SOCCER SIDELIGHTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 758, 3 September 1929, Page 14

SOCCER SIDELIGHTS

PASSING NOTES

(By

PERSEUS.)

Seniop B Champions.—With only one senior game staged on Saturday, most interest was centred in the finalising of the senior B championship, in which Manurewa was leading Philomel by one point, and both clubs were up against tough opponents. Philomel found Bon Accord at its best, and suffered accordingly, so to speak, while ’Rewa outstayed Rangers, and wore them down with bustling tactics. Last year the suburbanites won the double junior events with the championship and Dacre Cup. and this year aspires to the Falcon Trophy. Manurewa is supported by an enthusiastic body of supporters, who have followed them on their climb to victory wherever the battle was staged, and the lady “mascots” who accompany the club are not only keen judges of tactics and dangers, but do not hesitate to advise veterans like Billy Palmer what to do, and their comment is not always in the form of congratulatory address. It is a pity that other teams cannot command such keen club followers, as most of them need rousing and stirring up a bit. Last Saturday’s senior knock-out was a glum and gloomy affair, the only sounds coming from the playing field, where it is least desirable.

°romotions and Relegations.—According to the resolution passed when the new grading system was introduced this season, the two top teams of the senior B championship are due for promotion to full senior rank next year, while the bottom two of the senior grade drop down to the competition below. Shore and Belmont are the victims due far the relegation axe, while Manurewa and Philomel are entitled to step up into the vacancies. It is now' apparent that Philomel’s team will shortly be decimated by the time-expired men leaving here for Home, and probably New Zealanders with a leaning toward the “national” game will fill their places. In this case, it will take the “Phillies” all their time to field a senior B eleven, much less one of full senior standing.

The Next Claimant.—lt Ls now suggested that next year, if Philomel does not choose to run as a senior club, the next on the B ladder should have the right to step up in place of the naval eleven; but the original resolution made no provision for the third or fourth club in the B competition having any claim to full seniority, and the opinion of the senior divisional committee on the point does not settle that question. Corinthians are a useful junior club, who play a nice game, but it is a “one-team club,” with no reserve force to draw on, and no one would seriously suggest that it is up to the same standard as North Shore, w’hich has consistently run teams in all grades for a quarter of a century past, and has only struck a lean season in the seniors owing to internal disorganisation, which the players and supporters are now' determined will not recur next season. The Shore second eleven has won the second grade championship without defeat, and would give the top teams in the senior B as hard a game as they have had this season. The Shore seconds are to be praised for their splendid work, and the captain, Harold Smith, is entitled to special credit for the way he has led his team without a loss, and kept. it going under great difficulties at times.

The '’One-Team’’ Club.—ln the face of the brilliant success of the Tramways combination this season, it seems difficult to say much against a “oneteam” club, but the Trammies are one of those exceptions which prove the rule, and as a general principle the club which consists of but one team is not a valuable asset to the code. Trams have set a sterling example to the other clubs in the direction of training and practice, which has endowed them with great staying and recuperativeppo r ers, and splendid team work in both defence and attack. But even the transporters have had to recruit from outside the municipal service. and the senior club standard cannot gain by merely exchanging n’a';«rs from one club to another. The limitations of the service give the Tram, no scope for organising a junior side, but other clubs have no excuse for neglecting the younger players, except that it means giving time and trouble to the duty and there is no limelight or publicity for the sacrifice the work entails. Some rule insisting on clubs claiming senior rank having at least

a second and third team under the club’s flag is sorely needed, and exemptions from such a rule should only be allowed in exceptional cases, such as Trams and Navy, where the recruiting and organising of junior elevens is im- ! practicable. * o # The Grading System.—The whole of the new grading system this year has been of an experimental type, and now that the championships are finalised, its weaknesses can be examined One of its worst features has been the way in which it has broken down the reserve system, and weakened the resources of the senior clubs. There have been nine teams in the senior B frrade 6 which is only a glorified junior division, and only six in the second grade (.including two from one club;, which is the remnant of the old junior ! competition. The result has been the drafting of players fit for senior clubs into the senior B grade, and they have ! stuck there when they should have been available for adding some sorely | needed improvement to the senior ! elevens, whose strength has been tar below par this year, and the standard of Soccer has slumped badly, with poor games and diminishing returns. These facts have to be faced, and the situation viewed from all angles during the coming vacation, so that the best scheme contrivable can be adopted next year. • • • Secondary School Tourney.—Tomorrow and Thursday the lunch hour at Blandford Bark will be devoted to a tourney between the senior and junior secondary school representatives of Auckland and Wellington, and there should be a large attendance to study the comparative strength of the two centres and the form of their future senior players. The magnificent silver cup given by the late Sir Charles Skerrett as a competitive trophy among the college clubs has been handed back by the Otago High School, which was unable to find a challenger for several years, and has now been given by the Xew Zealand Council for inter - provincial competition among the collegiate representative teams. The match tomorrow, when Auckland and Wellington seniors meet at 1 p.m., marks another milestone in the progress of the code by launching the new competition, and it is hoped in the years ahead that all the principal centres will be represented at the annual tourney, and that there will be keen contests for the handsome trophy presented by one of Xew Zealand’s most distinguished players and patrons of the code, the iate Chief Justice. MANUREWA’S SUCCESS By defeating Rangers 3-1 on Saturday Manurewa became champion of the senior B grade, and therefore becomes the proud possessor of the Skerratt Cup. This team has had another splendid season, having lost only three matches in the competition and heading the B section by three clear points over Philomel. Last season it was champion of the second grade, and also won the Dacre Cup, besides the Pascoe Shield. As there are still two more cups to play for, the Thistle Cup and the Falcon Cup, there is a possible chance of it landing one of these, if not both. Manurewa has already beaten Belmont in the first round of the Thistle Cup and is drawn against Northcote in the first round for the Falcon Cup. Great credit is due to the players and officials for the club’s record, and its trainer, Harry Hawkes, who has taken a ’great interest in attending to the players. BUSINESS HOUSES MATCHES Following is the draw for business houses matches to be played under the control of the Auckland Football Association tomorrow: —Power Board v. Takapuna Dairy Company, Outer Domain No. 1, 4.15 p.m., Mr. G. Pearson; Farmers’ Trading Company v. Hotel Employees, Inner Domain No. 1, 4.15 p.m., Mr. L. J. Check; Hellaby’s, Limited, v. Auckland Milk Company, Inner Domain No. 2, 4.15 p.m., Mr. Neve; Kent’s Bakeries v. Abel’s, Limited, Outer Domain No. 2. 4.15 p.m., Mr. H. G. Crocker; Shell Oil Company and Training College have byes.