How England beat Germany 3-1

‘Old man’ Matthews was

By ERIC BUTLER ©

best player on the field

LONDON

Germany ran into a soccer blitzkrieg from England at Wembley last week. That

England only won 3-1. instead of getti
and fact. Mystery, because at times t
though the visiting defense had been reduced to tatters.

thrown away like scraps of paper.

Such was England’s superiority
that the Germans could quite easi-
ly have been mourning a double-
figure defeat. I almost cried at
times at the lack of scoring touches
in this England team. I counted
eight efforts. which, on anything
like a normal day, would have
brought goals.

Of course, the German defense,

and especially goalkeeper Herken-|

rath, did many heroic things. Poor
Herkenrath! His body must be a
mass of bruises — so many times

did he have to dive at the feet of

England’s forwards.

Leading England’s forward surge
was the old man himself — Stan-
ley Matthews. Every time he got
the ball, Germany’s defense be-
came a fumbling mass. Hach of
them, and left-back Kohlmeyer in
particular, were mesmerised by the
39-year-old wonder. .

He always~had the beating of
them. Their only answer — hasty
kickings into touch, body check-
ing, and, on one occasion, an un-
ceremoniodus grab at his legs.

But not even these questionable
methods could stop him.

Those treasured crosses, shrewd,
defense-splitting to within a three-
yard range of his nearest upright
and those short-angled passes —
he gave us them all.

Oh! Allen and Bentley, why did
you let them go? Still, I suppose,
that sort of thing comes to all
great players.

The pity of it all, though, is that
this England team (Finney was the
only weak link and he can do rauch
better) will not be seen in action
again. :

By the time England’s next
match comes round — Scotland at

ng a sackful of goals, remains a story of both mystery
he ball simply refused to go into the German net even
Fact, because too many chances were

England’s great miler, Roger
Bannister, who beat Australia’s
John Landy in the Mile of the
‘Century at Empire Stadium here’
last August (shown above) has
been named Britain’s top athlete
of 1954 by the British Amateur
, Athletic Association.

Wembley in April — the selectors
will almost certainly have other
ideas about the team.

Although chances were missed,
this team was rich in promise.
Even in those early minutes, when

as the goal loomed large, we re-
mained full of expectancy.

Then, with 26 minutes gone, a
richly deserved goal. It all start-
ed with a 25-yard kick.

Allen jumped over the ball, ran
forward and hooked Shackleton’s
kick goalwards.

sent it to his.“‘worst enemy,” Mat-
thews.

A swinging centre and Bentley

and in,
Although still full of promise,
England kept us waiting until 48
minutes for their second goal.
Allen put Finney in possession,
but after bursting forward Finney
fiddled. However, the shot can-
noned off Liebrich and _ Allen
cracked the loose ball in as if he
hated it, past a wall of defenders.
From then a _ casualness —-
glimpses of it had been seen earlier
— crept into England’s game.

The German forwards saw more
of the ball simply because their
wing-halves, so obviously defense-
minded, were allowed to bring the
ball through a little.

Our worst fears were confirmed

Wright’s clutches for a change,

pushed the ball forward for Beck

to shoot just inside the upright.
Indeed, an effort coolly taken.
Two minutes later England

sion just inside the centreline, beat
his man before transferring the
ball to the superb Shackleton. One
of the Sunderland man’s noted chip
shots and England had their third
goal. 3

So England got a win against
the injury-weakened World Cup
holders. It could just as easiiy

Bentley, Finney and Allen erred

have been a rout.

bse

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Bal

-

\

] Posipal kicked |
off the line, but in his haste, only |

soared high to head the ball down} .

after 77 minutes. Seeler, free from |

struck back. Allen gained posses-’

| pupils at one time was Sir Arthur

| pic Association announced that

Professional women wrestlers are still barred from performing
in Canada, but draw huge crowds in many countries. Photo at top
shows a match between two Japanese girls in Tokvo which drew
10,000 spectators, mostly male. Bottom photo shows the main event
between Mildred Burke, United States champion, and Ruth Boat-
callie. Mildred, who won the bout in less than 12 minutes, is
tossing Ruth over the referee, knocked down in the melee.

Gert Whyte's

SPORTLIGHT

unnecessary one,

_The answer lies in federal as-
sistance to the Olympic team;
and federal grants to schools,
Universities and amateur sports
bodies for the development of
athletics.

Britain and the Soviet Union,
to name only two countries, have
such a system of “grants.” in
Canada the government does give
some money to help the Olympic
team (not nearly enough) but
balks at donating dough to any-
thing “cultural.”

Percy Williams, who coached
Canada’s BEG swimming teair,
- says bluntly

“Why shouldn’t we have a sys-
tem like Russia’s? I don’t think
there is-any doubt sports should
get government aid; they should
have been getting it all along.’

x x *

I never knew rugger was so
1ugged until I watched a game
on television last Saturday. Van-
couver Rowing Club won 11-2
ever Varsity in a Miller Cup
game at UBC. :

Why doesn’t this exciting sports
spectacle attract crowds? Like
Vasketball, socecer and lacrosse,
the players often outnumber the
spectators. Yet rugby has all the
thrills and chills of Canadian
football — and is played with-
out imports, besides.

Rough play killed soccer and
the cons}ant tootiing of the re-
feree’s whistle has harmed bas-
l.etball, Soccer, an English game,
just never caught on in Canada
as a major sport, although it
_draws huge crowds in South Am-
erica, Europe, the Soviet Union
and China.

But it is har* to understand
why Canadians don’t go for rug- >
by, with its exciting scrummage,
few time-outs and combination
of kicking and passing play.

] started playing billiards at the

age of 13, in the YMCA at
Cobalt, Ontario. Later I was
graduated to Pappas’ pool room
in Kingston, and obtained my
Ph.D. (Pool-hall Devotee).

Those days are long gone, and
now I’m lucky if I play a game
of billiards or pool twice a year,
for relaxation. But my love for
the green baize cloth and click-
ing ivories has never abaited,
and this weekend I hone to snaf-
fle one free night to visit Duns-
muir Auditorium and watch Tom
Tothill and Stan Martin battle for
the English billiards champion-
ship of Canada.

The series between Tothill, the
Old Maestro and his younger
challenger opened Monday this
week at Martin’s Billiard Parlor
in West Vancouver, shifted on
Wednesday to Tothill’s place
on West Broadway, and con-
cludes at the Dunsmuir Audit-
orium on Friday and Saturday
nights. :

Tothill, Canadian champ at the
game since 1927, learned to play
as a boy of 10 in England and
later became the top instructor
in that country. One of his

Conan Doyle.

Martin, in addition to his prow-
ess at billiards, is a noted violin-
ist (featured at the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1933) and a bet-
ter-than-average curler and golf-
er.

: x * *

Government aid is urgently re-
quired to send a decent Canadian
team to the 1956 Olympics in
Melbourne, Australia.

This week the Canadian Olym-

due to financial difficulties, ‘the
size of. the Canadian team will
be cut. ’

A shameful situation!

’

And an

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 10, 1954 — PAGE 11 rey