Soccer Surprises

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 969, 12 May 1930, Page 6

Soccer Surprises

CELTS UPSET PONSONBY Thistle Extends Trams SATURDAY’ held some Soccer surprises iu store when Celtic dei’eated Ponsonby by the odd goal in Three after a lively struggle, and Tramways eonld only just scrape home by the same narrow margin after a hard battle with Thistle The Y.M.C.A. found Corinthians a harder nut to crack than was expected, but kept its unbeaten record by 5 goals to 3 at the finish. Onehunga scored its first win by a 3—o vietorv over Manurewa.

Blandford Park was. in splendid order * for fast and scientific football on j Saturday, when Y.M. and Corinthians j each made their first appearance this [ seasdn to open the programme. The I curtain-raiser was somewhat disap- I pointing, as the famous Y.M. firing- j line did not display the dazzling bril- j liance expected, and the live goals scored were more due to solo work and opportunism than to cohesive team | work. Perhaps this was owing to a I further experiment in rearrangement, j as Jay from Shore came into the cen- j tral berth, and Humphreys was shifted to outside right, with Chalmers inside him. CORINTHIANS' STUBBORN RESISTANCE. The new recruits to senior Soccer were by no means overawed by Y.M.’s j formidable van, and kept it well in i check for the first half-hour, when j play was rather listless and uninterest- j ing. Kay opened the scoring with one } on his own, when he ran clean through , the defence and gave Lyon no hope 1 ol’ saving, but a lively sortie by the Whites* forwards caught the Y.M. defence napping. Hilliard picked the wrong time to come out of his citadel, and Mowat raced back to goal instead of stemming the rush, giving Woods a chance of running the ball through an empty goal to equalise. This roused Y.M. to applying strong pressure until half-time, Jay snapping up a miskick to score, while Kay broke through again to put Y.M. two up. Strategic play by the Corinthian j backs upset the Y.M. firing-line in j the second spell by frequently placing \ it offside, but a line run by Kay presented Jay with a “sitter,” and Y.M. was three to the good. Then Corinthians made a good recovery, and reduced the deficit to one when Woods got another nippy goal, and Williamson slammed a long-range one to the net. Kay narrowly missed another

LEAGUE REPS.

AUCKLANDERS TO PLAY NORTH AUCKLAND PLAYERS FOR PRACTICE The Auckland League representative team will play JCorth Auckland at Carlaw Park next Saturday; The team will be chosen from the following players: Gregory, Campbell, List, Brisbane, Carter, G. Perry, Seagar, Delrosso, Wetherill, Riley, Brady P. Skelton, Shortland, Peckham, O’Brien, Somers, Pascoe, Watene, W. Skelton, Clarke (Marist), Ruby, Francis, Hobbs. The team is to practise at Carlaw Park on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7.30. Any player who is unavailable must ring Mr. E. Asher immediately.

PROTEST UPHELD

MARIST LOSES MATCH AGAINST KINGSLAND TYKES LODGE APPEAL As a result of a protest bv Kingsland, Marist has lost the match which it won against Kingsland at the j opening of the season. The grounds for the protest were that Marist had played an unregistered player, Munro, and the judicial committee of the Auckland Rugby League upheld the protest. Marist has appealed against this decision to the New Zealand Rugby League Council.

SCOTT-SHARKEY BOUT

ARRANGEMENT IN LONDON" ] LONDON, Saturday. Jack Sharkey has accepted an offer 1 from a London syndicate of a purse ! for an open-air boxing contest at ! Wembley with Phil Scott, who has been offered £ 3.000. At present he is suffering from influenza. DAVIS CUP PLAY LOXDOX, Saturday. In the Davis Cup second-round contests in the match between Britain and Poland at Torquay, Lee (Britain) beat Tlocnzski (Poland), 6—l, 6 4, 6 2. The match between Sharpe and Stolaroff was postponed on account of rain. At Rome, in the match between Italy and Egypt, in the singles Stefani (Italy) beat Grandguillot, 6—2 G 1 6 de Morpurgo (Italy) beat Wahid, ‘L -1 ’ u — 4 * t * —2. In the doubles de Morpurgo and Gaslini (Italy) beat Zahar and Riches, 5—7, S —G, 6 1 3 r, 75. Italy qualified to meet Norway or Austria in the third round. TOURNEY AT ZURICH BERLIN', Saturday. In tiie finals of the local lawn tennis tournament at Zurich, the Australians, Crawford and Moon, beat their team-mates Hopman and Willard. 1 ’’l ‘ ■ - *>. 9—7. All played a good all-round game.

SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP

SENIOR A TABLE

hat trick by wiping a lot of new whitewash off the crossbar, and then Ch«>man put a hot long pot past Lyon* for a two-goal margin. The winners lefenee was not so sure as usual, the backs having an off-day. and Chapman was the only half to show out Kay was outstanding in the forwards i>ut the line will need to show more combination to retain the present unbeaten record. The Corinthian team was not up to senior standard, but made a plucky fight against a superior team in a somewhat straggling game. PONIES DROP BACK After such a clear-cut win over Trams the previous week, the match with Celtic looked a sweet thing fw the Ponies, but the bustling tactic* of the Celtic front line, and the dogged defence of the backs, put paid to Ponsonby's account, and in spite of a furious rally at the finish, the Celts held the odd-goal advantage to the 1 end. and it seems certain now that the fate of the championship and cup trophies this season is going to ba very uncertain. In its third game of * the season Ponsonby tried its third goalkeeper this year. Wise being the ? custodian for the day. Lornie had re- 1 placed Peterson at fullback, while the 3 veteran Simm returned to the Fonies* ranks after a long absence, and took up his old position at outer left in pUc<* of the newcomer W. Williams, who hud failed to strike form. The changes did not strengthen the side, as the form shown was poor and disappointing. compared with the impressive display against Trams. BRIGHT YOUNG CELTS Celtic wisely stuck to the promising voting combination which had served it so well in the first two games, and made it a willing go from start to finish in a lively scramble, which more of the nature of a knockout than a club match. Jimmy Grant was the pivot on which Ponsonby’s hopes crashed, as he held the defence together in great style, and initiated a number of coun-ter-offensives with well - plotted methods. Even after being carried off with a ricked ankle he lin: ,»ed tack to be in at the death, and directed | operations against the Ponies* last desperate rallies. Ponsonby opened the scoring with its only goal, anil that had an element of | luck in it, when Stewart was brought down just inside the penalty zone by I Kay, and the extreme sentence wa* given for Simm to not from the free shot. Celtic replied with lively raids, but wild shooting lost good chances, I until George Hunter connected with a c ] ean centre from Alexander and squared matters for the change over. HOT SECOND HALF Hot exchanges in the second spell saw Celtic getting as much of the game as Ponies, and corner kicks from Gavan were always dangerous, as A Hunter proved when he fastened on one to the goal-mouth and notched the winning goal. Ponies fought back hard to save the game, but the left wins was ineffective and neither Innes nor his partner seemed able to find the Jim Kay was conspicuous at Callback, as his hefty clearances drove the opposing forwards back time after time, and Hall was brilliant with some or his saves and smart clearances. The crowd was treated to a ding-dons: finish with Ponsonby pressing hard, but unable to avert defeat. TRAMS SNATCH A WIN The general opinion at Cornwall 1 ark on Saturday was that Trams were lucky to pull the game off with the odd goal in three. A badly humping field did not favour the more scientific play of the older team, and Thistle’s bustling methods were infinitely’ more suited to the conditions underfoot. The finishing in front of goal left much to be desired, and a penalty.goal was thrown away by each team. Xevertheless. Trams owed their goal in the first half to a spot kick. In the Thistle team, Wright was conspicuous at centre-half, while in the forwards Hislop was outstanding bv* reason of smart snap-shooting and clever footwork. Trams’ combination was disorganised, but individual work among the forwards, with fencer outstandingand with Christie prominent in the half-backs, gave the transporters sufficient impetus to carry the day. Hatty- was safe in goal, but Hislop’s shot coming unexpectedly from the left and glancing off a Tramway defender, gave him no chance at all. The winning goal was registered b v Spencer from a free-kick. Although Thistle crowded the goal, the ball skimmed the players’ heads and curled just outside Gerrard’s reach, into the net. ONEHUNGA’S FIRST WIN Thanks to the assistance of the Xavy- providing the services of Gin. Clarke and Marr, and the joining np of Lowery- (a former Wellington player) with the Manukausiders. OPg* J liunga was able to field a rauC r ft I stronger side on Saturday, and on« I which proved too good for Manure**- I which failed to score and was beaten I 3—o at the end of a good battle. TWJ was even in a lively first half. 1 hot shots and strong centres frorr i Palmer being dangerous, but Zui.l j very safe throughout in keeping tv score-sheet against him blank. • was just on half-time before the nr* score came, when an over-severe alty against Manurewa for hands Gill the free opening to put the non** side one up. ... Manurewa made it lively *n * second spell, but Marr proved a vui * able reinforcement in the Onehuns* back line, and the ’Rewans were able to penetrate the home citAOWhimster was back to his old and ran through to score with a grasshopper, and Marine Clarke in one of his clever ones before tim sounded, with Onehunga notching first win of the season.

- m VISITING ATHLETES

Peltzer, Lermond. Golding Emton ail use ELL! MAN’S EMBROCATION. Invigorating for rT ' ,t * #l {u| \ iit relieves all aches and pains- OJr the embrocation preferred by won® ? champions.—l.

Y.M.C.A. P. W. D. L. F. A. Pts. 3 3 0 0 14 7 6 | Celtic .. .. 3 2 0 16 5 4. Ponsonby 3 2 0 1 7 4 4 T ram ways . . 3 2 0 19 5 4 Corinthians 3 1 0 2 6 9 2 Onehunga . . 3 1 0 2 5 8 2 Thistle . 3 1 0 2 6 7 2 Manurewa 3 0 0 3 3 11 0