Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal

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.

Stoke are making a desperate bid for promotion to I the First League .and their policy of securing cuver forwards like Whittingham and. Brown has justified. The Welsh F.A. have grantea permission to the Wrexham F.C. to play a benflt match for Llew .Davies. Further particulars of thk event Wlll fee 't' given ia due «oiirj»,

NORTH WALES ALLIANCE ) DIVISION I. I R.W.F. V. COURTAULDS (FLINT). I R.W.F. 1; COXJRTAUEDS 1.. I (ByA.D.).. I Teams:—R.W.F. Depot; Usher; Kensett, Griffiths; Arbuthnot, Sant, Tarrant; Noble, Jones, Aibuttinot, Ruth, Urquhart. ? Courtaulds (Flint): Joyce; F. Thomas, D. C. Thomas; Foulkes, B. Roberts, T. Murray; R. Hughes, H. Parry, W. Williams, E. Evans, G. Parry. Referee: E. Brown, Acrefair. The above teams met an Saturday at Wrexham Barracks ground. The weather was inclined to be changeable and there was a little wind which made ball control difficult. Theat,t,endiance was very poor, only some forty odd spectators being present. The grouoo was very slippery, and because, of this many line chances were missed. The toss was won by the home team, who ejected to kick with the wind. The play was opened by the home team, who straight. t away bore upon the visitors' goal. Courtaulds' de- I fence was rather uncertain the Depot, missed I several good chances of opening the score owing to the slipperiness of the ground. The first feature of I the game was made by Sant, who, from a long shot ) beat Joyce. The visitors then warmed to their work and gave the tome defence a severe testing. The j game gradually worked its way to mid-field where nice long passing by Courtaulds enabled1 them to make j a breakaway and to fight hard for an equaliser. From a free kick Sant secured the ball and was able to run up and take a, shot which obviously beat Joyce. f A spirited argument took place when the referee dis- (allowed the goal by both teams but the decision was maintained. During the remainder of this half corners were forced by "both sides, and the game was of the rough order. The whistle went for half-time < without further addition to the score, which was R.W.F. 1—0. j The Fusiliers again opened the play after half- time, by pressing the visitors heavily but, with nice j passing, Courtaulds were able to make a run for the opposing goal. Another scrimmage ensued, but the home bac&s were able to clear. ITrquhart receiv- ing, took the game to the visitors' goal again and in j attempting to score, shot over -the bar. In this half Jones was a continual source of trouble to the visitors. During the closing stages of the game the visitors wiere kept attending to matt ere ,in their own half, until, five minutes from time, they managed to break away and scorf. The whisHe went for time, witli the ft scores of one goal each. It must here. be saidi that, in the opinion of the the writer, t'.ie referee was in erfor in his decision as to the disputed goal. It was obvious to anyone standing near t'rp, touchline, that the ball was quite' two yards in the netted space and should have been j allowed This will most likely form the grounds of 'a report-but in points of fact. the decision of the, referee is final, and it is doubtful whether any effect. j ive actior: can be taken by the Alliance Executive. RUABON V. RHQSYMEDRE. i RHOSYMEDBE 2; RTTABON 0. ) This re-arranged, fixture was played m the Old Druids' ground in Wynnstay Park on Saturday. There was a capital attendance when Griffiths set the ball rolling for Ruabon who had the advantage of I. the slope. The first attack was. roadie by the liome forwards, but, they were "repulsed by T. Jones, who placed Arthur in possession. Coiisideral)le. pi-,essuro was brought to bear on the Rho&ymedre goal, Grif- fiths, Daniels and Edwards playing a pretty game. The visiting custodian twice savedi under difficulties. Charlie Edwards, racing between t4 houie backs, got into a scoring position, but shot wide and the iOttT-, val arrived w:th Rhosymedre leadinghy one goal to nil. In the second half the Ruabon goal was subjected to a prolonged attack during which the custodian gave a tine display. After Chas, H-iwawis has missed • a fine opening tie made amends. by scoring a delight- 'I ful goal. The ball was placed by hove from the corner -flag -and • Edwards, meeting it with his head, diverted it into the net. few minutes later Rhosy- medie were awarded a penalty. The kick was taken by hove who drove the ball against the loot of £ he post, the final result being .Rhysyiaedre tuaboil 0. Teams:— Ruabon: W. C. Jones; W. Roberts, A. Bailiff; Jen- j Idu. Jones, J. Williams, Green; E. Edwards, Dan- I iels, Griffiths, J. E-dwards Aiid Taylex. Rhosymedre: E. Jones; E. Williams, T. Jones; T. r Nicholls, Walter Jose*, M. Roberts; W. Ricl.Ws.. H. Arthur, P. Jones, Charlie Edwards and J Xove. J Referee; Air. Xunnerley, Wrexham. I NORTH WALES ALLIANCE. I DIVION II., I I POWELL'S. ATLEÚC6TANgTy.Th.ebove! teams met at Stan sty on S&turd&y last before a small attendance. Powell's' were without their usual out- side right ?ho, for some 'Unacuntble' reason has, like a good many more capable Wrexham youths, chosen to piay for teams in other districts How- ever, his place was capably filled by J. T. Salisbury. .¡ Powell's were early aggressive and J. Joneis, by a clever bit cf individual play, got through and scored with a lovely low drive. This player repeatedi the first part but this time his final effort was turned round the post by the. home custodian. Shortly afterwards Forkin struck the cross bar with a fast- drive. The game was fast throughout t.he first half; the visitors having slightly the advantage. No i furthecr scoring was done in the first forty-five minutes and, half-time arrived with the score Powell's 1—0. The home team were aggresive early in the second half and strong appeals for a penalty were ignored by the referee. The visitors' defence 'was hard pressed at this juncture but Evans cleared his lines successfully every time. Fast eiid to end play was the order for some time and in a detenninedi rush on the home goal J. Davies scored, the second for Powell's. The home team were having slightly the better of this balf and Roberts had hard lines in seeing his shot stopped by a clever save by Evans. The home forwards were trying hard to score but Powell's defence heidi out and the final whist-le blew with the score: Powell's 2; Stansty 0. Teams:— Powell's: J. Evans; T. Charleston and T. G. Evans; O. Williams, W. Nadjn. T. Griffiths; J. T. Salisbury, J. Jones, W. Forkin. J.. Davies and H. Blackwell. Stansty: J. Whitely; J. Morris, E. Williams; A. Taylor, W. l'disbury, Geo.-Hell.in; R. Ton", D. W. Jackson, Llew Jones, Thos. Roberts, W. Cartwright. Referee: Mr. Hill. PENYOAE v. BRYMBO INBTITUTE.-An interest. ing match was played between these two teams at Penycae on Saturday before a.large attendance. The match was timed for half past two but, owing to 4 breakdown, the visitors did1 not arrive until three o'clock. Brymbo won the toss and1 decided to play with the wind nt their backs. The opening stages were brisk and both teams tried hard to g-t the lead. Play had been in progress about half an iaour when the homesters opened the scoring with a capital shot from A Ward. The visitors made determined efforts to equalise but found) the homesters' backs and goalkeeper defending ,w ell. Half-time arrived with the score standing, Penycae 1—0. The opening stages of the i.ecoml half saw the visitors' making strenuous efforts to get on equal terms but the ball had only been in motion a few minutes when M. Roberts foundl an opportunity of registering another goal in favour of Penyeae. The visitors tried hard to equalise but the homesters had put up a splendid defence, the backs playing an excellent game, whilst M. Hopwood was, capital in goal and saved, a num- ber of shots. After some mid.fleld play Percy Jones Scored another for Penycae. The visitors were now improving and towards the latter end of the game j E. Samuels found a chance and scored for the visitors. JUthou £ h thok Ada 1 effort was fre«fe thex were un- able to secure the victory. No further scoring took place, Penycae being left victors by 8-1. For the home team M. 'Hopwood gave a marvellous exhibition in goal. The game was a well contested.-one through- out and some very nice play was witnessed. The visitors on the whole showed the better form. The game was admirably handled by Mr. Carless, Ruabon. Teams:— Penycae: M. Hopwood; M. Valentine, S. Jones; T, Jackson, D. Edwards, R. Roberts; M. Roberts, P. Jones, H. W. Jones. A. Ward and R. W. Davies. Brymoo Institute: T Luck; W. Jones, W. Roberts: R. A. Hughes, A. EJvans, J. Matthias, S. Gittins, A. Salisbury, lX, 0, Thomas, E. Samuels and B. Lloyd. JOHNSTOWN v. HOLT.—An exciting match result- ed between these teams at Johnstown on Saturday. A good number oi spectators WMZO present and the Lome team proved the far better side and ran out easy victors by 5 goals to nil. The scorers were: S. Fisher, R. Rogers (2), R. Haunaby anil J. J. Potts. A penalty was awarded each team but they failed to score. Th<. referee WS Mr. G. O. Postle. I WELSH AMATEUR CUP. BRYMBO GREEN V, BRADLEY. I A CHAPTER OF INCIDENTS. [COPYRIGHT.] Biti.UBO GREEJN 4 GOALS. I BRADLEY NIL.. I (By C,.H.) I About «00 spectators gathered on the saucer-like I ground of Brymbo on Saturday to witness the match between the above teams to decide which should enter the ijext round of the Cup. The weather was very boisterous and rain fell intermittently, adding to the discomfort of the players and onlookers. The I game was a series of stoppages from beginning to end, the whistle goimg continuously for various breaches ► of rules, many of the decisions causing heated argu- ments amongst the rival supporters. There was much room for improvement in the referee's ruling, ( It frequently happens in local matches where the competition borders on the keen side and one player accidentliy fouls another the victim as- Elimes a fighting attitude; such was Saturday's..ex- perience, and it was., only with difficulty on one oc- casion (ii., of the home'players was restrained from endeavouring to take summary revengo with his fists. The incident greatly reflected upon the local sport- ling, fraternity present, who demonstrated their .chagrin iOCl such a manner as was likely to transfer the football into a fighting match. At half-time they •again showed how unconvers.ant they were with the game by swarming in-to the pitch for reasons that I could not fathom. It was apparent that the hostile feeling of the crowd greatly affected the, game, thus mal-,ing the lot of the players and referee much harder. This may have contributed towards the con- test being kept going when it was quite, dark! Ow. I ing to the .late arrival of the visitors the game was L" bout 30 minutes late in commencing, and it was a problem whether it could be concluded in tirro. The referee thought otherwise, with the result that the last fifteen minutes developed into a game of hide and seek, it being impossible to follow the flight of the, ball, but still the whistle was going! How the referee could see is a. matter purely for conjecture, unless he had cat's eyes! I THE GAME. I The visitors won the toss and elected1 to kick. against tRe wind. T. Jones set the ball in motion, and the homesters pressed in the first few minutes. J. Jones, an the Bradley right wing, was conspicuous with a nice run, but failed to get his centre in. At the other end Rowlands shot in weak- ly, and T. Jones topped the bar with a fast shot. G. Baugh ca the visitor's left, proved dangerous by running through, but, was unfortunate in getting pen- alisad for fouling when about to shoot from short range. Shortly afterwards the same player made another rush but the homesters' left back saved a critical position by nipping .in at tlleright moment. Brymbo, who had undoubtedly the best of the game, continued to attack persisteiitly, but their efforts were of no avail through poor marksmanship. Row- lands-was responsible-for some good individual play but Lucas, the visiting custodian, was equal to all occasions and saved, in an experienced maimer. G. Baugh, securing possession on thte left, eluded thi;l opposition, centring perfectly, but had the disappoint- Wtillt of observing no forwards to snap up the QP. .Rortucity. Transferring tlie ltat-her in q\1ik style T. Jones skimmed the bar in an tindeavour to open the score. G. Baugh, receiving from the centre, took advantage of -his speed and raced away with the leather, being firoughl, down in the penalty, area by n. Jones. A penalty was awarded, B. Williams shooting without any force at the goalie, who had no difficulty in saving. Brymbo continued the pressure, the referee failing to observe a visiting player hand- ling in, the penalty area. Ralf-t-ime arrived with no se ore. The second half was easily in Brymbo's favour, but hands against them for a near distance made matters look serious, the ball striking the side of the net when the goalie was beiten. t). Jones, inside ldft, opened, t)»e score for the homesters, and; Di. Jones notched a second a short time afterwards, the ball deceiving the goatie by bouncing over his head into the net. A free kick ltd to the third, E. Griffiths giving Lucas no chance. T. Williams was called upon I to deal with a shot from the visitors' inside right, the ball afterwards being handled by a Brymbo player in .the penalty area, the referee failing to notice. Three corners fell to.-the homesters in quick succession. Rowlands converting from the last. Brymbo dominated the play up to the end, but failed I to find the net- any. more. Teams:— i ESCLUSHAM WHITE STARS V. I ACREFAIR UNITED. i I ESCLUSHAM h. 3 GOALS. ACREFAIR 1 GOAL. Played at Rhostyllen on Saturday before a small gate. Acrefair won the toss and Butterton quickly tripped down the field but was met with resistance from the White Stars who passed the ball nicely up the field and came within an ace of scoring on two occasions. For some time they were at the mouth.of the visitors' goal but failed to realise owing to bad Shooting. The visitors played a good game and But. terton and D. Lloyd did good work but all to no purpose. Here the homesters began to assert them. selves and played: a fast game, and although they had three corners in quick succession failed to score. Harold Roberts receiving the ball from a nice pas9 by Rees, Lloyd, tripped up the field and a scrimmage in goal failed to realise, the Acrefair goalkeeper sav- ing some good Shots. From now until the interval the homesters pressed hard but failed to score and at, half time the result was a blank. On resuming the visitors began to press but found the home team ready for any emergency rud they soon began to put their best into the game and wtffe ( for some time troublesome, being at the rwuth cf Acrefair goal continuously when u fine pass by Hsrold I Roberts nearly bore fruitition. Another nice pssa by Roberts resulted in Tom Williams scoring the fiist goal for the homesters. Encouraged by the r sue. cess the White Stars worked with a w'U wnea Ben Sowden scored from a flufe pass by Har ,jd Roberts within five minutes of the list score. Pay for a time was even but was stopped by th, referee, *.ho ordered D. Lloyd off the field for liams. A penalty Jpck by B. <utteiron sccred 'he first for Acrefair. Thge game !cr the next twenty minutes of an even character but, suddf-nly, the homesters t-ripped avfay and Jv:wdea added "te I third for the home team rhen 'r fi;<al result T 13: I Esclusham 8; AcpefaiT 1. lean-

I -w :— l The suspeMiom placed by the WeJh F.A. on W. CMllington ? Kc? PtBt? F.O. in MM, mow &e? remove