Soccer SHAMROCK HOLDS CITY TO HARD-FOUGHT DRAW

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28897, 18 May 1959, Page 13

Soccer SHAMROCK HOLDS CITY TO HARD-FOUGHT DRAW

The fourth round of matches in the Hurley Shield series was played in wintry conditions on Saturday. At English Park, Shamrock gained its first point by holding Christchurch City to a draw in a hard-fought game.

Other close matches resulted in wins for Technical Old Boys and Nomads, against Rangers and Atlantis. Western had little difficulty in accounting for Neer-landia-United at Elmwood Park.

Results:— Shamrock 1, Christchurch City 1. Technical Old Boys 3, Rangers 2. Nomads 2, Atlantis 0. Western 5, NeerlandiaUnited L Points in the Hurley Shield series (with the number of games played shown in parenthesis), are as follows: Christchurch City 7 (4), Western 6 (3), Nomads 6 (4); Rangers 4 (3), Technical Old Boys 4 (4), Shamrock 1 (3), Atlantis 0 (3). Neerlandia-United 0 (4).

NOMADS v. ATLANTIS Although having the better of the exchanges against Atlantis at Macfarlane Park, Nomads only held a slender lead of one goal for most of the game, eventually finishing the winner by 2 goals to 0. Set to face a cross-wind, Atlantis defended stubbornly against a lively Nomads attack and, continuing their recent improved form, went on the offensive themselves at intervals. Both goals had narrow escapes, but Nomads was itself to blame for not taking the leads, as the forwards had more chances than the visitors. After J. Cullen had gone dose with a header from a fine cross by J. Bouwhuis, J. Collins hit the cross bar for Atlantis with J. Joyner well beaten.

Nomads’ first goal came unexpectedly when D. Hillicker shot from well out into the top of the net. Atlantis changed ends with only one goal down, but, contrary- to expectations, Nomads played better against the wind and took a grip on the game which was never relaxed. Retaining possession and showing good teamwork, the side gradually over-ran a sorely tried Atlantis defence and was rewarded towards the end by a good goal by B. Lockhart. For Nomads B. Roskam, at right back, stood out with a sterling performance. and is a player to be noted. D. Simmonds, moving over to centre half, was in great form, but still found J. Collins, the Atlantis centre-forward, a rare handful. I. Toth, at right half, played a constructive game and rarely wasted a ball. He has a good understanding with his forwards. Of the Nomads front line, J. Cullen, at outside right, was the best, and with his opposite number. J. Bouwhuis, sent over a stream of centres which always looked dangerous. I. McCullum did not impress at inside forward, but B. Lockhart, at centre forward, showed plenty of dash and was always trying. Atlantis was well served in goal by J. Voogt, and of the full-backs A. Allardyce had a good first half, but found J. Cullen a rare handful in the second. The losers’ half-back fine got through a lot of hard work, but their service to their forwards was not good. The Atlantis forward line only occasionally functioned as a line, with R. McDonald and J. Collins proving the best. McDonald worked hard, both on attack and defence, and we have yet to see the best of this strong inside forward. J. Collins was again the danger man in the Atlantis attack, and some of his efforts deserved a better fate. J. Willis, at outside left, had his moments and went in search of the ball a lot better. A. the other winger, did not see a lot of the ball, and not enough use was made of his speed. The referee was Mr T. Dobson. WESTERN v. NFERLANDIA UNITED A depleted Western team played indifferent football at Elmwood Park to beat Neerlandia United 5-1 in a

scrappy match, marred by an unpleasant incident at the end. Western, with only R. Durant. J. Longmuir, K. OHey, and P. Saunderson playing from the regular team, called on its second-string players. All these young players tried hard, but combination, particularly between the halves and forwards, was lacking for the greater part of the match. Durant and I. Laby, the full-backs, proved a strong line of defence, and Laby, a very promising back, was not shaded by his more eminent partner. Both cleared the ball intelligently and well, but too often passed the ball back to the goalkeeper, a negative move. R. Richardson, at centre-half, proved adequate, if not inspiring, for most of the match, but it was a bad miss on his part which gave eNeerlandia its only goal.

I. Brownlie played an excellent game at right-half for Western, and scored a magnificent goal with a scorching shot from just inside halfway. In the forwards Saunderson, Longmuir, and Olley played as expected, and got plenty of ball into the centre-forward, T. Glass, who scored three goals by keeping well up. Neerlandia started the match with eight men, had nine after 20 minutes, and the tenth took the field after half an hour. Playing one short. Neerlandia concentrated on spoiling play, and J. Staviuk and R. van der Lely, the backs, showed good combination in playing the Western forwards off-side, so that the combined team was down only 1-0 at half-time. A quick goal after the interval made it 1-1. but Western came back hard to score four more goals. H Hoevers, in goal for Neerlandia, again showed his ability under pressure—he certainly gets plenty to do —and made some splendid saves. A young player, he seems destined for higher honours. G. Takak, at left-half, played a powerful game, showing very solid defence. He was involved in a most unpleasant incident at the end of the game. Olley was coming towards goal with the ball, and Tabak tackled him hard. Both men went down, but Olley quickly regained his feet and appeared to attempt to strike Tabak, who was lying, apparently hurt, on the ground. The referee, Mr A. W. O. Kerr, intervened and snoke to Olley, who went away with the Western players. Tabak was carried from the field by his team-mates, and the game ended a minute later on a very sour note, with feelings high In both teams. Goals for Western were scored by T. Glass (3). I. Brownlie, and P. Saunderson. Neerlandia-United’s goal was scored by W. Barendregt, the centre-forward. CHRISTCHURCH CITY V. SHAMROCK City was hard pressed to hold Shamrock to a draw in a keenlyfought match at English Park. Shamrock had three players away with the representative team, but good replacements were found and City was forced on the defensive for most of the first spell. In the second half the City combination improved, but the Shamrock defence held firm. The game was played at a fast pace, but close marking by both sides gave the forwards few chances to work close. There were many near misses, however, and City was particularly unlucky with several shots that either hit the posts or were well saved by the Shamrock goalkeeper in the closing stages of play. In goal for Shamrock, W. Morris proved an excellent substitute for J. Callaghan. He made many fine saves, and his only weakness was a lack of power in his clearances. P. Flynn was in good form at centrehalf. and he gave the speedy City centre forward, J. Quickenden, few chances. Flynn was ably supported by his full-backs, with N. Morisini covering up well. Both the wing halves, J. Campion and P. Fletcher, played well. Fletcher was often prominent on attack, and he put through some excellent passes to his winger. J. Killick. Killick looked the most formidable of the Shamrock forwards, and his strong centring kicks often had the City backs defending desperately. Although starting the game well, the Shamrock forwards lost touch later in the match in spite of some fine individual play by the inside left. J. Price, and the centreforward. P. Gatcum.

G. Richards, in goal for City, made some good saves, but did not appear as sound as in previous matches. o f ten fumbling when under pressure. The best of the Citv defenders were the ri?ht back. R Labv, and the centre-half, M. Wild. Wild made many fine clearances, and his long passes often turned defence into attack. The City midfield players were unimpressive in the first spell, but improved as the game progressed. The right half. T. Clackson, and the inside left. E. Bennett, showed up with some neat constructive play, but their passes were often intercepted by the swift Shamrock defence. As a combined attackin® unit, the Citv forwards were disappointing. The outside right. A. Trotter, and the centre-forward. J Quickenden, tried hard but could •naVo little progress against the close marking of the Shamrock backs. At ntitside left.. B. Sayers, substituting for the absent O. Worthington plaved hard and crossed the ball well. •

Shamrock attacked from the kickoff. and before the City defence had settled down, scored an excellent goal. Fletcher passed to Killick. who made a break and centred from

the goal-line. Gatcum moved in fast and headed into the net from right in front. Shamrock kept up the attack, but City made a break down the centre and, when Morris punched the ball clear, Quickenden secured to score with a low drive to the corner of the net. Shamrock held the territorial advantage for the remainder of the first half, but was well held by an improved City defence. The half-time score of one goal each was not increased in the second spell, notwithstanding some determined efforts by the City forwards. Quickenden was unlucky with two shots that hit the posts, and Wild came near to scoring with a 40-yard drive, which rattled the cross-bar. The referee was Mr L. Tointon.

TECHNICAL V. RANGERS At Burwood Park Technical Old Boys beat Rangers in a game full of incidents and thrills, by 3 goals to 2. The first half was evenly divided between the two teams, but in the second half Technical was continually--bn the attack. Technical was trying to play bright open football, and with the defence playing well M. Dean was most unfortunately injured, leaving the Technical side with one man short. This did not deter the team from oppressing the Rangers attack. V. Smith and K. Hendy played at their best. It was only in the last few minutes of the first half that the pace began to tell and allowed Rangers to score two quick goals. In the forwards, W. Shannon, R. Van Dalsun, and I. Drewitt formed an impressive trio, and gave Rangers a most trying time on defence. Determination and grand play by all the Technical players paved the way for the win For Rangers, E. Brown, deputising for the regular goalkeeper, played a magnificent game to keep the score down to three. R. Cassie was the best of the full-backs, his partner, A. Roberts, being continually caught out of position. In the half line A Hinchley, at centrehalf, did a grand job stopping Technical attacks. A. Laird at left half was the most constructive player in the Rangers’ side, trying continually to keep his forwards well supplied with well-directed passes. In the forwards, P. Cole and T. Ryan were the most impressive, with Ryan trying to pierce the Technical defence at every opportunity. He thoroughly deserved the two goals scored just before half-time. The wingers, P. Nota and J. Hinchley, were not so impressive, and lost possession time and again. They found their opposite markers too much' to cope with. Technical was the first to score when R- Van Dalsun, taking a free kick, scored with a powerful drive which struck both uprights before finally going into the net. Rangers came near to scoring on numerous occasions, but the Technical defence held even though Dean had to go off injured. Both teams had their chances, but it was Technical who scored the second goal when from a speculator by Van Dalsun, Shannon was on hand to score. However, Rangers, not to be denied, camewitn a rush, and T. Ryan scored a grand goal after Cole made the opening. Ryan again in the space of a few minutes found the back of the net when V Smith was caught out of position. Half-time came with both sides even at two goals each. Technical had all the game in the second spell with Rangers defending desperately, and E. Brown saving from all angles. It was only in the last quarter that Technical managed to score the winning goal, when Drewitt, at centre forward, completely beat his marker and gave the goalkeeper no chance with a grand directed shot. Technical, keeping up the pressure, was unable to score again, and the full-time whistle sounded giving Technical a well deserved win. The referee was Mr F. Mallins.