Soccer Triumph

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 449, 3 September 1928, Page 6

Soccer Triumph

Wellington Beaten Pointless Auckland Recaptures F.A. Trophy AUCKLAND gained a decisive victory over Wellington at the Basin Reserve on Saturday and regained the provincial championship by three goals to nil, after outplaying the holders in every department of the game. Playing against the wind, Auckland scored three goals in the first spell all from the foot of Innes. and held this advantage to the end In the local championships Belmont defeated Shore, s—l, and Onehunga beat Y.M.C.A., I—o, after somewhat dull games.

rpHE senior championship games at “*■ Blandford Park drew only a moderate attendance, as the results had no effect on the winning club this season, which still rests between Ponsonby and Trams, both clubs having byes on Saturday. The progress reports from Wellington were eagerly awaited, and raised loud cheers as the ascendancy of Auckland increased. BELMONT OVERRUNS SHORE

In the curtain-raiser the Shore team was weakened by the absence of Gerrard, Jones and Bush. The veteran Eric Craig emerged from retirement to fill his old place at fullback, and Tracey McKean turned out in the forward line, the Shore’s juniors being ojig3.g©d in a hard knockout Dacre Cup match. Chesney was an absentee from the Belmont citadel, but "Warren from the fourths proved a hefty and capable substitute, who showed every promise of becoming a firstclass goalie. Belmont soon ran into a commanding lead with goals from Allen, Cleal and Furness, but the scoring points were due more to errors by the Shore defenders than any special merit in the work of the attackers, except that the Belmont boys were the more nippy on the ball. The Belmont defence was more solid than Shore’s, and successfully stemmed several likely raids by* the Shore front line. In one of these Shore showed a glimpse of its old form, and a pretty passing movement from Woolley to Moore ended in the ball coming across for Jay to bang it in the net. Belmont retaliated by Trewhella showing Craig a clean pair of heels, and sending past Staples after a speedy sprint. LISTLESS SOCCER

With a useful score of four to one in its favour on turning round, Belmont eased up a bit, and play became rather dull and lifeless. Shore’s attempts to reduce the deficit were disjointed and lacking in sting, and a swift raid by Belmont ran through the defence again for a fifth goal, a very uninspiring match ending with the Belmont youths severely beating their senior neighbours. The individual play calls for little comment beyond general praise for the good quality of the Belmont defence, which proved itself very solid. Cleal and Trewhella were two lively forwards, and the veteran Craig was finding himself short of a gallop as the game wore on.

ONEHUNGA’S RECOVERY After striking a lean patch recently, and failing to sustain the high promise shown early in the season, the Manukau side managed to get the full championship points off Young Men, through the agency of the solitarygoal scored. The Y.M.’s attack was weakened by Chalmers and Humphreys doing duty for the province at Wellington, Grant going to the centre forward berth, with a complete reshuffling of the other positions. The result was a very ragged front line, although Grant worked tirelessly and Whaley showed out in a few bright flashes.

Onehunga also tried some experiments, with Mellor dropping back from the left extreme to the fullback ppsition, where his pace and hefty clearing made him a useful defender. Bentley was the outstanding half in the game and shone out in both defence and attack. Whimster and Gill both showed clever touches in the Onehunga van. and have each showed a marked improvement in senior matches. Cummings was a safe custodian, and cleared the few warm ones which came his way in good style. Baton was again safe, except on one occasion, when a partial clearance from a corner kick by Whimster came back red-hot with a sudden snap-shot by Jackson and found the net. DACRE CUP KNOCKOUTS The Dacre Cup ties in the second division provided some hard and close finishes, and would have proved a more attractive menu at headquarters. Philomel and Birkenhead had a desperate tussle at Victoria Park, extra time being necessary to reach a decision with the score all square at two all. In the additional spells the service team secured the winning goal, and bumped Birkenhead out of the contest by the odd goal in five after a lively struggle. . CORINTHIANS K.O. TAMAKI

The newly-formed Corinthians combination is still going strong in the knockout contests, and for a first-year club has assembled some most promising talent. Not only is the club in the Falcon Cup semi-final with the senior survivors, but it is also making a bold bid for possession of the Dacre trophy. Tamaki was the victim of the whites on Saturday, when a lively game ended in the St. Heliers team going down by two goals to nil. Nichol was successful in scoring both goals with smart anticipation, and in Jamieson the winners have a clever goalie whose defence is very sound. PENALTIES BEAT SHORE The hardest struggle of the day was the bout between Manurewa and Snore on the Domain. The players on both sides waded into- it with a will, and a series of penalties marred the game when matters became extremely lively. Shore had slightly the better of warm exchanges in the opening half, when Haycock gave his side the lead, but a missed penalty lost Shore a chance of doubling its scoring. The whistle sounded shrilly again in the second half, three penalties against Shore resulting in two scores, and a further goal from H. Donaldson saw the southern suburb triumph in a hectic game by three goals to one. CITY AND SUBURBAN DICKSON CUP COMPETITION In the city and suburban Soccer competition on Saturday, Celtic beat Richmond by 2 goals to 1, and Bon Accord made no race of Thistle, winning from the ex-A.F.A. champion side by 4 goals to nil. BON ACCORD v. THISTLE Playing on a very greasy ground. Bon Accord proved itself much the superior team. Play was ragged from the outset. Webb, for the victors, showed flashes of brilliancy. He

I opened the scoring for Bon Accord with a smart shot, which completely baffled the Thistle custodian. He fol- . lowed this up in quick succession with a further goal and a neatly-netted penalty, Dunsmore being left to bring the final score up to 4-0 in favour Bon Accord. j Mr. Low was referee. CELTIC v. RICHMOND This game was much more closely contested than the Bon Accord-Thistle match, and Celtic, playing one man short, well deserved its victory by the odd goal in three. Scandle opened Celtic’s account with a penalty. Following a deal of midfield play, Cuthbert equalised for Richmond, making the half-time score one j all. Toward the close of the game a hot scrimmage in the goal-mouth enabled Tocker to put Celtic in the lead. Following this reversal, Richmond made a great effort to equalise before the call of time. Britain put in & hot shot from a penalty, but Morris, the Celtic custodian, made a wonderful save at the expense of a corner. Shortly afterwards the game ended, Celtic victors by 2-1. Mr. Campbell was referee. FORWARDS TRIUMPH AUCKLAND’S F.A. TROPHY VICTORY BATTY’S FINE GOAL-KEEPING (Special to THE BUN) WELLINGTON, Sunday. A brilliant and decisive victory was gained by the Auckland Soccer representatives at Wellington on Saturday, when the English F.A. trophy was wrested from Wellington, which held it for just three weeks. The match was a personal triumph for “Bob” Innes, who scored all of Auckland’s three goals. The Auckland side which bettered the formidable Wellington combination was a team of triers, including four of last season’s Soccer All Blacks, and never looked like losing the game. The Auckland players provided all the i high spots in the match, which wa r | fast and interesting in the first spelL In combination and dash Auckland | could give Wellington points. The match was one of opportunities taken ! and lost, and Auckland caught Well- \ ington fairly on the hop with flashing bursts of brilliance by the Auckland forward line which delighted the crowd in the first spell, when the Northerners took almost every chance offering, while Wellington missed chance after chance to score. At half-time, even though the local side was three goals down, there was a strong feeling that they would win. for general opinion was that the blacks could not possibly play as they . had done and miss the same number of chances. But they did, and more besides. In the final fisve minutes of the match four shots from within ten feet of the goal failed to find the net, and quite obviously a side which cannot steer the ball straight from that distance does not deserve to score. Wellington’s most brilliant shots were stopped by Batty; their easy chances were flung aw «ry; that was the history of the rr»atch. In the first spell it was a keen and interesting struggle, with both sides attacking in turn, and some fine pieces of work shown by the local men were undone by the local inside forwards. The positional play of the Auckland inside men, however, was fine, and only hard striving in defence kept down their very dangerous threats. The brilliance of the Auckland forward line was the gem of the match, and the clever combination between Chalmers and Davies on the left wing was the best play of all- Their work and the rare anticipation of Spencer and Innes in midfield, gave their side the match. The Northern defeqce was shaky in the first spell, and though it improved in the second it was never of the same standard as Wellington’s. All Auckland’s goals were the result of sheer meritorious combination, the first two being as good as any scored in the country this season. BRILLIANT BATTY

Behind the wavering Auckland defence, though, was Batty, and he was worth at least two goals to his side. Splendid as was the Wellington goalie. Batty outshone him for quickness of decision and anticipation of dangerous shots. Some of his saves might not have been made by any other man in New Zealand. Neither Gerrard nor Simpson was particularly impressive. Gerrard made some misses in the first spell which might have cost his side points. Accurate kicking to the halves and forwards was lacking, and this meant that the flying Auckland forwards were not given chances they deserved, and that Wellington was able to continue the pressure for minutes together. Jones was the best of the halves, with Christie a good second, while the elusive Chalmers and Innes were the best of a sound forward line* Chalmers’ centres were beautifully judged. WELLINGTON BEATEN IN FRONT The Wellington fullbacks were just ordinary, but they were safe; tb® halves, however, found the task of holding the speedy forwards too much for them, and were frequently beaten. It is the first time this season that so solid a player as J. Campbell, who is the keystone of the Petone team Chatham Cup winners, has found himself outclassed. For some unknown reason the sole selector, Mr. Hicks* dropped Leslie, the Petone centreforward, trying out a senior B man, Longbottom, who was singularly unsuccessful. Together with Smith. Wellington’s inside-left, he must have missed at least a dozen shots at from close range. Stark. the hom® team’s left winger, was the cmly or " ward worth his salt. Barton, tb® other winger, was a passenger after an early- injury. In ordinary circumstances a team which hits the bar five times may be counted unfcickyto ' lose. Wellington’s fate in this clean, fast game was thoroughly deserved*