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Don Lawrence * Sports editor * lt was a real heartbreaker! Midland Secondary School's senior football team played a close game Wednesday in hopes of ad- vancing to the finals in inter-collegiate ball but their aspirations were dashed by a strong squad from Barrie Central as MSS went down to defeat 25-23. In deserving o champions Midland Secondary School's football team was forced to go to a passing game Wed- nesday against Barrie Central in their semi- final match because of the defense shown by Barrie. Despite any progress MSS made by going to the air, Midland still lost to the might of the Barrie squad, going down to defeat 25-23 on MSS' own gridiron. Barrie Central leaped into an early lead as Midland got off to a slow start but eventually MSS realized what they would have to do if they wanted to stop Barrie. Coaches Randy Ritchie and Bob McVean both of MSS, decided to go with some of their stronger players at this point who could go both ways, playing defensively and of- fensively. The strategy worked for Midland as MSS soon caught up and even went ahead at one point in the game. Touchdowns for Midland were scored' by Glenn Howard on a 60 yard pass and run play, provided the steam for passing plays _ for Midland and he played one of his best games in quarterback position. His screen passes and down and in throws to Kevin Cowden and Brad Soper fooled Barrie Central time and time again. Coach Bob McVean commented, the passing game played by Friesen was one of the best he had ever seen. Defensively, Mark Pumputis on end was outstanding as was Matt Karwacki on tackle who repeatedly stopped Barrie Central from making any ground. Center Garv Beausoleil and Ron Mohan on center also played very well for Midland. Todd Clarke and Carl Cowan were perhaps the mainstay of the team as they played in both directions, | demonstr- ating dexterity that seemed limitless. On the line, Wilson Cowan, Mike Josland, Jan Moreau, Ron Ubbens and Deane good on linebacker and . should work into an impressive player in his own right. Injuries were one of the biggest problems Midland had to face and Steve Friesen along with Glenn Howard found this out the hard way. Both were sent to hospital . Thursday morning for X-rays but luckily there were no serious problems. A sigh of relief was breathed too by all those concerned at MSS who had seen one fan knocked down when one of Midland's players was tackled close to the sideline } It was feared she might have been hurt seriously, but as it turns out, she was only shaken up. In fact, that seemed to be a main concern of officials who had to keep asking fans to move back from the sidelines. Midland was leading 23-18 with two minutes left to play but they just couldn't hold on as Barrie Central put on the TOP picture, Steve Friesen, MSS quarterback looks for someone in the open while being pursued by two members of Barrie Central's team. BOT- TOM, Hilliard Clarke gets a well deserved drink while teammate Roger Reid waits patiently. Scott Shaw on a 70 yard pass and run play and Kevin Cowden on a 30 yard pass. Steve Friesen Woods proved lots of the trouble for Barrie as they dug into their defence. Paul Hahn looked moves the winning points. Barrie Central by Ken St.Amant It was a pleasure to see so many people from Huronia at Maple Leaf Gardens for the World Cup. Iam sure they were as thrilled as I was at the high level of competence displayed by these selected gymnasts. The show was excellent. Russian Dominance This was only the fifth time that a World Cup has been staged, the first in North America. It is not surprising that the previous eight winners, four male and four female, have all been Russians. This year's results were no different. Twenty-year-old Bogdan Makuts of Russia won the men's all-round championship with 58.60 points in the six events. Countryman Edward Asaryan, 22, placed second with a total score of 58.25. They were the only two Soviet Men competing in World Cup 80. Their female counterparts were just as successful. For the second time in a row the defending champion, Stella Zakharova emerged victorious with an overall score of 39.1 on the four women's events. PENETANG -- MIDLAND Gymnastics Corner se GYM CLUB Final Standings Male: ist. Bogdan Makuts-USSR; 2nd. Edward Asaryan-USSR; 3rd. Koji Gushiken-Japan; 4th Roland Brueckner-East Germany; 5th Yue Jiu Li-China; 6th Toshiomi Nishikii- Japan. Female: ist. Stella Zakharova- USSR: 2nd. Maxi Gnauck-East Germany; 3rd. Steffi Kraker-East Germany; 4th Jana Labackova- Czechoslovakia and Chris Grigoras- Romania; 5th Eva Mareckova- Czechoslovakia; 6th Radka Zennanova-Czechoslovakia Poor Attendance World Cup 80 was not without its _ share of problems. Only about 5,000 attended the men's performance on Friday evening. The women at- tracted about 10,000. Sunday's attendance was not much better. The poor attendance puts the Canadian Gymnastics Federation in a position where it appears that they are going to lose a bundle. The Competition costs approximately $600.000 to put on. According to ot- ficials it is unlikely that they will break even. ' I was very surprised at the poor attendance. I thought the Gardens would be packed. Early indications pointed to a sell-out crowd but un- fortunately this did not materialize. Set Backs Due to a shoulder injury Alexander Ditiation of the USSR was unable to attend World Cup 80. Presently he is considered to be the top male gymnast in the world. Ditiation scored the first perfect 10 in men's Olympic gymnastics history. Two of the top female gymnasts were unable to make it. Natalia Shaposhnikova of Russia was kept home to rest up for the upcoming tours of Europe while Nadia Comaneci of Romania was unable to attend. Her reason was never clearly stated. Canadian Performance (Females) Canada was represented by Sherry Hawko, Elfi Schlegal and Monica Goermann. In general, Canada's . performance was disappointing. Sixteen-year-old Sherry Hawko, from Cambridge, ran into difficulties on the floor. Although her dance was excellent she missed several tumbling moves that cost her valuable points. Elfi Schlegal, who fell during her uneven bar routine, dislocated a toe on her left foot and that killed any chance she had. This brings us to Monica Goermann of Winnipeg. She did extremely well considering that she was a last minute entry. With more practice time I am sure her performance would have improved greatly. It was obvious that when our best gymnasts were compared to those of Russia,. Romania or East Germany we did not stand a chance. Although we have made great gains in the last 10 years, it is plain to see that we still have some catching up to do. There is an old saying that applies here "We've only just begun". Gymnastic Calendar Saturday, Nov. 1, 1980--World Cup 80, Channel 9,13. Sunday, Nov. 2, 1980--World Cup 80, Channel 9, 13. Friday, October 31/ 1980; Page 23 penetrated MSS' end for now go on to the finals.