To-Morrow’s Soccer

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 653, 3 May 1929, Page 6

To-Morrow’s Soccer

AN ATTRACTIVE PROGRAM^

Close Contests Expected

THE special programme at Blamlford Park to-morrow will I open when Celtic makes its lirst bow to the patrons at headquarters in a clash with Thistle. The meeting of the rival Scots clubs should be full of interest and sparkling Soccer Jll the following game Trams meet Onelnmga— * team of surprises which always puts up a good performance ao-ainst Trams Shore and Belmont meet at Devonport. and YJ.CI. v. Ponsonby should provide good fare at < )nehung«.

rpHE bill-of-furo provided to-morrow 1 afternoon should compensate fully for thu somewhat disappointing display- at Bland ford Park last week, and there should be a largo attendance with so attractive a programme. Celtic will make its debut at official headquarters, and the bout between the two Scottish combinations should be full of ginger and clever Soccer. As a new team, Celtic has not yet shown its best form, and the members have not settled down to cohesive team work, but the new club will be on its mettle against Thistle to-morrow, as Thistle may oe regarded as the sponsor of the Celts, and it will be interesting to note whether the parent club is still capable of trouncing its offspring. The game should provide a capital contest of Soccer in the typical Scottish style, but Thistle should prove too good for its lusty young rivals. Trams are now the popular idol o£ the Auckland crowd, and the well-de-served win in the electric game with the Dunedin team on Wednesday evening has raised the transporters still higher in public favour, and there is never a dull game when the Trams set the ball in motion. As is only to be expected with seven Auckland representatives in its ranks, the Corporation Club can always be relied upon to o-ive a finished exhibition of the fine points of the code, and the team proved its worth last season by winning both championship and senior knock-out honours. But Onehunga has a side which has a disturbing trick of upsetting all calculations, and often lets loose this unexpectedness when up against a tough proposition at Blandford Park. There is no “sob stuff from Onehunga” about its Soccer team when it meets the representatives of the Transport Board, and it should be a good game to watch to-morrow. Ponsonby and Y.M.C.A. will journey to Onehunga to-morrow, and there should be a stirring struggle at the Waikaraka ground, which has been greatly improved, both in surface and contour. during the summer. Neither Y.M. nor Ponsonby has been defeated yet, the Ponies having two wins on the slate, while Y.M. has a win and a draw to its credit. It should be a willing go, with Young Men the probable victors. The Shore and Belmont Clubs will battle out their first clash this season on the Devonport Cricket Ground, and as the big majority of the young players engaged learned their Soccer there they are usually in much better form on their native turf. Senior A Grade Belmont —Chesney, Murphy, Follas, Woodall. Lithgow, Kemp, Cleal, Adams, J err in, Bowden, Allen, N. Bacli. North Shore —Wise, Cotebourne, Gerrard Haycock, Renshaw, Jones, Blackie, Webb, Dow, Bush, Saxon. Reserve: Bradshaw*. _ , _ . T Ponsonby—Lyon, Kinghorn, Lornic, J. Morrison, Dick, Bullock, Taylor, Innes, N. Morrison, Stewart, Wilson, 'Ward. Meet bus, Grafton Bridge, 2 o’clock. Y.M.C.A. —Hilliard, Slienken, Otter, Malcolm, Chapman, Riddolls, Humphreys, Clanachan, Woods, McAuslan, Whaley. _ , _ Celtic —Hall, Johnson, W. Grant, Jenkins, Sharpies, Gavin, Wright, Hunter, Poole, J. Grant Colley, Who well, Rimmer. Senior B Grade H.M.S. Philomel —March, Taylor, Miles, Brenn, Curnock, O’Flynn, Harlow, Langland, Gilmour, Black, Coulton. Reserve: French. _ , ~ Northcote —Stott, Roberts, Battershell, Neades, Holman (2), Elsby Wellborne, Norling, Pugh, Mullins, Meek, Munro. Tamaki —R. Diamond, R. Purdie. K.