Individual defends James, maybe, describing a legitimate goal? (6)
I believe the answer is:
onside
'maybe describing a legitimate goal?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'individual defends james' is the wordplay.
'individual' becomes 'one'.
'defends' indicates putting letters inside.
'james' becomes 'sid' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'one' placed around 'sid' is 'ONSIDE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for onside that I've seen before include "not breaking rules" , "In position to play" , "In OK position to achieve goal" , "is in state to continue playing" , "Legally positioned in game" .)