SOCCER

Southland Times, Issue 21097, 31 May 1930, Page 19

SOCCER

(By “Outside-Right.”)

HONOURS TO DATE

McDonald cup.

Club competition suspended. Representative trials held. Southland meets Otago on June 3. Trials played in terrible weather. Possibles score an overwhelming victory. Frequent changing of players somewhat confusing. A very ragged game in places, but played in good spirit. The work of Greenfield, the Possibles’ goalie was particularly good. He is steady and reliable. There seems to be little doubt but what he will be the Southland representative custodian. z Again on Saturday the touch lines were conspicuous by their absence. There was a good deal of confusion at times. There also seems to be a lack of line umpires. Usually some self-sacrificing person has to perform that duty, but when a game is in progress, nobody seems to know who the umpire is. Rigby figured in goal for the Probables. The score accumulated against his side is no reflection on his abilities as a goalie. Shortly after the game commenced he had 1 busy time holding off the Blues and he successfully cleared many times. When Paul’s shot came, however, he had no chance with several men crowding the goal mouth. When the game was well under way he was shifted up to outside right and Radford took the goal. In the forward line Rigby is good being dashing but reliable. I believe there is a possibility that he may be in the forward line of the Southland representative team.

Maxwell (Rangers) played as right fullback for Possibles. He is a very useful man in the position; in fact he is one of the best full backs in Southland. He plays a very heady game from two points of view. Devon was picked for the Possibles, but unfortunately he had to retire a few moments after the game had He was suffering from an injury to his leg and he could not return to the field. Bob plays quite a sound game and he is very keen. The inclusion of McMurdo the Corinthian captain in the Southland team, should be a certainty. When McMurdo plays he does the work of six men. He is one of the mainstays of The Corinthian side and the Blues are fortunate to have a half-back of such calibre.

So cold was the weather last Saturday that the Probables’ goalie, knowing from experience what kind of a place the showgrounds is on a cold day, turned out with a sweater under his jersey. His precautions were well-advised for it was freezingly cold. Rain fell at frequent intervals and the ground became almost like a swamp. It was cold underfoot and the wind cut like a knife. Players and spectators alike were glad when the final whistle sounded. When Radford went back to act as goalie for the Probables he also took the precaution of wearing the sweater underneath his jersey. Rigby, however, must have been anticipating a quieter time than he had. Batchelor of Rangers, who played in the half-back line for Probables, worked hard right through the game. He has more speed than he gives the impression of at' first glance and he is certainly enthusiastic.

When the association fixed the Wednesday before last as a practice night it could not have forseen what part the Clerk of the' Weather would play. Players who would turn out on such a night would be keen.

When Campbell made the sixth goal for the Blues in the Possibles —Probables match, Radford was caught well and truly out of position. The shot was not a particularly hard on, but the goal mouth was without a tenant and it just rolled in. Radford undoubtedly is a much better outside-right than £ goal keeper. The second round of the McDonald Cup competition will be resumed when the Southland-Otago match is over. Invercargill are definitely out of the competition—in fact there seems to be no hope of their raising a team —and with Corinthians too far behind to catch up, the contest lies between Central and Rangers. Owing to both teams possessing good goal-keepers, when they meet, there is very little scoring done. Central were the victors of the last meeting, but ir. the next round it would be a courageous man who would predict the result.

School soccer will be in full swing after the school holidays. It is in the school that the game will have to be encouraged, and it is among the children that good clean football is witnessed.

Dr Tinsley Lindley, a famous centre-for-ward of the Corinthians and Nottingham Forest clubs, and on 13 occasions an international player, has recently drawn attention to several more commqn faults among first-grade footballers at home. Presumably a few of those faults will also be found among New Zealand players, in all grades. It is often said, he wrote, that the man with the ball should make the opening,'but it is just as much the duty of the other forwards to get into position so they can play up to him. Dr Lindley maintains that ball control generally is poor and shooting is as faulty as it could be. He mentioned that on two occasions, both in first-grade matches, he took the ball through from the kick-off and goaled, without an opposing player having touched it. He considered that that should be done more frequently than it is.. "Ball control nowadays is bad, and shooting as faulty as it can be. Forwards won’t get their knees over the ball. They shoot off the toe-cap instead of off the instep. Players should be taught the principle of ‘tangents and angles. With a moving ball the players on the wings should have their feet at a certain angle/ which requires working out, tap it when they receive it, and they would see it go back to the player who is dashing through. “From my point of view,” he continued, “the changes that have been made in‘the game have brought about deterioration. The result of playing what is called the W. formation is that at least one or two players are oftep off-side. The forwards should help each other, and go ahead together. “Another reason for the decline is that, for some reason or other, the backs and halfbacks play the wrong game. In my opinion it is the duty of the half-back to watch the outside forward and for the back to take

the inside man. The reverse action is often seen, and it is a mistaken policy.

“Old players, in my opinion, make the best referees, because they do their work in the spirit of the game. No amount of theory can create that splendid breath for football that comes from actual practice. Another point upon which I feel strongly is that referees should base their decisions on the intention of the. act and not on the mere consequences of it. “Then again, I consider that there should be two referees —one for each half of the field. I also hold that the penalty line should be abolished, for players should not be allowed to know where they can or cannot trip with impunity. I do not consider it right that a player should be able to say to himself: “Inside that line I must not be unfair; outside it I can be so if I like. I would, therefore, do away with the lines and give powers to referees to award penalty kicks for foul play over a much larger area than at present.” Rifle Notes will be found on Page 9.

P. W. L. D. Goals. F. A. Pts. Central 3 3 0 0 8 1 6 Rangers 3 2 1 0 4 4 4 Corinthians 2 0 2 0 4 11 0