History of the A's

Senior A's Win Their First Boxla Playoff

FERGUS THISTLES FALTER AS ATHLETICS WIN SERIES

MEET BEAVERS IN SENIOR O. A. L. A. GROUP FINALS

WIN SEMI-FINAL ROUND 25 – 17

VISITORS DISORGANIZED – A’S SHOW OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE POWER

The St. Catharines Standard

Friday August 20, 1935

Completely disorganizing the Thistles to the point where the players argued among themselves, the Brown-Cahill Athletics with the greatest combination of offensive and defensive power seen this year whipped Fergus 15 to 3 last night at the city sports park to eliminate them from the senior O. A. L. A. group two semi-finals.

The win which was earned when the A’s overcame a four goal deficit to sweep the two-game series 25 – 17, qualifies the blue-shirts to meet Burlington in a two-out-of three game series for the group championship. Fergus won the first match 14 – 10 and the record this season with four victories in the six league games marked them as strong favorites to take the semi-final.

Erased Fergus Margin

An overflow crowd of 2,000 spectators cheered themselves hoarse as the Athletics with methodical precision subjected the Thistles to the closest checking they have been hampered with this year and when the opportunity presented itself carefully erased the visitors’ margin and then went ahead to pile-up a convincing lead.

But when the Fergusites were dangerous, Harold “Shy” Manning, similar to his mates, stood up under the pressure and played a standout game kicking out 19 shots, most of them close in.

From a spectator’s viewpoint the game was not brilliantly played. But those fans found plenty to delight in and the fact that the A’s edge on the play was so great or that the Thistles sloppy tactics spoiled the match as a spectacle did not lessen their interest or enjoyment in the smashing win scored by their boys.

Refereeing Good

The period score illustrates the trend of the game. A careful opening when they covered up well gave the Saints a 3 – 0 margin, then in the second quarter they added another trio and Fergus netted one for a halftime 6 – 1 score. The winners added another 3 in the third quarter and held the visitors goalless, then in the final quarter opened up to outscore Jack Courtney’s Scots, 6 – 2. Four of these goals came through a penalty to Thompson, Fergus defenseman.

Fergus served 12 of the 22 minutes handed out in penalties by Referees Kendall and Burrell, who made a fine job of their duties and these four markers in the last session were the only ones scored through penalties.

Graham in the Fergus net was not at his best on several of the shots that best him. He stopped 31 shots.

On of the features in the Saints spirited performance was holding the “Big Four” of the Fergus team. Connell and Henderson, who along with White and Rohmer, are usually the spearhead of the attack but got one goal each with Campbell netting the third. Richardson made two plays for goals.

Similar to the first game when he was held scoreless, Jerry Connell was checked into submission by Irv. Lounsbury and on one goal he did get, Lounsbury who played a standout game was not checking him. George Hope made an excellent job of watching the husky “Rusty” White and he gave White a rough passage. Jack Blair, Gus Madsen and Roy “Bun” Barnard covered Henderson, Rohmer, the Bergin brothers and Ritchie to perfection and only on rare occasions were these usually heavy-scorers threats. Too, the home with every player getting back into position particularly in the first three quarters gave valuable assistance to the rearguard through back-checking.

The Scorers

Lounsbury with four goals, all of them on individual efforts when he best two and three checks, was the leading scorer, but the team as a whole played collectively with 11 of the players figuring in the scoring. Bob Pinder was the only player who did not register, but he had six good shots on the net and was out-lucked.

Tom “Tank” Teather took three smart passes on the dead run and converted them into goals, while Roy “Pung” Morton scored two goals, one on a penalty shot, and handed out a pass for another tally.

Statistics

Athletics

 Fergus

Referees-Jerry Kendall and Jack Burrell, of Brampton.

LOOKING OVER LACROSSE

By LOU CAHILL

The St. Catharines Standard

Friday August 30, 1935

Fred Waghorne Jr., president of the O. A. L. A. had nothing but words of praise for the Athletics and the big crowd after last night’s victory. “The crowd was marvelous and your team is better still,” he said.

If Joe Lally, noted Cornwall lacrosse stick manufacturer, had been present he would have found something other than the A’s victory to cheer about. Connell, Teather and Smith all broke their sticks, however, Connell will not need a stick until next year.

If rumors are any sign, another emergency set of bleachers are to be erected at the west end of the box. Last night many paying customers were forced to stand. Lacrosse is returning so rapidly in this city, it is hard to keep pace with it.

RETURN