SOCCER

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 71, 20 September 1930, Page 22

SOCCER

BY "VANaUAKB"

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

HOSPITAL TEAM'S BID

TO-DAY'S DECIDING GAMES

vins'r .division.

Goals. Ch.

P. W. 1,. D. li\ A. Pts. Waterside ~. 14 it :i 2 44 23 20

Hospital .. 13 9 3 1 45 21 19 Diamond .... 13. 9 4 0 44 24 IS Seatoun ... 14 5 0 ,3 34 43 .13 W.Y.M.r. ~135 0 2 30 'HO 12 Petono ~.. "12 4 0 2 34 'IS 10 Marist- Vi 4 8 1 4S 4(i 0 Institute^ .. 11 2 10 .2 24 B C

Hospital had everything to gain and Petoii© nothing very much to lose in tho championship match played at Petone last.Saturday. Hospital did, after a long series' of rather futile efforts, manage ;to scrape through with a margin of one goal, three to two, but it is doubtful whether the team members have had much-satisfaction over that victory1 since. They put up a very poor showing, and Petone, in -the goodness of their hearts, refrained from rubbing the fact in, as—or so.it appeared from the line—they coujd have ■done in cither spell.

The game meant" much for Hospital for this reason: When the teams ■went out on the- field the championship leaders were Watcrsiders, with 20 points and their full fourteen matches played; 20 points is their limit for this season. Diamonds stood next with 18 points and one. more game to play (it is being played this afternoon against Petouo). . . Hospital stood third with 17 points and two more; games to play, the niatch against Potone and against Marist. (this' afternoon). At the very best and Brightest, Diamonds can do no better than 20 points, placing them level with Waterside,- .but Hospital's outlook was very bright, for two wins would give. .them. 21 points. Petone were 'so'"far down on the lis.t that the championship was far beyond them, yet high enough for them not to need to. worry,over, the distasteful wooden, spoon, which, much to their displeasure, Institute will in due time receive. It would .be unkind to suggest that Petone had.no interest; in a win last Saturday, but they did 'not have, very much. '.'-',;.'. Petono turned out four regular men short, and Leslie-was not up to anything liko his usual deadly form,1, as his leg was still troubling him. Their combination,, which should have , been very necessary against .so willing and solid a team as Hospital should have been, was consequently.sadly interfered with. Early in the .second spell, moreover, Leslie, after a grand nibc-up, had to retire to; spell his1 injured; leg, but in spite of all Pctone's handicaps and their iiot ■ very remarkablo keenness, Hospital, with' a full team, only just managed to. get through...- - Over Eager to Win? ■Probably much ■of : Hospital's weakness, was due to the;.very fact that so much depended on ..the result of the game, for though, the half-back and back play was.cool, and .effective, the front liners simply could, do.. nothing right. Time' .after.. time one -. wing or tho other rushed .'play down field towards the' comer flag and, then failed signally with their a'ttemptJ to drop the ball near goal. " These wing movements and failures to centre at last became almost a drug on the market; it was scarcely worth; while watching for the result, for it bedamo monotonously the same. Now and again there was a variation, in a brilliant Rugby goal from inside men or . centre. Mark Nieholls at his best has no afternoon's record to compare with Jeffery's consistent goaling— over the bar. Bathor curiously, the halves and backs paid very little attention to their left wing men, James and Stanbridge, who, were almost starved throughout both spells, though their work was well ahead.of that attempted by Miles and Marshall. A more even sharing of the work among the forwards, it seemed to those on tho lines, would have bothered the Petone backs a good deal more than did the tactics adopted by Hospital. The game was certainly fast, play being transferred from goal to goal at a great rate in both spells.- Both Petono's wing men, Baistow, on the right, and Craig; on the left, showed great speed, when they got under way, and their centring was good; but was discounted by the excellent work of Hospital's backs, Gibb and Thompson, and also by. Leslie's lack of speed on account of his injury. . " It has been suggested that Petone did not want to win, tint that is going rather too far. The players after tho game admitted that it did not matter very greatly to them if they, did not win, but they did not throw the match away—ran a "stoomer"—by leaving the way open to Hospital at goal or by passing over their own chances of attack, at any rate, not-very obviously. Hospital played a very poor game whon all the cards were in their favour. They were lucky in their second goal, which came from a Petone back, but they did muddle along long enough after that to give Jeffery his opportunity to show that he could head neatly ;mder the bar for the determining goal, oven though his kicks had mostly gone over it. ■ ;-- . • . - Just what, will happen if Diamonds win and Hospital lose this afternoon, which will place Waterside, and Diamonds level with 20 points, haa yet to bo decided. Inquiries wore made by "Vanguard" of the management as to whether the decision would be based on goal averages or whether there would be an additional match to decide the issue, but was told that the point had not been discussed. If Hospital win, all well and good, but they will not win if they play tho same futile football that they displayed against Petone last Saturday. Successful Half Play. 1 Too many half-backs unfortunately are of the "opinion that their duty is finished for' the time being when they put one of their forwards in possession of the ball, says an English writer. That is the reason why we have scrappy, disjointed games, which can only be described as exhibitions of loose-kicking, A real half-back is also a forward; in other words, there ought always to be eight men taking part in attack. We are always hearing the '.'W". formation talked about (that is, wings and centre in advance of the inside right and left). But to my mind the propel formation in an attacking movement is really that of double "M." That is to say, the wing half-back is up almost lord with his inside forward and almost directly behind the outside man, thus forming (almost) 'a triangle. The centre-half is directly behind the centre-forward, perhaps a, little furthci

back than his two wing half-backs. In this position he is generally unmarked and is always ready to accept a ball when passed back and to initiate another attacking movement. Playing the game in theory and playing the game on the field are entirely different, but to attempt to play without any plan at all is hopeless. If the game is played systematically that method will triumph over occasional lapses. One often hears strong criticism being directed towards an inside forward who very wisely tapped the ball back to his half-back rather than run tho risk of losing it by attempting to beat an opponent. Invariably the opponent followed the ball towards the recipient at half-back, who, when he got him near enough, returned the ball to the forward, thus making the ball beat the man without any risk.

The method of moving upfield with the half-backs participating in the movement may appear slower, although it is not necessarily so. It has the advantago of a methodical advance, and carries so many opportunities of beating a defoneo that it is always more likely to succeed that an advance of forwards alone. If something goes wrong and the1 team is required to'defend, this is just where the formation falls into a defensive attitude. The half-backs are in good position, and the inside men only require to drop back to assist in repelling. As long as they work in harmony they only require to get contact with the ball to restart the movement. Even a pass to their back is sufficient to allow them to get into position to get a return, and they are off again. ■■ ■ . - • FOOTBALL AT HOME.. The following are tho results of matches played ou 16th and 23rd August in Scotland:— 10th AUGUST. SCOTTISH (First Division). Aberdeen 2 Leith. Athletic ... 1 Clyde 1 Ayr United 1 East Fife .... 1 Dundee 2 Falkirk .3 Celtic ' 2 Hamilton 1 St. Mirron 0 Hibernians ..... 2 Motherwell 2 Kilmarnock ..... 2 • Patrick Thistle ... 0 Morton ....... 5. Airdrieonlans .. 0 Queen's Park .... .0 Cowdenbeath .... 3 Hangers 4 Hearts, 1 SCOTTISH (Second Division). Albion Hovers ... 4 Forfac United .... .2 Arbroath A .... 5 Armailale 1 Boncss 1 Stcnliouse 1 isrechiu City .... 2 East Stirling .... 3 Dumbarton ..... 3 Kaith Hovers .... 1 Dundee United ... 1 Alloa Athletic .. .1 Dunforroline :... 1 Third Lanark .... 3 King's Park 2 Montrose : 3 Queen of South .. 3 St. Johnstono ... 2 St. Bernards .... 6 Clydebank 1 23rd AUGUST. SCOTTISH (First Division). Airdrieonlans .... 4 Kilmarnock .... 3 Ayr United 2 Falkirk ....... 5 Celtic 6 Hibernians ..... 0 Cowdcnbeath .....2 Aberdeen ■ 0 Dundee 0 Bangers 1 Hearts ti East Fife 1 Leith Athletic ... 1 Hamilton A 2 Motherwell .... 2 Queen's Park .... 1 Patrick Thistle .. 2 Morton ' 1 St. Mirren .:... 2' Clyde ........ 1 SCOTTISH (Second Division). Alloa Athletic .. 2 St. Bernards .... 0 Arnutdalo ...... 4 lioness ' 0 Clydebunk .... -1 Brechiu City .... 2 East Stirling 1 Queen of South .. X Forfar United ... 1 Dunferralino .... 4 Montrose 3 Albion Rovers .... 2 Itaith Rovers .■... 3 Arbroath A 2 St. Johnstons .... .1 King's Park 1 Stenhouse 0 Dundee United .. 1 Third Lanark 1 Dumbarton 0 The following arc the results of matches played on 30th August:— FIRST LEAGUE. " * Birmingham 3 Sheffield V. ...,, 1 Blackpool 1 Arsenal -1 Boltou W. ....: 3 Mlddlesbro ..., 0 -Crimsby Town.. 0 Chelsea ....... 1 Leeds United ... 2 Portsmouth .... 2 Leicester City .. 1 Derby County ... 1 Liverpool 2 Blackburn K. ... 1 Manchester U. .. J Aston Villa 4 Wednesday ' .... 2 . Newcastle. U X 'Simderlarid .... 3- Manchester C. .. 3 • Westhain U. .... 2 Huddersfleld .... 1. : SECOND LEAGUE. Bradford City ...3 Charlton A .... 2 Burnley 0 Burry 2 Millwall A ..... 1 Stoke City ..... 3 Xotts Forest .... 3 Wolverhampton .. 4 Oldham A 2 Bradford 0 Plymouth. A 2 Everton ' 3 Portvale 5 Barnsley ■■ 2 Preston North End 5 Southampton ... 0 Swansea T 3 Cardiff City .... : 2 ..Tottenham 7 Reading 1 "West Brom.'A .. 3 Bristol City .... 0 , SCOTTISH (First Division). Aberdeen 2- Airdrieonians ... 0 Clyde 5 Cowdenbeath .... 2 East Tifo 2 Celtic 0 Falkirk 2 Patrick Thistle .. 4 Hamilton A 3 Ayr United ...... 1 Hlßerninns 0 Leilh Athletic ... 1 Kilmurnock 0 Hearts .. : 1 Morton 2 Dundee 1 ■Queen's Park 4 St. Jlirren 1 Hangers .1 Motherwell .... X SCOTTISH (Second Division). Albion Rovers .:. 2 East Stirling L . ; ..« 1 Arbroath A .... 1 Stenhouse ..: 0 Boness ........ 6 Clydebank ..... 3 Hrochen City .... 2 Third Lanark ....■ 2 Dumbarton ..., 3 St. Johnstone ... 2 Dundee United ... 4 Montrose 1. ■ llnufcrmllne ... 3 Ratth Rovers ~. 1 King's Park .... X Alloa Athletic .... X Queen of South .. 3 . Arraadale 2, St. Bernards .... 0 Forfar United ... 2 Hands! If modern referees were approached for their views.on what regulations or laws of the game of football caused them most trouble "and uncertainty, in a practical sense, there is little" doubt the majority would refer you' to the "offside" and "handling" bogies, and even more especially the latter, says an. English referee. It is all very well to sit down in an examination room and confidently list these various laws governing Soccer football or even give a correct oral version of them. There are thousands cf enthusiasts, non-paitici-pant officials or players, who have taken the game so much to heart as to make a complete study of it. But practical demonstration is an entirely different arid more difficult proposition.

If a referee is capable of keeping up with the play, almost an impossibility under modern speed conditions, or has a workable understanding with his linesmen, he can assume effective control so far as the " off side" rule is concerned, for it is then simply a matter of applying the rule as set down in black and white; but "handling" presents certain difficulties that can only be removed by more definite dictum.

The rule simply says: "A player shall not intentionally handle tho ball," but for the information and guidance of spectators and players, and also to relieve tho referees of responsibilities that should not be thrust upon them, something should be added to that rule to make it easier of application to circumstances. There is too much of the individual opinion about it. As an illustration in a recent match, a hard drive struck .1 defending player's arm; there was no real dai»gor of a goal accruing from the shot, and the opponent in question was only a matter of three or four yards away from.the kicker — an obvious instance of accidental hands—yet a penalty was granted. : As a decision this was bad; but if there had been the probability of the ball entering the net had it not been interfered with I would have awarded a penalty, even though the handling was accidental.

In another case a full-back threw himself full-length across the goal to turn a certain scoring shot round the post; the ensuing penalty-kick was missed, and so through deliberate infringement of rule a goal was lost. In such circumstances would it not be for the good of tho game if tho rule relating to handling were so altered to admit of the award of a goal? In the course of the past two or three seasons wo have experienced a "great liumbei1 of cases of deliberate fisting out by defenders to save (heir goalj you cannot

blame them taking advantage of the situation; they are exchanging certain loss to possible gaiii—but it is an evil that can easily be stamped out. A Low Standard. The second division cup final between Lower Hutt and Thistle was entirely marred by the weather. The better team, Lower Hutt, won, but were somewhat lucky to do so. Extra time had to be played, and the victory was secured only by means of a penalty. Batchelor, Jessup, and Nicolle shone most in the winners' forward line, and Farquharson, Lothian, and Cunningham in that of the losers. On each side the shooting was weak. The second division football is not up to standard, and Thistle, with their promotion next year, will have to do very much better if they are to make any sort of showing. l It is largely the absence of real1 team play which makes the games so feeble: individual efforts here and there scintillate, but combination or understanding between back and forward divisions is seldom conspicuous. Games are consequently extremely ragged as a rule, nnd do not afford spectators very much about which to enthuse.

The question of compensation to clubs and players for injuries sustained in international matches, which was raised at tho annual meeting of the Football League, when it was suggested that £5000 should be the minimum recompense to a club for a player's permanent incapacitation, does not appear to have been discussed at the meeting, which was conducted in private.