CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 135, 29 August 1927, Page 11

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

POSITIONS OF THE TEAMS As the result of Saturday’s series, the position of the teams is as follovs:

SHORE V. THISTLE For the first time for many weary weeks the players found a firm surface at Victoria Park, and fairly revelled in a jame with a light ball, which bounced, and bounded and bowled along instead of sticking dead in a slough of despond, or some other pond. The turf had dried out rough in parts and gave the ball an unexpected bias at times, but play was lively and exciting from the first whistle to the last. Shore was minus Jay at inside left, and Hislop was absent from the same position in the Scots’ van. otherwise both teams were at full strength. Kay mace a welcome return to the game after a long spell, but a lot of his old fire was missing, and he treated his injured leg with reasonable caution. Baxter also filled his old “possie” with Shore, and made a wonderful difference to the eleven, both in defence and attack. A BATTLE OF STYLES The match provided a lively exposition of varying styles. Thistle relying on close-passing combination, and the triangular movements which are charicteristic of the Scottish national game, while Shore went in for long, accurate passing which made things very hot for the Thistle defence. The youth ard dash of the Shore Colts, with their hustling and harassing tactics, proved too good for the leaders, and the seasiders, as anticipated here, succeeded in lowering the Scots’ colours for the first time in the championship series. It is worthy of note that in the last three games the Thistle have been unable to score a win, and their all-conquering career aeems to have received a decided check. A WELL-MERITED WIN This levelling-up process is all for the good of the game, and with Thistle, Shore, Ponsonby and Navy all fielding strong elevens, the future games should be full of interest as the season and grounds improve. The Shore victory on Saturday was a well-deserved one, and but for the weakness in scoring touches and finishing effort the result would have been much more decisive. A feature of' the game was the superiority of the defence on both sides over the opposing attackers. The Shore defence showed a surprising strength on a surface similar to their home ground, and, although opposed to five Auckland reps in halves and backs, the Shore defenders proved the better in both departments. BRILLIANT SHORE DEFENDERS Lipscombe, in goal, had a quiet time compared with Zuill. but was very safe when tested. At fullback, Gerrard and Colebourne. were almost impassable and made no mistakes. Gerrard held Lumnnngj. and Dunsmore safe when either happened to reach him, and

(Good defenders) Colebourne was similarly safe against and Stewart, while both backs fed their forward line with accurate placements. The Shore halves shone out in game both in defence and attack. Jones was right at the top of his form h spoiling the Thistle right and feedtng his forwards. Baxter showed no of his long spell at sea, and worked tirelessly from start to finish, some hard drives for the target narmissing. Renshaw had a lively to watch in Kay and J. Stewart, Played with the coolness of a Jiteran and with manv clever touches 01 foot and head work. SHORE SHOOTING WEAK The young forward line played a «=st and hard game, bustling the opposing defenders in an effective style, displaying a weakness in front goal which has caused them to lose few points this season. In the ab?f Jay the line was rearranged, did not improve its efficiency. was out of place at inside, but a neat display of tricky footv.*; His winning goal was a smart “ t of work in slipping the defence and Zuill no chance, but the colt «msed on one or two occasions lit u £ h hesitation. With a net-finder haL Haer® i n the line Shore would *' e been much easier winners. THISTLE’S SOLID DEFENCE dii? 1 ? low score was also in a measure safe defence of the Scots’ ot i7* Zuill in goal gave anMh? r Sreat display and there are many ° J. e^ar d him as Auckland’s best s*fi o<3ian * Reid and Ferguson were qiT^*i and Bolid usual. Reid fre- . coming to the rescue and lo^2 erins effectively when danger in front of Zuill; but both strni "bowed signs of feeling the UiEJHJ. toward the finish. The halfb£?r^'- as not so dependable as usual, at Mustered and disorganised ball when Shore were slinging the ab °ut, and the forwards were not < um! 0 - surely or steadily as usual. dan»!? lnss and Dunsmore were not so Pa«sts° Ua as usual, and the short touches between the forwards Xiirmi* sreq.uenUys req . uenU y intercepted by the Pi y tactics of the Shore halves. The

game was easily the best club match of the season and kept the spectators on tip-toe throughout. A pleasing feature of the match was the capable refereeing of Mr. Pikesley, R.N., who kept a hard and willing go under complete control. He quickly suppressed occasional tendencies to bad temper and was always right up with the ball to sight any infringements. NAVY V. ONEHUNGA In spite of the good dry ground the preliminary game was a quiet affair in comparison. Onehunga was unable to muster at full strength, and the reinforced Navy eleven was not extended greatly to win by three goals to nil. Miles was still an absentee, but is a starter for the trip South. The sailors did not show up so prominently as in the draw with Thistle the Saturday previous, and the forwards’ gunnery display was mostly off the target. McPhee, Whowell and Reid put up a stout defence against the naval invaders, but the Manukau attack was weak. Scott, Meynell and Rivers were prominent in the Navy’s van, while Reid and Gilmour showed up in the half-line. NORTHCOTE V. Y.M.C.A. At long last the luckless Northcote eleven succeeded in breaking a long run of losses and notching a useful couple of points at the expense of Y.M.C.A. The Blues fielded their full strength, but the Young Men missed their goal notcher, Percy Humphries, and went down after a hard struggle on the Domain by the odd goal in five. The game was an indifferent display of the Soccer code, and had little bearing on the championship unless the win enables the strawberry-growers to escape the wooden spoon. Northcote ran into the lead early in the game, and maintained the upper hand until the finish of a lifeless sort of match. CHATHAM CUP TIE AT HUNTLY PONSONBY’S TRIUMPH The “Ponies” motored through to Huntly to keep their Chatham Cup engagement against the Rotowaro miners, and decide who would represent Auckland in the North Island final for the national club championship. Ponsonby, who were accompanied by a loyal band of local enthusiasts—and the bells, was lucky to strike a fine day for the journey and a good “gate” for the game. It was an enjoyable outing, and the joyous carillon of cowbells on the journey homewards informed the countryside that the Blue and Blacks were returning to the Western suburb in high spirits, and with Rotowaro’s scalp added to that of Waro, Thistle and Onehunga. A SOLID FIRST SPELL The “Ponies” found the Huntly “Rec.” a rough sort of surface for scientific Soccer, and a disconcerting slope from goal to goal which upsets the best of markmanship. It took the town team some time to settle down to the ground, and they were lucky at the interval to have kept the scoreboard blank. As usual, the miners went off at a great bat, with a full head of steam on, and only the “Ponies” trained and solid defence kept the citadel intact. Watts was saving in great style, while* Pickett and Williams were repelling the invaders with some hefty kicks. Wright was also in the thick of the scrap and worried the attackers without ceasing. Although the miners were busy bombarding the Ponsonby goal, they were not having it all their own way, and the “Ponies” made frequent raids to the other end, where the veteran Caldwell was a safe custodian. ROTOWARO COLLAPSES The second spell told a different tale. Most of the steam had gone out of Rotowaro’s shock tactics, and Ponsonby’s good training stood to them well. The “Ponies” set off with great dash, and Innes rang all the bells with a smashing shot from clos : up. The miners fought hard to equalise, without success, and then Adsliead sent a hot cross-over which glanced in oft the post. From this out Rotowaro was out of the picture, and the Ponsonby Colts dominated the match. Innes made the score three with a trimmer, while the exhausted defence conceded a corner, which Hunter headed in, to give the town team victory by four goals to nil. 1 onsonbj' n ow meets the Marist Club from Wellington at Auckland to decide the North Island club to oppose the Northern Club, Otago, for the Cup.

P. W. I>. L. Goals. F. A. Pts Thistle .. • • 11 1 1 11 10 >’orth Shore . 12 8 34 20 18 K»vy Depot . 13 40 31 13 Ponsonby 10 3 26 20 12 ponsonby 10 5 26 20 12 Y.M.C.A. 12 4 5 30 36 11 Tramways .. 12 3 4 5 10 20 10 Norther te .. 13 9 23 48 6 Onehunga .. 11 1 3 7 19 37 5