competitions were commenced l on Saturday afternoon' under conditions which were not the most favourable. The blustering northerly gale swept the. playing fields,- and; this, combined'-with the fact tliat the teams are not'in top form at present,- ; resulted in poor exhibitions. It would seem also that the management committee has started the fixtures about a week too soon. The Petone Club found, after the drawing of the first , round, that it would be unable to put a senior first division in the field, and consequently, the Swifts and Petone match did not ,take place. Tlio Rovers and Wanderers match, set down for Duppa Street, was not played, the Wanderers being unable to get their team together in time for Saturday. The ; Rovers' team' and the referee (Mr Wocid) I turned out, and the game was awarded as a win to Rovers by default. As a'result of the defaults, only two senior games were played, Diamonds 1 v. Ramblers at Newtown Park and Y.M.C.A. v. Thistle at Kelburne Park. DIAMONDS,. 2; RAMBLERS, 1. A Hood" deal of interest centred in the meeting 'of the Diamond and Rambler teams, but the play was not. in the least bit exciting. ' In. the first place, the players were more or lesst on the raw side, secondly, the gale which swept the field made it almost impossible to contest the ball with any degree of certainty, and, thirdly, the backs persisted-jn kicking/with the wind instead of playing up into the wind, and then working towards goal mouth. However, the spectators made the most of the morsels of good play, and urged the jaded' competitors on ..to the end. The Ramblers' team, which comprises about half a dozen former St. John's men, shaped .fairly well against, the seasoned Diamond eleven, and play was very even throughout the first half, which ended without either side having scored. But for the heavy wind, however, both sides must have 1 had something to credit, several really good eflorts being completely spoiled by the gale. The Diamonds had better condition than their opponents, and this told its tale in the second term. Before the spell had been long in progress, however, the hopes of the Ramblers were raised, by a goal scored by Cross, who seni the ball through with long- nnd somewhat lucky drive from about 20 yards in front of the posts. .Heartened by this, success, Ramblers charged, again, but Ferguson failed to take advantage of a nice opening which Paget made for him. Immediately afterwards Paget, supported by Smalibone, made another opening, which allowed Anker.* to score, jbut the goal was disallowed, as Anker was offside when he took the ball. From tlie middle to the end of the spell Diamonds had things pretty much thoir own way. Their first goal Was scored by Black, who received ,a pass from the outsido left and sent the leather past WebG i' c le kept pegging■ away, nnd after a long attack, tho winning goal was secured by Tonge, who, with a low, well-placeVt shot, gave Webster no chance. The final tallv was; Diamonds, 2; Ramblers, 1. -'Paget Smallbone arid Webster were the most impressive- men on the side of the losers, and P. Roberts, Taylor, and Black played consistently for "Diamonds. Mr J. Davidson was referee.

Y.M.C.A. 2j THISTLE 0. Plat, uninteresting, and distinctly disappointing was the match between Thistle and -Y.M.C.A., at Kelbume Park. The wind, of course, spoilt the game to a very large extent. It would' have spoilt it less had the players early recognised that the weather was quite impossible for long kicking, and that the three items of importance requiring attention under the circumstances were good dribbling, consistent passing, and steadiness. Thistle were, all round, tho better iuoii, and during the first half, against the gale, played with fair combination, commendable steadiness, and revealed to their ru-itics a sfcronc defwee. With

regular practice and sound training Thistlo team should prove to bo a formidable combination. The Y.M.C.A. men were fast, vigorous in attack, but weak in their inner defences. During the first half, with the wind in their favour, they made several rushes at the Thistle goal, but the vanguard invariably broke when it encountered the full-back division of the enemy. Thistles on several occasions pushed their attack over the centre-line, and even threatened their opponents' goal, and these attacks, considering _ the weather, led the spectators to anticipate that the Y.M.C.A. men would have an anxious time all through the second' spell. This, however, was not so. For some reason or other Thistles, on the change of positions, failed .to "get going," and the Y.M.C.A. men frequently threatened their opponents' defences. In the earlier stages, vain attempts were made by the Thistle wings, particularly the right <wing, to do all the work, the result being that the ball was not centred soon enough, and the attack spent itself. The climax came when the Y.M.C.A. men unexpectedly attacked the Thistle goal, and scored. Shortly before time Timperley broke away from his own half and, with a i splendid individual effort, succeeded in placing the ball past Kowan in goal for Thistle. There was no further score. Mr. Yeoman was referee.

JUNIOR FIRST DIVISION. Y.M.C.A. defeated Marist Bros, at Kelburne Park, scoring two goals to their opponents' one, after a game which was not quite devoid of int*«!st.. Croll (2) scored for the winners, and Reynolds (1) for the losers. Mr. Yeoman refereed. • . '• Wadestown Wanderers defeated Diamonds by five to one. Hayward (3), Brooke and Holmes. scored for Wadestown, and Wilton scored for Diamonds. The game was fairly fast, but was spoiled by the gale of wind. In the St. John's v. St. Augustine match, St. Augustine'won the toss, and played with the wind. They attacked strongly right at the offset, but St. John's backs were equal to the occasion, and sent their forwards off on some good passing rushes, which were, however, unattended with any result. St. Augustine registered first score from a scramble in front of. goal. This wakened Sti John's up, and they were awarded a penalty near the end of the first half, but failed to equalise. St. John's did all tho attacking in' the second half, St. Augustine rarely getting past the halfway line, but. the score remained unaltered until within three minutes of time, when Shaw headed a neat goal from a centre by Nagle. The play in the second half was spoiled by tho frequency with which St. Augustine' found the line, thus wasting valuable time in tho high wind. THIRD DIVISION. . St. David's defeated Y.M.C.A. rather easily by seven to one. The Br.ooldyn-St. John's match was played in a strong northerly wind. Brooklyn woiv the toss, and played with_ the wind, shifting the ball well within their' opponents' area. St. John's, however, kept the ball well out of their goal, despite the fact that they wereouly playing nine men. At half-time tho'score was: Brooklyn, !; St. John's, 0; Davies, of Brooklyn, having shot a good penalty. In the second half, Bruce, of St. John's, scored a fine goal, raving a clear run in. Brooklyn reciprocated with two more, Herzog and Lange securing one each. The game closed: Brooklyn, 3; St. John's, 1.

St. David's defeated .Y.M.C.A. by 7 to 2. Proebstel (4)~ and Gosney (2) goals, and one was put through by a Y.M.C.A. man. Lennox scored for tho losers. FOURTH DIVISION. •Swifts A defeated Swifts B by three goals to one. Edge scored for the B's and Adams (from a penalty) for the A's, whose two 11 other goals resulted ,from miskicks in the B team. Y.M.C.A. "A" defeated St. David's by 4 to 0. Baker (2), . Macklin, and ltyan scored goals. FIFTH DIVISION. South Wellington won from Petone by default. St. John's wore beaten by Diamond by eight to two. Swifts won by default .against Seatoun. Island Bay defeated Marist Bros.' A by two to one. '