Association Football.

Free Lance, Volume V, Issue 260, 24 June 1905, Page 20

Association Football.

After a lapse of three weeks all League matches were played la&t Saturday. The grounds at Mjiramar were in very fair order considering the amount of rain which had fallen, but no game was allowed to take place at New - town Park. It is high time that some better arrangement was come to in regard to this ground, as the way things are at present no one knows* when the ground is available. A very fair crowd attended the games at Miramar, but the long spell whioh "had ensued made some of the p ayers feel very "tired," and consequently the play was not up to its usual standard . * * * The great attraction was the Diamond —Swift A heat, but a drawn' game, oi two goals each, about showed its worth. It was a hard game, without beang rough, and the <iefereei kept a firm hand on the pkyers. However towards the end of the game he stopped it and 1 cautioned players against the amount of talking they were indulging in, and 1 this had a good effect. In my opinion, the caution was a. necessary one, as in many matches that have so far'takern place too much, talking is indulged in. The Diamonds were minus three of the r back players • Fitzgerald andl Taylor being with the New Zealand 1 team m Australia, and 1 Lane having left for the country. Their places were taken by Coilpus (who kept goal fox the last season) Burbush. and Overend (who was T> rom otedl from the junior ranks). AM three played well, and fully justified their inclusion. Thorley did not play his usual good game, owing probably to the fact that lie received a nasty knock at the commencement of the game. If the club could' manage it, he should be smited to the full-back position, as this is his place. W. Roberts was in splendid form, as usual but he has a very bad habit of handling the ball at times in the penalty area, and he will yet get his side into trouble. He made this 1 mistake last Saturday, and, although the referee informed me afterwards that he had a very shrewd idea that it was done, he could not award the penalty owing to several players being between Mm and the offender. However, no harm happened 1 , as Swifts scored a goal almost immediately after. The Diamond forwards must have had a day off. as there were none of those passing rushes shown which is one of the features of their play. Reddly (left wing) has always a tendency to get off-side through not watching the opposing backs enough. His weakness m this direction was in evidence in this game. Hathaway played well, as also dlid Cunnin^hame at times. This latter player is developing into quite a talker though, aflid the writer of these notes is quite willing to give him a few hints on the off-side rule if he will send his wants along. Duffey should keep more out on his wing. I had occasaon to remark about this once before, and must again impress on hjm that he has no right to crowd in upon his inside man the way he does. For Swifts, Wool lams, in goal, played a very good game indeed, and had no chance with the two goals which got past him. The two full-backs, Duff and White, both played well, and there was nothing to choose between them, but to my mind! Frank Waddell played the best back game on the field. His defence was admirable, andl one time on the attack he went right through the opposing halves and forwards, putting in a stinging shot, which just skimmed over the bar. The two wing-halves also played! well. J. Pye>-Smith, however, should get rid of a bad habit he has of back charging. Evans, on Saturday's game, is evidently the Swifts' talker, and Should dlrop this very bad habit. Of the forward line, Anker and Ootes both worked hard, but Ratliff could not get going, and I am beginning to think tihat the fine game he is stated to nave played against the junior representatives at Nelson last season is only a myth. # . , The good impression that I have had of the Rovers was again borne out, as they defeated the Queen's Park by three goals to nil. The match was played on probably the worst ground, as patches of water made things at tunes unpleasant for the players. The Pairksi were minus their two be>st players, as Clapham (back) and Mawson (wing-forward) had gained places in the New Zealand team. Webster kept goal well for Rovers, and the best of the backs were Reynolds, Renai and Martin. Of the forward lme, Keogh, who is an acquisition to this club, and Frank Williams were the best.

For the Paiks, A. and F. Clark were tlie best bdok players. Beit 01 ark has not so fax played up to his best form, and should improve a lot. Haa-nosng, Sharkey, and Davidson were the best of the foiwardte. The outstanding feature of the junior games was. the win of the Diamond A tea.ni over St. John's A. Up to within a quarter of an. hour of time the lattei team were leading by two goals to ml, but then. Diamonds came with a rush, and piled on eight goals before the whistle blew. * • * A couple of pleasantries passed by two rival players on the return to tow n last Saturday • —First player "You ought to be on the stage as a highkioker." "Second' player "You ought to join the circus as a jumper." # * * Beyond the mere outline (and a poor one at that) of what has appeared in the papers re the first match, played in New South Wales by the New ZeaLamd team against the Metropolitan District nothing is, of course, yet known as to how our boys shaped. It is, however, evident that New Zealand lost the game through lack of combitoation, and no doubt this will have been worked up by the time the second matoh is played, next Wednesday. I was veiy pleased to see that Forrest played a good game, especially as many considered that he should not have been in the team. Clapham, Mawson, Chadwick, and Brown are also spoken of as having played well.