THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 72, 22 September 1930, Page 15

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

HOSPITAL WIN THE TITLE

MAEIST BEATEN 4-0

The local Soccer championship for the 3030 season has been won by Hospital, ■who, by defeating Marist on Saturday, finish with 21 points, only one point ahead of Waterside. Hospital started the season shakily, but steadied as it progressed, and their win was thoroughly deserved. Last season's winners were Diamond, who with one game to play, are three points behind the winners. The Hospital team, which is composed of members of the staff of the Porirua Hospital, has been in existence for 24 years. In 1911 they won the second division championship, and in the nest year, when.they were promoted to First Division, were unbeaten throughout the season, winning the championship and the Charity Cup.. They have always been a strong team in Wellington football. At Petone on Saturday Diamond beat Petone in the semi-final of the Auld Memorial Cup. Next Saturday, Marist and Diamond meet in the final. A team from H.M.S. Dunedin was beaten at the Kilbirnie Stadium by a team of Wellington senior players by 2 goals to 1. HOSPITAL WIN. Playing' on their own ground on Saturday, Hospital defeated Marist by 4 goals to 0. It was a dull game, the opposite of what has happened when these two teams have met-previously. Hospital did most of the attacking, and Marist seemed content to remain on the! defensive, with only ;tn occasional attack. There was none of their usual sparkling forward play, which «ccounted for the fact that they failed to score. The greater part of the game was a tussle between the Hospital forwards and the Marist backs. The teams were:— Hospital.—Ell; Gibb, Thompson; Wood, Trewick, Lambert; Miles, Marshall, Jeffrey, Standbridge, James. Marist. —Turlnngton; Laracy, Wilson; Gamble, Hindle, Quirke; M'Elligott, M. Condon, Marshment, Scott, Cudby. Hospital took the offensive from the start, and for a long time maintained a .steady pressure. Their efforts gained them several corner kicks, and although these were taken with splendid accuracy. Turkington was safe, and Hospital could not acore. Finally, however, Trewick got his head to a fine corner kick by James, and he found the net. Hospital 1, Marat 0. A free-kick close to the Hospital goal g»ve Martet a chance, but they failed. Play proceeded dully, with Hospital still forcjng corners with almost monotonous regularity, relieved by an occasional breakaway by Marist. A really good goal followed. With play in the centre of the field James secured and took the ball up ihe wing, then centred to Jeffrey, who put in an irresistible shot from close range, and from a difficult angle. Hospital 2, Marist 0. At half-time the score was unchanged. The second half was a repetition of the first. Early, Gibb, from a free-kick on the half-way line, dropped the ball in the Marist goalmouth, where Jeffrey had no difficulty in scoring. Hospital 3, Marist 0. Soon afterwards Marshall netted, but he was offside and the goal was not allowed. Mjirist brightened up slightly, but not for long. Hospital, remembering Marist's habit of making a recovery even when three goals down, were taking no chances. They continued to attack persistently, and a lew minutes before the end Gibb scored their fourth goal from a penalty, making the final score Hospital 4, Marist 0. The referee was Mr. E. Watts. DIAMOND BEAT PETONE. The semi-final for the Auld Memorial Gup between Diamond and Petone resulted in a substantial win for Diamond by i goals to 2. The game was played on the Petone Recreation, Ground, and provided a fair number of spectators with a good game to watch. Play was last and interesting throughout, and well controlled by the "referee, who,'with a needed caution or two, put an end to tendency to rough play, which made its appearance at one time. Diamond were the better, team of the two, and looked like winners throughout the game. Their play as a team was very much better than that of Petone, and individually some players produced very good football; The following were the teams: — Diamond: Wyatt; Wotherspoon, Guest; J. M'Leod, Geddis, M'Cormack; R. M'"Leod, Neal, Dickenson, Smith, Stark. Petone: M'Vean; Brown, Haines; Barnes, Campbell, Smith; Baistow, Irvine, Leslie, Craig, Verrall. Diamond started with the strong wind in their favour, and, after initial pressure by Petone had been staved off, attacked strongly. Five corners in succession culminated in Dickenson scoring. With this lead of one goal in their favour, the Diamond team never looked like being beaten. They kept up the pressure, and Smith put in a. magnificent shot, which made the score 2-0. For the remainder of the first spell play was1 fairly even and very fast. Several times Petone came near to scoring, and were perhaps unlucky not to do so. Early in the second spell Diamond made quite sure of their position, the Petone defence standing stock still to allow Dickenson to score the third goal. Not long afterwards things went from bad to worse for" Petone, and Smith added the fourth Diamond goal. Petone then rallied then- forces, and Leslie netted in the corner, adding another very soon afterwards by a grand shot. Petone kept up the pressure, but could do no more, and the game ended 4 to 2 in favour of Diamond. Diamond owed their win to excellent forward combination, Neal and Dickenson being especially prominent. The Petone vanguard was on the whole disappointing. Campbell worked hard at centre half, but the Diamond forwards were just a bit too clever for the Petone defence. The game was efficiently controlled by Mr. C. Ward, and it wad pleasing to hay« a couple of linesmen who adequately knew their, job. • ■ • H.M.S. OUNEDIN BEATEN. The excellent work of Parkin, the Wellington goalkeeper, was mainly the causa of the defeat of a team from H.M.S. Dunedin, which met a Wellington team of senior players at the Kilbirnie Stadium on Saturday. In the first spell, Wellington played with the wind, and were the first to score. The Dunedin had netted previously, but T-ie goal was ruled offside. Rigby scored for Wellington, finding the net from close ((uarters after the leather had been sent in from a corner. A pretty piece of combined work on the wing saw the Dunedin pressing, and Clarke, the centre-forward, made no mistake when he received from j close in. 1-1. There was not much between the teams, and Cunningham made the score 2-1 for Wellington when he headed into the net, having received the Teather from Rigby. There was no further score in the firßt spell. The second half provided a great exhibition of goalkeeping on ihe part of Parkin. The Dunedin team was doing most of the attacking, and though the forwards worked up into a scoring position, they simply could not shoot past the Wellington soalie. AH varieties of shots were treated the same way by Parkin, who gave one of ihe best displays of goalkeeping seen for a Ion? time. The run of the play was with the visitors, and many of the shots would have beaten any good goalkeeper. 7t was Parkin's day, however, and he kept his gonl clear. Mr. T. Plant was the referee.