THE ASSOCIATION GAME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 288, 1 September 1919, Page 7

THE ASSOCIATION GAME

NAVY MEN DEFEAT WELLINGTON

A CfREAT MATCH

The 3000 spectators who mustered at the Basin Reserve witnessed one of tlio moat brilliant. exhibitions of "soccer" over seen in Wellington. The ground was .in splendid: condition, and the weather conditions wore ideal for the trial of strength between H.M.S.. New Zealand arid' a Wellington representative, team. Wellington won the toss, and elected to play with tho sun slightly in their favour. M'Gregor set the ball in motion. Eeid securing possession transferred tho leather to Baiilftrd, who, in turn, tricked Hamilton and slipped tho ball on to ICnowles Smith, the latter forcing-a corner off. Southcombe. Smith landed' the

'ball in . the goalmouth, tho ball hitting the-post in the melee,- Lay cock eventu--ally clearing with a hefty kick. Gibson ' securing, early demonstrated that he was an elusive player by. neatly tricking . Bradbury' and slipping the ball on to Scott, who was dispossessed by M'Kenzie. Ballard and K. • Smith were next; noticeable by splendid footwork; they combined ■ well together, and treated tho spectators • with some exbelfent touches. The former beat two opponents and transferred to K. Smith, who beat Southcombe ..in tho sprint-for the ball,- and sent iii a shot from a difficult angle, Chamberlain liav- . ini .no cjianoe to save. W.lingfcon ;.... 1 - H.JT.S. , New Zealand 0 The Tars'combination after this reverse was ideal, the ball passing from player to player; the Wellington halves being given a lqt of running; M'Gregor, -their stalwart centre, tricked. Eeid and passed 'to Gibson, whose'final shot went behind. ■ Gibson' securing from ■ the. kick-off. beat player after-'player, and sent in a groat sliot, which Webster kicked clear. Bradbury next-let M'Elliott away; the'latter evaded Sontag and passed to Hughes, who slipped by Laycock and scored the local team's second goal. Wellington ...i 2 : .. H.M.S. .New Zealand 0' The sailors, undaunted, continued to light with their excellent .footwork, M'Gregor finally-, passing , to Busby, , but offside play robbed him of a good opportunity to score. The Tar# continued to make the pace warm, Shepherd sendingin" a lovely ceiitre, which M'Gregor' converted. . , Wellington 2 H.M-S.'New Zealand -1 Ballard secured from' the kick-off, and, cutting into goal, beat three opponents and scored. Wellington .a 3 H.M.S. New Zealand 1 The pace now became faster than ever. M'G.irr securing slipped on to K. Smith, who was dispossessed by Hamilton, the latter transferred to Shepherd, who sent in an ■ ideal centre. M'Gregor, lying ■ on the ground, kicked the ball, which landed at Scott's feet, and' the latter made no mistake with., a fast ground shot from 12 yards' range.; ■ . . . . Wellington 3 H.M.S. New Zealand 2 Shepherd -was again prominent with a good centi-e,- .Webster kicking clear. NeilSQii, centre-half' for the Tars, was playing' a great game.at this stage. He sent in a surprise .shot from 30 yards, Welkter saving splendidly. M'Gregor next had a try at goal, Webster being again equal to the occasion. Wellington now had a look in; Eeid passed to M'Elliott, who raced a'ljead at great speed. Ho outsprinted three opponents and deceived Chamberlain with a left foot drive close in. It w-aa; a'ihagiiificent . individual effort which 'was' deservedly applauded. Wellington ■! ' H.M.S. New Zealand 2 Both teams .were excellent a.t this stage; Wellington owed their lead to their speed, brit the sailors exhibited the best footwork and combination. The' Tars returned to the attack,, their halve.? placing the ball to perfection. Gibson secured the ball- from- Soptag and, outwitting .'Bradley and beat Wcbuter all the way. 'Wellington i H.M.S. New Zealand 3 M'Qirr was next prominent with fine' -tackling, but Ballard waa robbed of his piss when in a dangerous position. M'El--liott aud J. Smith were combining well, but La-ycook 'was, to them, a stumbling block, tiradbury securing, - passed to M'Elliott, who outdistanced his opponents, scoring a gem of a goal. AVeJlington 5 H.M.S. New Zealand 3. Half-time sounded shortly afterwards. The:second half was a repetition.of file 'first, x fast' and exciting. Chamberlain early' saved well from. Hughe6. Not long after the start M'Gregor, accepting .a pass from Nedlson,.left -Reid won-' dei-ing and, sprinting ahead,- slipped between the biicks, scoring with a fast drive. It was a great bit of play. Wellington .' 5 H.M.S. New Zealand 1 Wellington rallied, M'Girr placcd beautifully to Hughes, who tricked two opponents, -and with no. one but the' goalkeeper to beat, struck tlio post. It was a narrow■ oscaptf for tho "lads iu. blue." Neilson next had a try at goal, his iiiial shot missing-by inches. A shot from M'GroKor followed immediately after with no better result. M'Arthur, •the local back, was a tower of strength -to his side. Gibson evaded Bradbury, dodged past M'Kenzie, and' sent in a beauty, which Webster never saw until he picked tho ball out of the ne:. Wellington 5 H.M.S. New Zealand 5 i'ast was not the name for the pace which both teams exerted to secure the winning points, Gibson again just missed the desired mark. "Unfortunately Ba'.lard was injured at this stage, and was compelled to l'etiro; he came on again latei, 'out was forced to retire for good. His' services wero keenly missed by Wellington at a critical stage' of the' game. M'EMiott and Smith tried hard to make headway, the latter pending in (wo good centres, which Soutkcombc cleared. Neil-' son again 'secured and parsed on to M'Gregor in the penalty area. The latter dodged Eeid nnd let drive, his shotlanding in the corner of-the net amidst grrnt enthusiasm. H.M.S. New Zealand , 0 Wellington '. ' 5 Wellington, : with a determined on slaught, almost drew level, Hughes narrowly missing. ,M'KK-iott next had a good try, liia sliot going over, tho bar. Hamilton let Shepherd away; he made good progre.s-S and sent in a great-shot,.which was equally' well saved by Webster. Eeid • let M'Elliott away. Tho latter raced after I ho ball, and the goalkeeper looked as if ho were going to pick up the ball. He bent down aud lot the ball go past. M'Elliott, at the speed he was going, could not stop, and went over the goalkeeper, falling behind the line. The refereo immediately awarded a penalty kick, although it was quito apparent ,that there wa?t no intention of. fouling M'Elliott." M'Arthur took the kick( and, ns a true sportsman, purposely put the ball over ilie bar. much to tlio satisfaction of Ijjo spectators. Tt was pleasing to liolieo Smith and M'Girr slinking hands with him afterwards. Tho gamo finished shortly afterwards with a win-for the Jack Tars by (I goals to 5; During tho afternoon ' Admiral -Tellicnn v-itn(w-wl .the r.omc, and the items fromtho ship's "band were greatly appreciated. Pctone v. Brooklyn. I'etone anet Brooklyn at the Basin Bcserve as a curt-iiin-ruiscr to the match between H.M.S. New Zealand and Wellington. Brooklyn took, the field. with . ten men, Miwkell completing the ' team after 15 minutes' play, whereas Petono were at full strength. P'.ay at the outset was very scraggy, Brooklyn having tho best Of the opening exchanges. The' socomi Bpell was more oven, play 'being of . tho give-nnd-take natu re, and towards tlio ona became quite interesting, but unfortunately.Potone lost the-services of Isold, who retired on account of an 'injury. The .game, ended .in a win., for

Brooklyn by 4 goals to 3. Mr. F. O'Connell wab referee.

SMOKE CONCERT. ' In tho evening, the Management Committee of tho Wellington Football Association tendered « smoko concert to the two teams. Mr. W. Au/kl (chairman of the association) presided'over the function which was held in the Charley's Aunt Club rooms. An appropriate toast listfin which soldier playcr.s were not forgotten) wn,s. honoured, nnd altogether the members of the gathering spent a very pleasant social evening. A number of songs lent added brightness to an already bright function. The singers were: Pte. Thomas, Seaiinan Smythe, and Stoker Neilson (three members of the warship's team); and Messrs. Bethal, M'Arthur, Green, Webb, and 11, F. Wood. FOOTBALLKGLAND ASSOCIATION SEASON OPENED. (Ilec. August 31, 5.5 p.m.) , London, August 30. The Association football season will begin to-day. The experiment of starting in August and ending on tho first Saturday, in May has (iceii necessitated owing to tho league now embracing fony-four clubs,, the Southern . Leaguo having twonty-two. The First Division outlook is speculative. Owing to. tho wartime break there is no guide regarding form. Undoubtedly,the influence of tho Army training lias stamped all tho matches. Opportune rains have soften, ed the grounds.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Asm.