ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2211, 25 July 1914, Page 16

ASSOCIATION.

[By Centke-Half.]

GUP MATCHES TO COMMENCE. Clip Competitions Commence August 1. After due consideration the Management- Committee of the . Wellington Football Association, has decided to commence the Charity Clip competitions ou August 1. The.idea , is to - discontinue tlio League championship matches for one Saturday, play '-the rirst round of Cup fixtures on the dato mentioned, and .then as teams,drop out of the; latter competition arrange it so that the championship matches can be pushed ahead at tho samo time the Gup-games. This idea is a good one. Interest.in the i'League-, championship is beginning to wane, now' that Corinthians have forged bo far ahead.. Yet "there's many a slip." On the Basin.Reserve this afternoon the leaders are set down to'meet their old adversaries, Thistle, and anticipations are that the '.struggle will "be. a',mighty one. Again, that young and clever set of players, Y.M.C.A., 'have 1 -yet to be reckoned-with, and it is held in some quarters that, they will not be very far from the top when 'final numbers go up.. .". _ With the Cup aud. League competitions being played at the same time, indications are that the month of August will be an'interesting one as far as the ''.'Soccer".game is concerned in Welling-, ton.' . ; ' For August 1, the)following' teams have been drawn to play-each other in the first round for the Cup:—Hospital v. Swifts, at Porirua; Y.M C.A. r. Rover's, ,; at Kilbirnie Park; Corinthians v. : Diamonds, at Basin Reserve; Thistle v. Wanderers,- at Kilbirnie,Park-j-' Brooklyn, v. Petone, at Petono. .-'.■ .''/'•: ■ '. For the second round, the winners of the Hospital-Swifts. match -will- play the winners of the Y.M.C.A.-Rovers game, and the winners of.the. Wander-ers-Thistle fixture will play the winners' of the Brooklyn-Petone match. ■ The third round will-be fought out between the winners of the CorinthiansDiamonds match, and the winners of the •Thistle-Petone or Wanderers-Brooklyn matches. -.- It has been arranged that the semiBnals will be played on August 22, and the-final match on the Basin Reserve on August 59!',. : . Arrangements have also been made ; for'the second and third division teams ■ to',pla_y. Cup matches on August 1. Tlie .following are the fixtures for that dato. Second Division—St. David's v. Wanderers, Artillery v. Brooklyn'A, Kaiwarra V. Swifts, Brooklyn B ('. Newtown Congregational, Thistle v. Y-.M.C.A. Third Division—Marist v. Y.M.C.A. B; Y.M.C.A. v. St. David's, Swift's v. South .Wellington. Teams and Men. The second senior division of the Wanderers has disbanded. The ranks of the first division were depleted to aconsiderable extent through ; players leaving town, and their places being filled by men from the second\division resulted in the" final extinction'of that team. \' Last Saturday at .Petone against. Petone- there were-no. fewer than seven new players in the Wanderers' combination —two of these scavo one the impression of being new chums n'ot only to tho team, but eveii to.tho "soccer" code. Tho centre-forward-ivaa their own club .selector —his- first game this season, it'' is said. Five of the team were juniors, and yet Petono went vmrlerl , That jade, fickle Fortune, was sponsibk) for a scurvy trick last Saturday. Y.M.C.A; and Hospital with five minutes to go were with drawn scores. But a few minutes and the Young Men .would have achieved an honour worthy of having. A draw with the- top' dog of the season was within their, reach. And tho Fates laughed, and the gamo was. lost. What Thing of 'evil caused Coote to boot the leather through his own goal? Still it was a great game. -Probably, the best-\vitness?d .this season, and.' how' many- enthusiasts journeyed to Porirua to" en joy it? Few, very, few, compared to the hundreds who would willingly have paid to see it in Wellington. Hindmarsb, ,Y.M;'s new player, is shaping well. For a, junior with but two senior games to his credit he compares ■ favourably with many. Carruthers's speed and footwork \ were much needed in last week's fray, and he was generally always there when wanted. FooteV kicking is good,..but he is inclined to bo somewhat: hasty. He, missed" some comparatively < ■..easy; ehbts for goal on, Saturday; His pla'co would, however, be hard" to fill. Hollis was a.power between the,posts. Hoare is still inclined to hang'too long on to the ball, a mistake easily • remedied. : The forwards of Porirua'are:a:;fine; stamp of Association exponents. But compared with the earlier stages .of .the season, individualism '•-appears;. to . be. .creeping into the team. The-forwards' are big, they are tricky, and',speedy: ,, though not prominent, is not lacking'. A fault with the half-backs is thattltoy' tend to play too -far forward. The: lure of attack appears to overcome the discretion of defence. A sudden; turn in the tactics of tlieir opponents would find them unprepared; _ Hughes, as centre-forward, was invincible. He is one of the-finest-forwards of this season. Daily, -.however, was. unconvincing.; Skinner in.his new place as■ full-back was wanting in nothing, Yet it is rather late in the season to make this change permanent. Cross was almost impregnable. • . With due respect to Dante; "Abandon hope all ye who—lose heart," about meets the plight of tho Scots, i Tho showing they made against Diamonds points strongly to lack .of- training. And why should this deterioration be? If a first place appears unattainable, there is yet a representative team to be picked. Surely the lawels are worth the striving? A little .rearrangement of the men would help matters not a little. Edwards on the" left wing, Loadsman insiderleft, Fergusson centre-forward, Brownlee inside-right, and Marshall on the right wing would be a combination for the better in the forward line. Reid and Rowlands would" do for right-half and centre-half respectively—tlio lefthalf would be the difficulty—and M'Kenzie, and- Cunningham in the fullback line. Cortainly in their encounter against Corinthians to-day the greatest care should bo exercised in placing the .men. •: '--• ' ■_ _ . >.- ••• -■ > Diamonds' meeting with Thistle (in the second half only) was brilliant. Tlie first half—well, well. "Like giants refreshed with new wine" they took- the field, on tho call, of the second whistle. Dick, the captain, had advisedly rearranged his forces, and the wisdom of this was apparent immediately. Tlie two brothers Lowe were pkced together on the left wing, and their understanding Tj£s well-nigh perfect. If was said that when together they were too selfish. Well, if selfishness of this kind 'is to result in so much good, the selfishness is justified. A. Lowe, by himself, is normal. Put his brother as in-side-left jind.lie becomes brilliant. Dick. 'is -riot well placed as a full-back. He is essentially'a■ ■rights-half, amhin that position is generally excellent. It-was a- good move to let Bell stand: down 'for a- time. Ho' is too slow, and his weight and height are tho only qualifications ho has for the position of .'keeper. Rapidity of action , is more iiioccfetl. Walls may supply this.