Senior Soccer Competition

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 85, 1 July 1927, Page 11

Senior Soccer Competition

Can Ponsonby Down Thistle?

Prospects for To-Morrow’s Games

To-morrow's principal soccer attraction will be the meeting of Thistle and Ponsonby at Blandford Park. The game in the first round wasa hard fought one, and many thought Thistle was lucky to win. At Devonport the Shore will meet Northcote on the Domain and Navy plays Trams on the depot field. Y.M.C.A. and Onehunga is set down for the Inner Domain. With saturated grounds the game are all very open.

Y.M.C.A. V. ONEHUNGA Both teams figure in the lower portion of the championship table, but are very evenly matched and a close finish should result. Last Saturday the Young Men played a meritorious draw with Shore at Devonport, in fact several good judges consider they were unfortunate in only sharing the points.

On the Domain, Onehunga held a twogoal lead over Northcote at half-time, but faded a bit in the second spell and failed to net a penalty kick which would have given them victory over the ’Cote. In Baton, Otter. Riddolls and Lewis the Y.M. combination has a solid defence, while Dick shaped well last Saturday as a partner with Humphries, and Goodman, the new outside left, was too fast for the Shore defence. Onehunga has good defenders in Whowell, Bentley, and Terry, while Mellor and Nimmo are nippy forwards who take a lote of holding. The greater experience of the Y.M. should secure a win for the young men. THISTLE V. PONSONBY With a clear lead of five points over Ponsonby and Shore, the Thistle Club would seem to hold a lien on the championship trophies this season, but there’s many a slip at Blandford Park this season, and a couple of losses would alter the whole aspect of things. Ponsonby put up a great fight against the Black and White brigade at their last meeting, and was unlucky not to have got at least a point from the contest. Since then Ponsonby met with an inexplicable defeat by Northcote, which upset their championship calculations. On their last appearance at headquarters, the Ponies trounced their nearest rivals, Shore, by four goals to one, and a team which can do that should have a chance of spoiling the Scots unbeaten .record. The western suburb will be without T rnes, the flying winger, who is repre-

senting New Zealand in Christchurch, but the Scots are minus Hislop, who Is on the same mission, and its ileft wing: is less dangerous when Kay is without his usual partner. George Jack has also left town, and the Ponies* goal will be filled by the veteran Watts, who can still clear his goal with the best of them. Thistle form in the soft going was not very impressive last Saturday, and the ! lack of sting in the attack suggested la suspicion of staleness. It will be surprising if Ponsonby do not put up a great attempt to lower the lion rampant to-morrow. NORTH SHORE V. NORTHCOTE These old rivals across the water will meet again at Devonport to-morrow, and ’Cote never performs better than when opposed to the boys from the neighbouring borough. In Lyon, the trans-harbour men have about the best goalie in Auckland, and the Shore shooting will need to improve a lot to penetrate his defence. Taylor has come on a lot at fullback, he and Hibbert now constituting a very solid pair. The half-line is a worrying trio, and when they are in the humour the forwards can swing the ball about in good style. North Shore is sadly missing the services of its veterans. Jones. Baxter and Bradshaw, the gaps in the half-way line being very marked last week. This meant a lot of work for the fullbacks, while the front line suffered from lack of support. Gerrard may be tried for the critical position at centre-half, and should be able to rally his colts together, and Renshaw will appear at wing-half. The former junior skipper hr.s been off the scene with knee trouble, but is a clever half who should be a valuable acquisition if he stands up to the strain of a hard game. The Black and Golds are fielding an “All Shore” team, which should be too good for the 'Cotes. TRAMWAYS V. NAVY The Corporation Club will make one of its rare journeys across the water to meet the men-o'-warsmen on the Calliope Lock ground. In spite of the difficulty of filling a senior eleven wi only the Philomel men are availn the Navy put up a gallant fight agai the Ponies last week, and only w< down by the odd goal in the flying moments of the game. The service men are always a tough proposition at home, and the Trammies will be without Spencer and Tinkler to help them. But Batty, between the sticks, is worth two goals to them, and the backs put up a great defence against the powerful Thistle thrust last week. Navy will be favourites on their home ground, but an even contest should result.