Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

5 articles on this Page

I. SPORTING. -1

Detailed Lists, Results and Guides
Cite
Share

SPORTING. -1 FOOTBALL. BIRMINGHAM AND DISTRICT I LEAGUE. A WREXHAM REVIVAL. I DEFEAT OF WEST BROMWICH. I WREXHAM 2 Goafa. I W. B. ALBION u.u Nil. (Bv X.Y.Z.). I [Copyrmhn. j Wrexnam disposed of West Bromwieh Albion in summary fashion at the Racecourse, on Saturday, and on the balance of play the Welshmen deserved to have won by a much wider margin than tw& clear goals. In point of fact the ball was placed in the West Brom- wick goal four times during the afternoon, but rhe referee disallowed two of the points. The first, was held to have been eco-red from an off- tiide position and the second was nullified by hands on the part of the Wrexham centre for- ward. The majority of the spectators were disposed to quarrel with the decision of the referee in each instance, and it is certainly doubtful whether Owen infringed the off-side rule before driving the ball into the net from long range. With regard to the second point, however, I am quite isat,isfied that Owen handled the ball before converting Jardine's centre, and, although the goal appeared to be a perfect one, it waa not scored in accordance with the rides and 'it was pleasing to find that the official in charge of the match. had the courage to dis- regard the vocal criticism showered upon him and to disallow the goal. Many spectators were under the impression that the point wae j -disa,liowed for a. breach of the off-:side rule. They had all seen a perfect centre by Jardine ¡ practically off the toucnhne. and it was clear that no one could be off-side from this pa6. -The handling of the ball was not so clear, but I it took place and the goal was very properly ruled out. The referee, Mr. J. F. Pearson. an English I League official, had not been very happy in his relations with the crowd owing to a few awards made' against the home club, and a I tendency to refrain from using, the whistle— admirable in its way as an act of general policy, but not helpful on several occasions during this match. There is no doubt Mr. Pearson ma.de mistakes which were clear to every onlooker, but in my opinion, like rfll League officials coming to Birmingham League football, he felt the loss of neutral linesmen to I assise him, and was not always up with the players in time to decide points of law in a manner likely to inspire confidence. Conseauently. a few breaches of the rules were miased, and this roused the ire of a section o" the crowd. Person-ally,. I be- lieve he gave a straightforward decision on each incident as he saw -t. and he is entitled to respect as en official who showed that he itS not what ie known colloquially as a "homer." He left the Racecourse at the end of the match remarking that he had no desire to see the place again and expre,o-inz strong disapproval of the barracking to which he had been sub- iected. Seven days earlier he tad charge of the English League match beten Chelsea and Preston North End before 35,000 people at Stamford Bridge, and even the most caustic critic of his control of the game at Wrexham, on Saturday, could not fairly say that his de- cisions prevented the better team' from win- ning comfortably. The' better team ^von. with ease, and the iunior Throstles were fairly and acjuarely beaten. The Welshmen's revival gave general satisfaction. There was marked im- provement in the attack, and the listless char- acter of the forward work commented upon in ¡ earlier matches had disappeared. The game w 4-1 the best seen on the Racecourse this sea- man, and the opening play in each half was maintained at. a pace which surprised and pleased the spectators and evoked hearty ap-i olause from stand and enclosure. A SKETCH OF THE GAME. I Ihe Welshmen opened the contest in convinc- ing fashion, and the forwards combined to I euc-h advantage that the Albion goal fell before the match was many minutes' old. The move- ment which produced the goal began on the left winlt. where a Quick centre by R. Jones, led to a quick exchange of perfect passes be- tween Owen. Goode and Jardine. The wing man took the ball to the line. and then swung it across the mouth of the goal where Goode deftly turned it into the net. The Albion mis-ht ettsily have equalised from a free kick which fell to them two minutes later, but with the home defence in difficulties. Swift, the visiting leader, missed the target altogether. A aecond chance^ was missed by the Throstles just afterwards. Newall worked a neat position and ) quickly 'set Clark travelling for goal. Before Matthias or Jones could recover, the ball was &wa.v on the right. Edwards drove it back, but Griffiths -headed out finely, and when Arch returned the ball again, Clark declined the opening and shot outside,. The Welshmen auickly returned to the attack.and its virility was soon shown in the registration of a second goal. Goode was largely responsible for the field play which preceded the scoring. A clever pass from inside right, to inside left increased the pressure at a vulnerable point, and Noel Edwards racing forward made an opening from which Owen scored with ease. The Albion made de- termined efforts to' open their account, but Simpson shone in defence, and-even when Edwards centred from a point behind the. corner line. Boxley wa p- on guard to fist away, insi. as the whistle went for the goal kick. The pertinacity of Noel Edwards in pressing the Albion backs led to another desperate attack on the visiting goal. Owen rushing up and shooting oil the un with skill and power. Irwinllot down to the shot and saved it clev- erly. A little later Irwin again saved finely from Owen. but he was well beaten by the home centre-forward before the interval with a shot which went into the- rigging like e-, sky rocket. The point, however, did not count, the referee holding that the forward was off- jfide. No further poati were acored bt-fore interval. The Albion forwards renewed their efforts, but Boxley and Matthias defended •finely. The Welshmen were unable to increase their- advantage of the second hajf. The forwarda played with great determination, and the Albion defenders were not given much breath- ing' sPice. I Noel Edwards. Griffiths and Owen made commendable efforts to I ,Score, but the ball waa only once placed in the net. Owen was the acorer. but he handled the ball when converting a, capital centre from Jardine, and the goal was disallowed. Before the end both eidm* had the misfortune to lose,, players. Swift was iniured in a duel with E. D. Roberts, and Noel Edwards iniured his knee and had to be' Carried off the field. The game was finished with ten' men on each side. FORM. Boslev re?ponapd to all the calls made upon Wm. Hi* goal kicks in the 6iwt half were of I ?mai?b?e LM?ta. and hi* íll1I of two Jf? shots in the last half won loud applause from 1 the spectators. Simp-qon played an effective game. and Trevor Jon-es was sound and reliable. All the half- backs displayed capital fo and in fact played better than usual. Matthias never seems to tire. and in defence is always in the thick of the fray. covering his colleagues and interven- ing' at critical junctures to clear a position by sheer pluck and determination. E. I). Roberta played, with skill and intelligence, and Grif- fiths has not played better in any previous match this reason., Forward the most notice- able feature wae the remarkable improvement in the play of Owen. who has evidently come to tha conclusion that his continuance in the vanguard depends upon marksmanship. He shot finely against West BTOMWicn, on Satur- day. and led the line in excellent fashion. Goo de opened well, and during the first ha!f pleased everyone by the smart way in which he placed the ball to his colleagues in the centre, and on the extreme right Jardine depends more on speed than artistry,, but when he is judiciously fed. he centre., with precision, Noel Edwards did not; develop the form which brought him into the limelight a few weeks ago, and shortly before the end he had to re- tire with an injury to the knee which may keeo him out of the team next Saturday. R. Jones, who has succeeded F. Roberts, on the extreme left, is a. young player of promise. He has speed and does not shrink from the rough and tumble of an encounter with yigor- ous defenders. Against West Bromwich he lost too much time in getting off the mark, and his centres often fell behind the inside 'forwards. With experience, he should over- forwards. With experience, he- should over- come these defects. He certainly does realise the fact that wing men must centre, and only rehoot when they 'have an opportunity of closing in to score. His predecessor—F. Roberts—was I unable to realise this, and a difference arose which has ended in his disappearance from the team for the time being. West Bromwich were admirably served by Cook and Adams: Cook is still a fast back, I able to score by Quick interventions, Arch was the pick of the halves. and forward a. consider- able amount of useful work was performed by Masee. Teams:— I Wi-exiiarn: Boxley, T. Jones. R. H. Simpson, T. Matthias. E. D. Ro berts. R. Griffiths. Jar- I dine, Goode. Owen. N. Edwarda and R. Jones. W.B. Albion: Irwin. Cook. Adams, Arch. I,Rea.d.Hatton, Edwards. Magee, Swift, Newall and Clark. Referee. J. F. Pearson, Dudley. Gate, £ 127 (wross), attendance -2,450.

WREXHAM V. EVERTON. I

[No title]

NORTH WALES ALLIANCE )

[No title]