ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 4029, 2 June 1931, Page 50

ASSOCIATION.

By

Corner Kick.

SOVIET -OCCER TEAM The Soviet Soccer team which may or may not visit Australia this season consists of 15 players, all amateurs. The first steps in the negotiations were taken by the Queensland League, following representations by a member of an oil firm who had spent a number of years in Russia, and who had been greatly impressed by the high standard of the Soviet footballers’ play. Russian teams have, in recent years, defeated Esthonia by 4 to 2 and Turkey by 3 to nil and 2 to 1. Both these countries are rated up to average international standard. The negotiations for the visit are being carried out directly with M. Georges Duperon, secretary of the Russian Football Asso’ciation, Moscow. One difficulty that may interfere with the visit is the question of finance. Should the Commonwealth authorities require a bond on behalf of each member of the Russian team, the tour may be jeopardised. The prospective tour did not find favour at tlie meeting of the New Zealand Football Association this week. Mr R. Carlysle. New Zealand representative in Australia, wrote informing the association that such a tour was on the cards, as negotiations

were in progress between Queensland and Russia and that New South Wales had been brought into the argument. The writer thought it quite on the cards that New Zealand would be invited to participate. The letter further stated that the standard of Soccer in Russia was not very strong, as the hand book disclosed heavy defeat of the Russians at the hands of the Turks. “We can get good football when we want it from within the Empire/' said Mr Frank Campbell, chairman of the association. There was no further comment. CHATHAM CUP Thirty entries have been received by the New Zealand Football Association Lor the Chatham Cup, the handsome Soccer club premiership trophy at present held by Petone (Wellington). The entries are a record for the competition, and include the finalists of last year, Petone and Western. Other Canterbury clubs which will contest the provincial elimination rounds (states the Christchurch Star) are Thistle, Rangers, New Brighton, Nomads, St. Albans, and Technical. It will be remembered that last season Western were very unlucky not to bring the trophy bark to Christchurch. Sunnyside were the last holders of the Chatham Cup for Canterbury. SATURDAY’S MATCHES. DUNEDIN. In a hard-fought contest with Mosgiel at Logan Park on Saturday. Maori Hill, the leading team in the Fletcher Cup competition, was fortunate to make a drawn game. The match was the best of the season to date, the large number of spectators being treated to an exciting contest, in which a high standard was displayed. Through the agency of a penalty—a doubtful one to many—Maori Hili opened the scoring seven minutes before time was called, Moegiel gaining the equalising goal with about a minute to spare. For the most part, play was of an even nature, but the attacking movements of the Mosgiel forwards were fraught with more danger than those ot its opponents, who did not display the same finished passing. At Seacliff, tlie local team registered a good win over Technical, and will time take second position on the championship table, two points behind Maori Hill. The results of all games were:—

Mosgiel .. .. 1 Maori Hill .. 1 Seacliff .. .. 7 Technical .. .. 1 H.S.O. Boys .. 4 Northern .... 1 Port Chalmers 4 Mornington .. 2 The following table gives the relative positions of the teams engaged in the First Grade:—

MAORI HILL v. MOSGIEL. Logan Park was in excellent order for the game Maori Hill v. Mosgiel, and despite the gusty wind, the spectators were treated to an exhilarating afternoon’s football. Mosgiel won the toss, and elected to play towards the town goal, facing the eun. Midfield play followed the kick-off. until Balk and Sixton took play into Mosgiel area, where Sixton's pass went over. Mosgiel’s left opened out in a smart run, the winger shooting outside. Fast up and down play continued, in which Porter and Brown, the opposing -centre halves, were prominent, until Balk broke away on Hill’s left. Passing into Sixton, the latter again shot weakly. Fine combined work by both teams kept the spectators at a high pitch of excitement, but neither side could gain an advantage, as both sets of backs were defending well. M’Dougall cleared a rush initiated by Vial, Porter sending on to Moore, and tlie latter drove in a long shot. Wills fielded the ball, but was penalised for “steps,” the free kick being cleared. Brown was battling hard, keeping the ball low to his forwards, and Balk essayed a shot which went outside, Carse following with a high shot over the goals. Taylor repulsed a Mosgiel advance opened up by O’Rorke, the ball going to Brown, who sent play down the centre. Steven missed badly, but M’Cloy retrieved the position by a smart clearance. From a throw-in Moore got the ball away niceljto C. Skinner. The winger beat the defence and crossed to O’Rorke, whose shot was smothered by Thompson, the ball going over for a corner. From the kick the ball hung round the hill team’s goal until Oliver, with a nice run, relieved the pressure, the advance being nullified by M’Cloy’s solid tackling. Mosgiel was now playing well, Moore, O’Rorke, and C. Skinner being prominent, and only the fine defensive work of Brown kept the team from scoring. Maori Hill forced its first corner kick, and Balk placed well, but the defence cleared, and Mosgiel carried play downfield. Wills being called upon to save a good shot from O’Rorke. In a further attack Gorrie neatly slipped past Bayne and centred to Moore, the latter testing Wills, whose clearance went to White. In a hot return Wills stopped the ball and failed to hold it. but recovered 'in time to throw out. Play was keen and exciting, with Mosgiel showing a slight superiority, but Hill livened up just before half time and Brown sent in a shot which M’Dougall kicked out. The spell ended with no score.

With the start of the second spell Bayne kave away a corner. A well-placed kick was cleared, and Carse ran down on the right, but O’Rorke, cutting in on the pass, saved. Brown, however, put Hill in position with a kick down the centre, and miskicking by the Mosgiel backs gave Balk a shot in a close position, the winger missing. Again the Hill forwards rushed play back, Vial and Sixton being prominent. but Balk again failed to find the net. With Mosgiel settling down, play was more evenly contested. Porter essayed a long shot, which Taylor cleared, and a nice run by Oliver ended in his shot being saved by M’Cloy. Following keen midfield play, Moore broke through to test Wills without success, and, follow-

ing a further shot by Gorrie, a free kick brought relief to Maori Hill. The plav moved rapidly from end to end, and wa s full of exciting moments. The Mosgiel halves in their keenness to press home the attack, left a big - gap in the rearguard and several times the Maori Hill forwards broke away in likely movements which through poor passing and the sure defence of M’Cloy and Stevens came to naught. From a thrown-in. Balk showed clever play, and his cross, landing' in the goal mouth, gave Vial a great chance, but h e was too slow and M’Dougall kicked out. In a series of Maori Hill attack's. I orter and M’Cloy were prominent, and O Rorke. getting away from a nice pass, drove a hot shot into goal, Walls making a fine save. There was little between the teams, both sides having its turn on attack. , Bayne conceded a corner to save from O Rorke, and Balk missed with a shot at the other end. A high clearance was taken up by Sixton. M Dougall saving and sending the Mosgiel forwards away, with O’Rorke and C. Skinner in the lead. A fine cross from the latter, gave Gorrie a great opportunity, but with only the goalkeeper to beat he kicked wildly outside. Thompson cleared a further advance by Mosgiel, and sent up to Carse, lhe winger drove bard to goal, where M’Cloy, in clearing, was penalised for handling. Taylor took the kick, the ball striking the cross-bar and dropping into the net. Maori Hill 1 goal. Mosgiel nil. With only seven minutes to go play was strenuously contested. In stemming a Mosgiel attack on the right, Thompson was penalised for holding Gorrie. just outside the penalty area. Wills made a good save from Gorrie’s kick, but was knocked out. Play was stopped until he recovered, and from the re-start Mosgiel battled hard, its efforts being rewarded just on time, following fine combination play between C. Skinner and Moore on the left. The latter passed to White, who gave Wills no chance of saving, and the game, which was in charge of Mr W P. Smith, ended shortly after with the scores: Mosgiel 1 goal Maori Hill .. .. .. 1 goal HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS v. NORTHERN. Old Boys kicked off in the match against Northern. Thomson beat Groves and passed to M’Hugh, who shot but the kick missed. Northern continued to press, but Hall relieved, and Latimer made headway, but Wallace just beat him and kicked out at the corner flag. From the throw-in Latimer secured and scored the first goal for Old Boys. Midfield play ensued for some time. Duncan secured and passed to Wood, who ran well up, but Heenan kicked out. Wallace broke through, but Hall spoiled his shot, which went wide. From the goal kick School made ground, and Latimer had a shot, I which just missed. Northern continued to press and secured two corners jn succession, each without result. Both Perry and Baird had shots from close in, but Hall saved. Thomson was playing well, but was inclined to pass the ball too far forward, the opposing backs easily beating the forwards for the ball. Sutherland cleared when close in and passed to Young, who beat Boyd and crossed over to Perry, but his shot went wide. A corner to Northern was cleared and Cameron broke away and passed to Groves, who scored with a fine shot. Old Boys 2 goals. Northern nil: The game was fast, but Northern was not showing combined football, Wallace being too quick in getting rid of the ball, although his passes to the wing were always well placed. The Old Boys’ halves were playing well, and from a pass by Boyd to Wood, the latter beat Heenan and scored. Old Boys 3 goals, Northern nil. From the kick off M’Hugh took the ball well down and shot, Hall giving away a corner, but Smith shot past. Half time was called without a further score.

On resuming. School attacked, Duncan pjaying well to his forwards, and Hall, Northern’s goalie, had a busy time. Northern broke away, but the shot was blocked by Sutherland, and a-* little later Pickerill cleared on the goal line when Hall was out of goal. Old Boys now had the upper hand, and Boyd had a good shot, Hall saving well. A breakaway by Nothern resulted in a corner. From a well-placed kick Hall punched out to Latimer, the ball travelling between Groves and Wood. The latter shot, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the net. Old Boys 4 goals, Northern nil. Northern seemed to liven up after this, and gave Old Boys a busy time, Perry shooting past when close in. Shortly afterwards, however, he scored a nice goal. Old Boys continued to press, and gave Northern a trying time, Thomson playing well, but being inclined to lie too close on his backs. Play was still in the Northern area when the whistle went with the scores: . Old Boys .. .. .. 4 goals. Northern .. .. .. 1 goal.

MORNINGTON v. PORT CHALMERS. Port kicked off, and, aided by the powerful wind prevailing, attacked the hill goal, Donaldson relieving by kicking out.. Holden let Couper away, and, following two free kicks to Mornington, W. Ives goaled from a melee in front of Oastler. Port Chalmers 1 goal. Mornington nil. From the resultant centre M’Sloy stopped Connolly and let Holden away, the last-named shooting past. Connolly sent Young off with a nice pass. Port’s right-half again secured, but C. Ives failed to accept his pass. Monti had a splendid drive at goal, Oastler fisting over the bar. Hands against Connolly saw Monti nearly score, Johnstone conceding a corner. Latta beat Johnstone, and a strong drive for goal was cleverly deflected by Donaldson. The Blue and Black forwards now broke through nicely, but the strong wind spoilt Connolly’s parting shot at goal. Moon next tried a low drive, which went narrowly past. Again the Hill van broke through, Evans saving the situation. Nice play by Holden, Monti, and Couper saw Oastler make a good save, but he was well beaten by a nice shot from the Port left winger shortly afterwards. Port Chalmers 2 goals, Mornington nil. At Port’s foal Hutchison safely held two good shots rom Young and M’Farlane, and, quickly changing the scene of attack, Latta dribbled past Morris and Holden and gave Oastler no chance of saving. Port Chalmers 3 goals, Mornington nil. Port had done nearly all the attacking up to this

stage, being aided by a powerful wind,, and M’Stay, who was playing good football, had another fine drive, which Oastler did well to stop. A beautiful corner by Couper was cleared by the Hill custodian, who used his feet. Haldane let Rutherford away, and the latter’s splendid cross was run out by M’Farlane. Following a couple of corners conceded by Johnstone, Monti broke through, but was stopped by Morris. A Blue break-away was stopped nicely by Madigan, and the same player kicked out following a nice cross from Rutherford. Again Port attacked, Donaldson stopping Couper prior to the whistle sounding half time. Following the kick-off, Blues set up a strong' attack, Madigan clearing, and after several more fruitless attacks by the Hill men Port broke through, Johnstone kicking, clear. Following a nice drive at goal by Morris, Connolly broke through and sent narrowly past the uprights. A nice cross, by Monti was nearly put through by C. Ives. A nice shot by Moon, following a free kick, was cleared by W. Ives, who took the ball down the length of the field. His beautiful cross was met by Monti, and Oastler was compelled to leavehis goal to clear. At the other end M’Farlane had a nice corner kick the Port defence clearing Connolly’s header. Schofield broke away and Haldanedribbled through, but his parting snot went over the bar. A strong attack by the Port forwards saw Moon intercept. Following a strong clearing kick by Johnstone, Young headed past. In atte.opting a clearance Evans wildly skied the ball in front of goal, and his custodian was compelled to concede a corner. Shortly afterwards Morris opened the Hill team’s scoring with a very neat effort from behind a crowd of players in front of Hutchison. Port Chalmers 3 goals, Mornington 1 goal. The home forwards frequently attacked at this stage, but Ives, at centre half, who was ably aided by Evans and Madigan, rose to the occasion and repeatedly saved the situation. Young and Connolly dribbed nicely for the halves, but Madigan stopped the movement. Another Hill attack saw Young make a nice scoring attempt, which brought Hutchison to his knees to save. A corner kick by Schofield saw Young accept and open his scoring account for the season. Port Chalmers 3 goals, Mornington 2 goals. The Hill team’s success was soon evened up. however. Port breaking away, and after Oastler had left his charge to clear, a quick return from C. Ives on the line found the net. Port Chalmers 4 goals, Mornington 2 goals. From the kick-off Connolly tried to let Rutherford away, but Evans intercepted the pass. Morris sent the left-winger off nicely, and the latter’s accurate cross was blocked by the right back for a corner. Shortly afterwards the referee (Mr Jeffries) sounded the final whistle, the score being—

Port Chalmers .. .. 4 goals. Mornington 2 goals. SEACLIFF v. TECHNICAL OLD BOYS. Technical travelled to Seacliff on Saturday and was defeated by 7 goals to 1. The ground was in good condition, but the heavy wind spoilt a good game. From the kick-off Technical went through, Anderson clearing. Up and down play continued until Lamont, Technical’s right-half, let Hector away, the latter’s centre giving Armishaw a chance to open the score. Technical 1 goal, Seacliff nil. Seacliff immediately took up the attack, and went right through, Simmonds passing to Hooper, who scored. Technical 1 goal, Seacliff 1 goal. Both teams attacked in turn, but half time was called with the score unchanged. From the kick-off Seacliff went down the field, but Lindsay, who was playing a great game at back for Technical, cleared. Play was confined to midfield for some time, Baillie eventually breaking away and sending across to Hooper, who scored. Seacliff 2 goals, Technical 1 goal. Technical tried hard to equalise, but Watson and Anderson were clearing well. The Seacliff forwards started a good movement, resulting in Hooper’s gaining possession and scoring. From then on Seacliff attacked strongly, both Hooper and M’Cormick scoring in quick succession. The next goal was scored from a penalty given against a Technical back for some infringement. Gordon took the spot kick, which went wide, but owing to Simmonds’s moving across the line as the kick was being taken the referee had the penalty taken again. Gordon made no mistake this time. Technical then broke away, Armishaw putting in a high dropping shot, and the ball bounced on the goal line. A scramble took place, but a free kick enabled Seacliff to clear. Play was then returned to the Technical end, where Hooper scored. Up and down play continued, and time was called with the final score:— Seacliff 7 goals. Technical 1 goal.

SECOND GRADE. Tramways 4, Technical 2. Ravcnsbourne 2, Mornington nil. THIRD GRADE. Leith 4, Normal 1. FIFTH GRADE. Normal 4, Port Chalmers 2. High School 111 2, Leith 1. SIXTH GRADE. Mosgiel nil, Roslyn-Wakari nil. High School IV 5, Port Chalmers 1. IN OTHER CENTRES AUCKLAND. Tramurewa 3. Celtic 2. Y.M.C.A. 4, Ponsonby nil. Onehunga 2. North Shore 1. Thistle 8, New Lynn 1. WELLINGTON. Hospital and Petone drew with one goal each. ■ Watersiders 2, Thistle 1. The match between Y.M.C.A. and Marist was abandoned. Diamonds 6, Seatoun 2. CHRISTCHURCH. Rangers 5, Nomads 3. Marists 2, Kaiapoi 1. Sumner 3, New Brighton 2. Western 1, Technical Old Boys nil. Thistle 4, St. Albans nil.

Goals. Cup P.W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Maori Hill .. 6 5 - - 1 21 8 11 Seacliff .. .. 6 4 1 1 24 7 9 Mosgiel .. .. 6 3 1 2 12 9 8 H.S. Old Boys 6 4 2 — 22 21 8 Technical 6 3 3 — 11 14 G Northern 6 1 3 2 9 13 4 Port Chalmers G 1 5 — 11 25 2 Mornington .. 6 — 6 — 7 20 —