ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1169, 3 July 1911, Page 7

ASSOCIATION.

INTERESTING CLOSE GAMES. . Owing to the unfavourable condition of the fields of play on the city reserves, all senior matches, with the exception of the Swifts-Diamonds fixtnre at Duppa Street, were played at Miramar on Saturday. In four out of the five games play was of an interesting character, two draws and two one-goal victories being the result. In the fifth match, however, Hospital inflicted a decisive defeat upon Wanderers, to the tune of 6 goals to nil. As for the lending teams, tho position of Swifts v. Thistle remains unaltered, each havin" gained 16 points for championship honours. Tho results of the senior games were as follow. — Hospital 6 Wanderers 0 Corinthians ... 1 Y.M.C.A _.. 1 Swifts 2 Diamonds 1 Thistles 3 Ramblers 2 Rovers 1 St. John's 1 THISTLE-RAMBLERS. Ramblers took the field with only eight men against. Thistle. On the last occasion on which theso two teams met, Ramblers grained a victory by 3 goais to 2. On Saturday, however, the result was reversed after a most interesting game. Within a. few minutes of the commencement tho Red and Whites (Ramblers)"registered -the first goal. Davey, who was playing left-back, sccural,, nnd af er a pretty piece' of play in which he deftly beat two:Thistls men, he passed to Hart,. The latter, in turn, sent the ball on to Edwards, outside-left, and that player, with a splendid shot against the wind, got tho ball through. Ramblers, 1;. Thistle, 0. Jackson, who has been a spectator for some weeks on account of injury, now went on,, and Davey went up to centre forward. Cross also made his appearance, but, previous to this, Ramblers wore more aggressive than their opponents. The ball, after being in tho vicinity of Thistle's goal for some minutes, was transferred to Ramblers' end, where M'Lellan equalised. Two- all. Thistle continued to press, and Wobster, in goal, had a hot time defending. This, however, he did creditably. Ramblers now took a hand at attacking, and Thistle bad to call up all their reserve strength to avert a score being registered against them. As the whistlo blew for half-time Jackson and Edwards were conspicuous for some good play. In • the opening stages of the second half, tho Blues' backs were sorely pressed •by the Red and • White forwards. The latter wore combining well, and were ably assisted by-Kirschberg at ri s 'ht-half. Thistle again forced an attack upon their opponents, and Ramblers were very lucky in not having another goal against them. After a lot of give-and-take play, the Red and Whites had a capital chance to increase their total, but Edwards, with practically an open goal in front of him, lost a golden opportunity by a very bad shot. The ball was now: transferred .from one end of the field to the other at a fast rate until. Achison (Thistle) put in a bsantifnl centre, from the left, to Ash. The tricky little centre-half caught the ball fairly on his foot, and scored with a splendid scTew.shot, which' gave Webster no chance. Thistle, 2; Ramblers 1. A few minutes later, Cross mulled in front of his goal, and, with the whole of the Thistle pack on top of him, Webster and' the ball were hustled through into the net. Thistle, 3; Ramblers, 1. Time was drawing near, and it could be plainly seen that Ramblers, who bad been combining defence with attack well, were beginning to . crack up. However, onc« again they made a spirited attack, and Hart, centre-half, secured, and passed to Edwards. The centre-half ran round and received the ball, again, and, with a good shot landed it in tho net. Thistle thus left the held winners by one goal. Mr. H. L. Godber was referee.

Y.M.C.A. v. COfIINTHIANS. • A close, spirited contest was'the result of the moating between Y.M.C.A. and Corinthians. At the outset, Y.MCA attacked vigorously, giving Cattail a busy time defending. Corner-kicks were plentiful, no fewer than three coming in quick succession, owing to bad judgment on the part of the Corinthians' full-backs respite now came for Corinthians. Smith put in a long kick, and Ives, centre-for-ward, securing, raced down field with tho ball at Ms toe. He shot particularly hard, but not quite true enough, for the bail missed the goal by inches. The play following was confined mostly to midfield, both teams appearing to bo evenly matched. Howover, Davie.*, afler a good run, gave Cattail (in-goal for Corinthians) a hot one. Tho keeper cleared in a very uncertain manner,' and Murphy, being quick to sei7,e the opportunity, registered first score,for his side- Y.M.C.A., 1; Corinthians, 0. Corinthians' play improved during tho second half, and for a considerable tituo tho Y.M.C.A. goalkeeper (Hollis) was compelled to use all his science to prevent a score being registered. The Black and White forwards combined well but fonnd a capital defensive player in Coate, full-back for Y.M.C.A. Ives, who was in excellent form, again was responsible for a breakaway, and, after beating several opponents, gave Hollis a particularly "hot one," which tho keeper failed to hold. One all. Still pressing, Corinthians gave the wearers of the many-col-oured shirts plenty of trouble, Hnllis Ixiing in great demand. Ives put in a "rocket" shot just before time, but the goalkeeper was equal to th o occasion, and tho game ended in a draw, ROVERS-ST. JOHN'S. It v;as rather a poor exhibition of football which wa.s witnessed on Saturday at Miramar betweca St. John's and Rovers. The ground was in fair condition, but rather a strong breow swept the field from end to end, this marring gcod play considerably. The game started with St. John's facing the wind, and it was some time before tho teams warmed up. At the cutset, Rovers caused St.

John's defence much anxiety with one or two centres • and corner kicks, which might have been turned to account but for the erratic marksmanship. Still, on one or two occasions, they all but got through, but, just when a light touch would have done the trick, tho chance was mulled. Rovers seemed to realise by this time that a score was required in their favour, as they had to face the breeze in the second spell, and Bradbury and his right wing were the means or registering the first goal. Upon securing in midfield, Bradbury sent across to Lowe who, after beating two men, -scored with a swift, curling shot., from the kick-off Rovers pressed rigorously, and were agaiu within art aeo of scoring when a foul was given in favour of St. John's. This enabled the latter team to clear, and, by way of a change, they indulged in a determined passing rush towards Rovers goal. After some good forward _ play, Egley made an opening for himself, and grazed tho crossbar with a fast drive. Half-time:—Hovers, 1; St. John's, 0.

On resuming. St. John's put in seme determined work, and made strenuous efforts to equalise, but the forwards were not quick enough to grasp their opportunities, and the shooting was poor. Bruce, who had all along played a good game, now. secured the ball, and, after some deft touches, got in a position to shoot, and scored with .'a fine shot, thereby equalising. There was no fnrther score. Mr. A. F. Nowbold was referee. HOSPITAL-WANDERERS. Hospital took ample revenge for their defeat by Wanderers in the first round, and won a decisive victory by G goals to nil on Saturday. Putting on sustained pressure, the Whits forwards early gave Hayes a chance to show his mettle. Shaw had a long shot which went wide, and Hunter cleared nicely when pressed. Phillips' volleyed over the bar, and after the keeper had stopped a fine effort by Tyrer, Elliot, with a nice grounder, placed the ball in the not after seven minutes' play. Trevithick headed over when well placed, while at the other end Davis placed wide, but shortly after, receiving a nice pass from Elliot, he scored number two, with a shot that rebounded from one post to the other before entering the net. Tyrer now put in some very deft footwork, showing • fine control of tho ball, and had hard luck with three shots in succession, one striking the bottom of tho post. Elliot scored number three after a cool piece of play, working tho ball in nonchalant styla before placing past Hayes. Phillips shot wide, but mado amends by swinging in a perfect "centre" for Davis to head tho fourth goal. Half-time arrived with tho scoro 'unaltered.

On tho resumption of play, Phillips screwed in a hot shot, which Hayes could only just get down to in time, but the ball was over tho line. Rodgers worked hard, giving Cockburn. -on,e, which tho keeper safely disposed of. ..-At this stage Barker (Hospital) damaged his shoulder in a collision with Wallis, and had to leave the field. Play was wholly in favour of Hospital, Tyrer andf Elliot being prominent with some pretty dribbles, and nil the forwards and lialves indulging in Eot shots, which mostly sailed over the ar, though Hayes "saved" on many occasions. Parsons was sure in his kicking, but tho defence was overwhelmed by tho Hospital attack, and, with tho exception of a few spasmodic forays, all the play was in Wanderers' half. Tyrer had three shots in succession stopped, but had the satisfaction of scoring tho sixth and last goal of tho day. Mr. J. Wilson rcfereed. in a pleasant, though one-sided, game. j SWIFTS-DIAMONDS. ' Diamonds started with ten men, Wilton failing to put in ,an appearance, his absence probably being the cause of the Blacks' defeat.. Black and B. Lowe were early in tho Reds' territory; the former putting behind; ■: Then A. Lowe had a try, with the same' result. Itickaby set the Swifts' right ; going, and Roberts centred nicely, but his namesake cleared, and Hathaway ran down the field, and Pye-Smith kicked out. Back again came tho Black forwards, but poor shooting lost a suro goal, Burnett sending over tho bar. This per.forniance was'presently repeated, J. Black being the offender. Vessey led an attack against the wind, and Mathoson placed to Scott,, and the outside loft* using his speed,'got through, drew Patrick.out, and placed past him through tho goal, after a very good piece of play. At half-time Swifts were one goal and Diamonds nil. With the wind in their favour tho game now looked a good thing for the budding champions'. Rickabv was soon noticeable for splendid footwork, his passes to Scott and Matheson being of great service to his side. These two forwards gave Diamonds a lot of trouble, and eventually, from a nkely-taken corner by Scott, Mattinglev touched the ball through from a scramble in front of the goal. This reverse seemed to rouse the old fighting spirit of the Diamonds, and Black raado soveral dangerous runs. Then A. Lowe made a similar movo on the left, and an emergency (a mere boy) lobbed into goal a high shot, which Pye-Smith just reached. At this stage the Blacks were having the best of it, Swifts conceding several corners, which Burnett placed nicely. The same player also nearly beat Pye-Smitb with a good shot. Diamonds still continued tho uphill fight, Roberts and Taylor playing desperately. Then B. Lowe placed nicely, and the forwards hustled the ball through just on the call of time. Tho second half provided interesting football, leaving Swifts winners bv two goals to one. Mr. R. S. Lithgow was referee. :

OTHER, ENCOUNTERS. THE SECOND DIVISIONMATCHES. Wadestown defeated St. John's by 12 goals to nil. M'Leod (4), King (4), Hendlo (2), and Johnson (1) were the scorers for Wadestown. Mr. Sniithwas referee. Third Division. St, John's beat Brooklyn by two goals to one. Potono beat Swifts by two goals to Johnsonvillo beat Y.M.C.A. by five goals to nil. Tho scorers were Ferguson (2), Hogg, C. Murphy, and G. Orr (1 each). Fourth Division, Brooklyn defeated Institute by seven goals to nil. Pearce (2), Baldwin (1), Thomas (1), Morris (1), and "Wilkins (1) scored for Brooklyn, and one was scored off tho goal-keeper. St. David's beat Y.M.C.A. B by four goals to one. Y.M.C.A. A defeated Swifts by three goals to nil after a very fast game. Baker, Swennsen, and Pearce scored, while Thirkell, in-goal, and Temperton and Bosher, right-wing and righMialf respectively, were prominent throughout the gamo. Fifth A Division. Marist Brothers defeated Y.M.C.A. by two goals to one. Fitzgerald and M'Carthy scored for Marist Brothers, and Mackaill for Y.M.C.A. . • Swifts beat St. Dands by three goals to nil. Fifth B Division. Gangers defeated Y.M.C.A. by three goals to nil. Sixth Division. s Forirua drew with Rangers—one all. Y.M.C.A'. beat Swifts—four goals to Brooklyn-beat Y.M.C.A. B by six goals to nil. Scatoun defeated Institute B by five goals to nil. Hawsou (3) and Fuller (2) scored for Scatoun. Maris defeated Y.M.C.A. B by one goal to nil. Brooklyn defeated Y.M.C.A. C by six goals to nil.