Soccer Leaders Beaten

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1047, 11 August 1930, Page 7

Soccer Leaders Beaten

PONIES SURPRISE Y.M.C.A.

Some Heavy Scoring

THERE was some sensational Soccer on Saturday in the mud which was met with everywhere. At Blandford Park, after being two up, Y.M.C.A. was beaten by the odd goal in five V>3 r Ponsonby, and sustained its first defeat in the championship. Phenomenal scoring by Trams at Walker Park and Thistle at Onehuuga were additional sensations, Trams defeating Celtic by nine goals to one, and Thistle trouncing Onehunga by eight goals to two. Manurewa showed improved form by defeating Corinthians 2 —o.

Ponies have always shown a penchant lor soft going, and the quagmire caused by the continuous downpour of rain at Blandford Park suited the Blue and Black brigade down to the muci. but was all against anything like Soccer football being shown. The Ponsonby juniors won a livelv go with Shore seconds in a wet curtain-raiser, a willing go between some clever young players developing into low comedy before the game ended with a 4—l decision to the Pony colts. YOUNG MEN’S EARLY LEAD Tljere was a hundred or so hardy followers of the code in the stand when Ponsonby’s seniors lined out to meet the unbeaten Y.M.C.A.. when it was seen that neither side was anywhere near full strength. The Young Men were the more severely handicapped by lacking the presence of the star wing- forwards, Kay and Chalmers, and Otters’s dislocated nose kept him out of the rearguard. McGladdery proved a useful substitute at fullback, his smooth cranium shining out conspicuously against the dreary sea of mud. Ponsonby was even worse off, and had to enlist two of the colts, who had just finished a gruelling game in the preliminary match, and proved effective mudlarks in the big game. Y.M. was the first to show out in the sloppy going, forcing a corner which came to Clanachan, and the veteran booted a brilliant scorer from an acute angle. Innes was showing his usual likin*r for soft going, and was unlucky to lack support in the centre from soni»> good drives across the goal mouth Chapman made a good opening 7 i Humphreys. and the Y M. skipper scraped the ball through the slush to drive a splashy shot past SurteeS PONIES EVEN MATTERS Two up in 20 minutes mad© th© championship look sweet for Y.M., but Ponies tore through the mud with great determination, and Innes forced a corner from which the bal -ame our to McCosh. It was driven i ck from long range with an amazing ai ount of power, and Hilliard could not skate across quick enough to save. Y.M.’s early advantage was now beginning to fade, and Innes showed astonishing pace in splashing along the watercovered line and slamming some splen - did centres to goal. Another corner gave Ponies a chance to equalise, and Cole, the colt, applied the finishing touch in tradesmanlike style. Halftime sounded with the score two all, and there was a joyful scamper to the scraping sheds for a clean down. INNES CLICKS FOR PONIES Neither side appeared to relish turning out again under the dismal conditions prevailing, but it was not long before played warmed up, and it was a ding-dong go for the lead. It was not long before Innes again showed a more or less clean pair of heels to the Y.M. defenders, and finished a spurt with a perfect angular shot which meant do-

returned to the attack, and McLeay was enabled to complete a remarkable bout of scoring, by securing his seventh goak For the remainder of the game Onehunga did most of the attacking. Gill came to light with a brilliant solo run. He beat four men in succession and finished up by scoring. Thistle deserved its win. Onehunga’s form was not a patch on that produce ! when it beat Ponsonby last week, whereas as the visiting forwards showed excellent combination and continually outplayed the opposing defence, which was much weakened owing to the loss of Marr, while Rutherford is not really at home as a fullback. McLeay and N. Gumming were the best forwards of the winning team. McLeay was in tip-top form, and his shooting was very accurate. His bag of seven goals was an astonishing achievement. Birchall. Onehunga’s goalie, played remarkably well, and time after time his plucky saves met with applause from the spectators. ’REWA'S SURPRISE WIN At the bottom of the competition ladder, Manurewa inflicted a surprise 2 —o defeat on Corinthians in an evenly contested game at the Domain on Saturday. With the ball and ground in a sopping condition, it was a day for open play and long chances, rather than close, nursing tactics, and it was in this respect that both sides erred. There was too much cautious play. Manurewa set things going by forcing play into White territory, where Williamson sent a sitter just outside the net. Corinthians returned the compliment and play went to ’Rewa quarters. However, the Blues initiated another attach and Lyons was lucky to stop a powerful corner by Harry Donaldson. When the Whites returned to a determined attack. ’Rewa was hard put to, it and Parkes was tested several times to stop hot ones from the Whit© firing line. A cessation of attack saw Lyons stop an easy one from Anderson and the half-time spell came without any score having been notched. The opening of the second spell ushered in -another unsuccessful aggressive movement by the Whites and from then on for a spell the Blues bustled Corinthians all over the field and were finally successful in registering a point when a heady piece of work by Williamson gave Palmer a chanc© to net easily with a shot that completely baffled Lyons! Corinthians bustled ’Rewa back to its own goal-mouth and for a time it looked as iL the tactics were going to prevail. ’REWA’S SECOND GOAL Parkes was a busy man, however, and more than once proved liis worth in goal. Ir a retaliatory movement Clark sped upfield with the ball at his feet to send out to Donaldson, who passed back to the former, who caught Lyons napping for ’Rewa’.s second goal. Manurewa continued the pressure and Palmer was unfortunate to put an easy one over the top of the Corinthian net. A little later the game ended, with the Whites pressing down to the 'Rewa goal again. On the even nature of the play, the general opinion was that a draw would have been more indicative of the relative strengths of the teams and ’Rewa can be accounted lucky to have won. On th© winning side. Palmer, at centreforward, was one of the outstanding players and was responsible for many of Manurewa’s attacking movements. Parkes, in goal, saved his side time without number and was practically wholly responsible for keeping the Corinthians’ score down. Williamson, at inside left, and Corbett, at centre half, also showed to advantage, particularly the former. For Corinthians. Anstead. the inside left, was the pick of the team. His passing work was brilliant and he time and again beat the bustling ’Rewa. men to tire ball. Lyons, in goal, was reliable, though he was not quick enough to stop Palmer or Clark. Jones, the centre half, initiated some brilliant movements. TRAMWAYS V. CELTIC Apart from the opening stages of the* game, Celtic’s display on Saturday was disappointing. Although i he team was only 10 strong, its lighter members made it infinitely more suited to the heavy conditions than the transporters. However, with the exception of the first quarter of an hour, the game was very one-sided, the second half especially being a long-drawn-out series of processions to the Celtic goai area and back to the middle of the field. Bell made a highly successful comeback in Trammies’ van. The loss of his appendix had not apparently been detrimental to his football, and Iris goal-getting ability had secured him a hat-trick by half-time. Stretton, at outside right, also suggested a return to his best form. On the whole, the transporters’ van looked stronger than it had done for many a long day. Spencer was in tip-top form. In addition to pulling off the hat-trick himself, he was directly responsible fur other goals. Davis was not too happy on the slippery surface, but he was well on the spot when he smashed in a goal-getter that was very painful to Hall, Celtic’s custodian, for some time after.

Of the goal-keepers, Batty did not have much to do. but what there was he did well. Hall was being pestered continually, and although the high score against Celtic might have suggested inefficiency on his part, the fault did not lie there. In fact, in both spells he brought off some very good saves. His trouble was that he was supported by only one fullback.

Gavan was the only forward outstanding in the Celtic team. What passes came his way lie made good use of, but these were rare. In fact, the halfbacks, driven to the defensive, hardly ever managed to get the ball up to the forwards. When they did there was . always a strong defence with Christie and Simpson prominent to ward off the danger. The young but inexperienced team (more suited to the ground conditions, however) was overwhelmed oy the older and heavier Tramways team. On Saturday Trams evinced flashes of that play which for years running ha 1 earned it the championship of the senior grade.