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}1' 0 0 r B ALL.

--I c .ei ASSOCIATION COUPON.…

-----------FOOTBALL NOTES.

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FOOTBALL NOTES. [By VRTZBAN."] I must apologise to the supporters of the New- town and Aberystwyth clubs for omitting reference to their friendly contest on the Cunnings. The omission was quite unavoidable, as my able lientenant, who does duty for me at Newtown when I am not there, waa unable to be present at the match owing to illness in his family. This being the case I know my friends will make due allow- ance for the omission. Ftom what I have been able to gather the match was a very well con- tested one, fu!) of life and go, and seemed more like a spirited Cup Tie than a friendly game. The winners, Aberystwyth, well deserved their hard earned victory as all round, and all through the game they showed brighter and more attractive play. The victory of the seasiders in this game, their first victory I think on the Cunnings, wit! give them confidence in their Cup tie with Builth on December 10th. Last Saturday the two bead teams in the Shrop ehire League met on the Cunnings. The home team re-arranged their front rank, but there was not much improvement in the combination though there seemed plenty of life amongst the forwards. Tre visitors, Iron-Bridge, who were minus the services of Bethel and Dyas kicked down the hill during the first half. Newtown did most of the press- ing, and had several tries at goal, but all the shots were eent in at long range, and Leese met every shot eooHy and cleverly. There was some very clever play by W. E. Pryce-Jones and Watkin out in the open, and on the other wing Parry and Bevan were almost as smart, but there was none of that short and lively passing near goal which spelts danger." All through the game this was the threat fai)ing of Newtown forwards, and it was hard !oek on the defence, to fiod that all their sptendid work came to nothing owing to the weak- ness of the front rank. Occasionally the Iron- Bridge forwards got away and once Edwards had all his work cut out in stopping a fine "hot from the outside left, Foster. During this part of the game Chat-tie Parry, Rees, Moore and Teddy Davies played finely. Tucker too did well, but I have seen him play better, and his play on this occasion had a suspicious flavour of roughness which I waa sorry to see. W. E. Pryce-Jones set a flood example of clever and unsetnsh passing and he and Watkin combined at times very well. Whenever there was anything like a chance of scoring the home forwards did not dash up and take advantage of it. l!i. the second half anI'! play- ing down the hi)! it waa generally thought that Newtown would win easily. At Srst their play warranted this assumption, but as time wore on their forward play became more and more erratic and only on one occasion did their play really lead up to anything like a chance. This was after some clever play by Pryce-Jones on the right. The goal- keeper stopped two good long shots, but in clearing the second he left his charge and Watkin had a dear goal to kick at but his shot went sailing over the bar. Following this Foster executed the run of the day. He passed the backs and had only the goalkeeper to. beat, but he lost his head at the final moment and instead of going on a few yards further sent in a !ong shot which went out. Hard but not exciting play continued up to the end but no score came, and, indeed, as one spectator said, neither side seemed able to score if they had a whole day given for the job. Just at the finish Pryce-Jones placed the ball beautifully from a corner kick but Leese threw out his long arms and pushed it away. On the whole play it can not be denied that the home team were the stronger team but the visitors played ber.ter football. The Iron- Bndge goalkeoper was the hero of the side. He had nve times as much work to do as Edwards and he did it well. The ibacks were sound and sareayid gave Leese plenty of room while the halves with old Meredith as their leader worked desperately hard. It was no wonder that Meredith rt quested fve minutes rest." Of the forwards the fxtreme men were fast and tricky, and it was lucky for Newtown that Charlie Parry was in great forn;. Hees too was not far behind. The halves I have noticed and the forwards partly so. Their great fault was bad shooting, and shooting too at !t long range. This against such a goalkeeper as Leese was utterly usetess. Mr Joe Williams, as referee, was most fair and impartial. The Newtown Reserve went to LlaBfyI'in full of confidence in their ability to defeat the home team. Their cocndence waa strengthened when it was found that three of the bast of the home players were too unwell to play. The Reserves had the Wind behind them forthenrsthalf.and undoubtedly showed up stronger than the home players, who were for sometime kept on the defensive. Very pretty and effective passing was shown by the Newtown men, but 80 etYective was the defensive play of the homesters that it took quite half-an- hour to register the nrst goal for the visitora. This ronsed the homesters, and from this time their play improved, and indeed from now to the end Jack was as good as hia master." The nrat goa! which fell to LIanfyHin was a beauty. Lee made a grand I run down the right wing, and Goodwin missing his centre, Watkins pounced on the bait and scored. The Newtown boys now got on their mett)e, and from the kick-off went down in a body, with a good old White Star rush, and scored their second goa). This waa the score at half-time. Urged on by their supporters the homesters in the second half played a most determined game and certainty were the better men. They put in a lot of pressure and forced any amount of corners, but Goodwin and his backs defended so well that a. draw seemed certain. Owen, however, in the last minute steered the ball into the net and won a. grand game for tus "ide. The victory will do a lot of g@)od to LIanfyHin football, and the team wit) give a good account of j themselves in the next round. If they are fortunate to he drawn at home their opponents will nnd stern j stuff in front of them. Pluck, determination, and ) condition won this match, and it will go a long way towards another victory. Owestry journeyed to Liverpool with a weakened team, and the play of those present was much below the usual standard. At no time did the visitors really settle down, and the consequence wae that they were soundly thrashed by no leas than 7 to 0. Indeed on the ether side there was little combination. It was simply kicking anywhere by both sides, though the homesters managed to send the ball "somewhere" at times. In the nrst half the United had their share of t,he play, but the opposing defence was exce))ent, and the Oswes- trian forwards were kept at a respectable distance from go't.1. One shot from deserved to score. In the second ha!f the visitors were quite outplayed. The slippery state of the ground did not suit their style of play, and that is the best excuse that can be made for their defeat. The Aberystwyth Reserve team managed to coax Snai) beach to the sea-side, and what is better succeeded in gaining a good victory over them. The committee of the Reserve were not able to place their best men on the neld, and had to depend on what was practically a third team, but the little-nns" played up in fine style. The Miners were a strong'sturdy lot, and seemed Hke carrying all before them. In the nrst five minutes they rushed up to goal and scored. This was enona'h to daunt many a junior team, but these little fellows were not made of the atuC which in on a slight reverse. The youngsters pulled themselves together, and ere the half-time whistle was sounded by Mr Townsend had a lead of three to two. In the second half they more than held their own and put on another goal, while the Snailbeacb men failed to score. There was no nuke about the victory of the youngsters, It was as complete a.a it was well deserved. The home defence was excellent. Joel Rowlands never played a better game &t back. Stephens, too, cleared admirabty. The half-back line was really nrst rate. W. Jones was particu- larly cool and played a beautifully steady game. The pick of the forwards waa Jack Morgans at centre, and his ttashing runs up to goal were splendid and about the great feature of the game. He is a very fast player and will be heard of later on. His partners were a very useful and steady lot. Ted Evans put in some good work. Lewis, Jenkius and 0. Green were weli up but lacked the dash of Morgans. Jenkius was a trine slow, and Lewis spoilt some chances by getting offside. The Snailbeach men depended too much on their strength, fouling frequently, and free kicks were of frequent occurrence. With a full team the Reserve ought to go further in the competition, as their play is just of the style to get goals and pull off victory. The R.W.W. Swifts and Newtown Intermediate School had a. stiff encounter on Saturday. Very nice combination was shown on both sides. The result was a win for the home team by 3 gml1 tn 2. Mr Tetley, the headmaster of the schools, every satisfaction as referee. With the encourage- ment given to oar Intermediate Schools football 19 likely to improve In Montgomeryshire. I have seen some of the teams p!ay and have been quite favour- ably impressed with the good form shown. Pant went to Llanymynecb on Saturday to con- tend against the homesters in the Village Cup tie. From the nash colours worn by the players and the enthusiasm shown by the large crowd of spectators one would have imagined on stepping on to the ueld at Llanymynech that a very big Cup tie was in progress. All the colours of the rainbow were represented and the dodging and Sitting here and there of the wearers thereof formed quite a pictur- esque scene and occasionaHy took one's attention from some good play. It cannot be said that eithet team lacked support aa the patrons of both turned np in goodly numbers. The close association of the villages and consequent rivalry had something to do with this but it must at the aama time be stated that a)), including players, seemed on the friendliest terms with each other. It was Llanymynech'a initial attempt this season and the score of two to none in favour of their opponents is not a serious aSair and was not much taken to heart. The chief fault of the homesters waa their bad shooting in front of goal. In the open the teams were equal in merit but Pant were deadly shots at goal. No doubt their proximity to the rine range accounts for this, and Bowyer, who kept goal in rare style, was in no way responsible for the goals. For 20 minutes Llanymynech held their own but a nice combined effort on the part of the visitors brought about the downfall of the home citadel. The second half was a repitition of the nrst, Pant scoring their second goal at about the same time from the restart. Pant deserved their victory and are to be congratulated on it, though Llanymynech with very little practice would blossom out into a really good junior team, as now and again genuine Sashes of good cooibina. tion would be seen. Pant should be heard of again in this combination. What struck one as remark- able was the almost complete absence of fouling. Perhaps the presence of Mr Bert Gough, Oswestry, the referee, who kept the players beautifully in band, bad something to do with this. Another curious fact in connection with the game was that there were players belonging to Llanymynech in the Pant team and Mce t;erM. If the teams were to amalgamate, as they should do, the team would not disgrace itself in any Junior Cup tie. When Greek meets Greek and when LIanfair meet Welshpool then there is a iight with no non- sense about it. Last year LIanfair proved that on their own ground they were equal to Welshpool 1st team. In order to test the team agair,, Mr T. J. Bratton took a scratch team, consisting principally of the Town ptayers to LIanfair on Saturday. The result did not justify LIanfair's expectation as they had to succumb to the tune of 4 to 0. The game afforded an excellent practice for Welshpool, but the play of LIanfair seems to have deteriorated— probably from want of practice, and there was too much roughness about the play. Welshpool were decidedly the better team. Young T. H. Watkin again played a good game, and Snished up several tine runs with shots that gave White much trouble. D. Richards at back, defended grandly, and he was the best back on the neld. Hamer for Welshpool had not many opportunities to show his ability. Hutchins again showed capital play at right half and there is no doubt he is deve!oping into a good player. G. Howetis played & dashing game though he lacked the judgment of Hutchins. GriSiths shone in the forward rank and put in some good shots, while Bentiey, a new ma.n, played steadily. Oswestry Reserve piled on the goal: against Der- wen Rangers in the nrst round of the Welsh Junior Cup. AH through the game the Reserves held the upper hand, but in the second half they had all the fun to themselves for the others were not in it, and Were at )ast defeated by 11 to 0. Football is making such progress in Wales that we are now having We!sh clubs leaving their owa pastures and gaining laurels against English teams. This was the case with Dolgelley last Saturday who journeyed as far as Shrewsbury to tackle the Barrack Rovers. The Rovers are an old club, and have a nrst rate recruiting ground for getting young players to fill up any gaps. The Soldiers thought they had a very easy thing on, but instead they had about the toughest lot to tackle in the competition. The truth is the Wefsbmen played better football and with as much more life aud determination that the soldiers collapsed entirely, and were beaten by 4 to 0. Well done Dolgelley You have proved that the Coast League or what- ever you call it has done food. EDesmere Rangers proved much too good for LIangoIIen Wanderers in the same competition, and deff:tted them by six to none after a very one-sided gan.t. Another run away game was that between Whittington and Ruyton for the Village Cup. Though playing at home the Ruyton men bad not a ghost of a chance against Whittington, who played a much more scientiuc game and won with great ease by eight to none. We)!, the great match at Newtown between the home team aod Everton first eleven is over, and a splendid exhibition of high-class football wo had, especially in the nrst quarter of an hour. During this time the Everton passing was exceedingly clever and about as perfect as we are ever likely to get it. It was tantalisingly perfect as far as the Newtown players were concerned and they could not cope with it at all. The Everton men passed and re-passed backwards, across, and forwards at their own sweet will. and the homesters were utterly helpless. During thia time three goals were scored, but it must not be forgotten that the homesters were only playing ten men. After the third goal W. R. Jonea arrived aod soon .nade hia presence felt. No more goals were scored this half and the play was fairly even—indeed Watkins and Gooderichcameuparscoring. In the second half the home team played with great coniidpnce and spirit and about half way through W. Parry scored one of the beat goals of the day after good combined p!ay by the tot. This roused the visitot8,.and ere long the forward j got UD, and the centre scored 'a very tiDe goal. Soon aft,r a second. penalty was given, and :.ts before no mIstake was made. Newtown came on again and twice nearly scored. They certainly had deserved two goals more, and if the forwards had kept coo) they would have done it. The play of the home team in the Sfcond half was capita). It was full of go. One of the Everton directors said to me that if the homesters had played with the same confidence in the nrst ha)f the Everton men woa)d have had their work cat out." Ic. is not fair to single oat any of theNo-vtown men for special mention. All played a good game and with spirit against superior players. W R. Jones and Parry saved wet) time after time, and the little man made himse)f a arreat favourite from the time he stepped on the netd. The halves and forwards worked bar I, and now and again showed good combination. Edwards saved we)) on many occasions. The Everton men deserve the thanks of all tovers of the game for their magnificent exhibition. With the exception of the outside right the team was exceptionally good. Of course it is understood that the men did not over- exert themselves, but when in the secund half they found Newtown playing so wet) they woke up, but even then they had plenty to do. There was a good company present and Charlie Parry wilt receive a fair sum, but if the weather had been better no doubt he would have received another tenner at least The Everton Directors have br-haved nob)y iu the matter. They paiu the expenses of the team and sent the best men. The players vied with the Directors and actually took tickets for the match to assist a. worthy old colleague.

. FRIENDLY MATCHES.

THE COMBINATION.

THE VILLAGE CUP.

, THE WELSH JUNIOR rUP.

SHROPSHIRE & DISTRICT LEAGUE.…

SHROPSHIRE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.

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