Western Has First Defeat For Season

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28981, 24 August 1959, Page 8

Western Has First Defeat For Season

Western suffered ita first defeat of the season in local matches, when Christchurch City scored a well • earned 4-1 win at English Park on Saturday. Although Western was not at full strength for this Hurley Shield match. City's win was impressive being the result of a concerted team effort In the early match at English Park Shamrock beat Technical Old Boys in a patchy game. At Macfarlane Park NeerlandiaUnited played well to draw a hard-fought match against Nomads. Results:— Hurley Shield: Christchurch City 4, Western L Shamrock 3, Technical Old Boys 1. Neerlandia * United 3, Nomads 3. ■ . Points in the Hurley Shield series (with the number of games played shown in parentheses) are:— Christchurch City 20 (14), Western 18 (10), Nomads 18 (12). Shamrock 17 (14), Rangers 12 (14), Technical Old Boys 10 (13), Atlantis 5 (14), Neerlandia-United 4 (13). Christchurch City, Shamrock. Rangers and Atlantis have now completed all their shield matches. Western has yet to play Nomads (twice). Technical Old Boys and Neerlandia-United to complete the competition. WESTERN v. CHRISTCHURCH CITY Sound teamwork, solid defence and a determined attack combined to give Christchurch a well-deserved 4-1 win over Western. Previously unbeaten in local matches this season. Western was not at full strength for this match, with H Langley, K. Olley and C. Steele injured. Good replacements were found, however, and even had Western's top players been available it is doubtful if their presence would have affected the result. Against a clever and fast inside trio of City forwards, the Western defence did not appear as sound as usual. B. Sharpe, the Western goalkeeper. made some good saves but lacked confidence when under pressure. At right full-back. R. Durant played excellently, but the centrehalf, A. Laffey, and the left-back, M. Shardlaw, wore often bustled into errors, although they tightened their defence considerably in the later stages. At right-half, J. Longmutr worked hard and made every effort to set the forwards moving. The Western forward line was an unhappy combination and a reshuffle of positions at half-time failed to produce any noticeable improvement. Determined efforts in the closing stages brought one goal and several near misses. The experienced players, P. Saundetson. C. Whitehead and P. Feenstra were seldom seen to advantage, being well marked by the tigerish City defence. I. Hunter played a fine game in goal for City, and cleared the ball powerfully. The centre-half. M. Wild, and the left-back, T. Lynch, were outstanding on defence with good support from the right-back. R. Laby. The wing halves. T. Clackson and R. Herbert, worked solidly in midfield play, linking up weu with the forwards. Most of City's attacking moves were made down the centre where the inside forwards, E. Bennett. P. O’Toole and A. Zielberger, formed a powerful combination. The wings, D. Worthington and A. Trotter, saw little of the ball but always looked formidable in possession. Worthington scored first from a penalty after five minutes’ play. Sharpe stopped the first shot, but Worthington secured the rebound to score easily. Clackson began the next goal-scoring move and the ball passed through Worthington and O'Toole to Bennett, who made no mistake with a low shot close in. O'Toole increased City's lead when he collected a long pass down the centre from Wild, and scored with a powerful high drive. At half-time City led 3-0. In the first minute of the second spell Bennett put a long, swerving pass - through to O'Toole who beat Sharpe with a powerful left-foot shot Western's only goal eame halfway through the spell when, in a concerted attack, the ball moved from Feenstra through Saunderson to the left-half. W. Rodger, who split the defence to score close in. Mr C. Anderson was referee. TECHNICAL OLD BOYS v. SHAMROCK Shamrock beat Technical Old Boys in an uninspiring curtain-raiser at English Park. Scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes of play. Shamrock seemed set for a big win. but an improved Technical defence stopped any further goal scoring movements. Technical scored early in the second spell and. had its forward line functioned more smoothly, could at least have drawn the match. The only Technical forward who made much progress was the out-side-left, w. Shannon, who had the ability to penetrate the defence, but too often delayed his passes. Playing at inside-right, C. Spinks was a little slow, but passed accurately and tested the Shamrock goal-keeper, J. Callaghan. with*some

strong shota late in the match. The centre-foi ward, A Chee, played energetically. but was well marked and had few chances. After an absence of two or three seasons, E. Fuller made a welcome return to senior soccer and played a solid game at right-half. At lefthalf. K. Bendy covered a lot of ground, but his passing lacked Its usual accuracy. V. Smith defended well at centrehalf. with the full-backs, W. Charlton and I. Drewltt, improving as the game progressed. The goalkeeper, K. Flintham, made some fine saves, but frequently cleared the ball carelessly. The Shamrock forward line was impressive in the first half, but had to contend with a more determined defence in the second spell. On the left flank, the combination of J. Price and J. Rea, often split the defence and the right wing, J. Killick. made the most of his chances. In midfield play the wing halves, P. Fletcher and H. Taylor, worked hard and passed accurately. J. Campion defended strongly at centrehalf, but the play of the full-backs. H Verdellen and N. Morisini was inconsistent. J. Callaghan played well in goal, and, apart from one error, handled the ball cleanly. ■ In the first minute of play Shamrock was awarded a, free kick. Many Technical players, thinking the kick was theirs, stood clear and Killick passed to Rea, who scored unopposed A few minutes later Price beat Flintham with a long, swerving shot, to give Shamrock a 2-0 lead. Killick scored minutes later with a good shot, after a weak clearance by the Technical defence. At half-time Shamrock led 3-0. Technical scored the only goal tn the second spell when, after 12 minutes’ play, Spinks put in a long, high shot which Callaghan failed to take cleanly. Both sides bad many chances, but weak shooting and good goal-keeping prevented any further score. Mr R. W. Cullen was referee. NEERLANDIA-UNITED v. NOMADS In a rough game, marred by questionable tactics and aggravated by weak handling. Nomads were lucky to draw with NeerlandiaUnited at Macfarlane Park. The score was 3-3. Neerlandia adopted the right tactics from the start, playing to a set pattern with the long ball down the middle This, with the speed of their two wings, rattled the Nomads defence. and they were never really able to cope with the attack throughout the game . Play opened with Neerlandia on the offensive and Neerlandia was a goal up in a few minutes when R. Van Scholten hit a 30-yard drive into the top of the net. The second goal was not long in coming when Neerlandia. keeping up the pressure, sent J, Kemp away on the left wing. He controlled an awkward ball well enough to push it past J. Goyner. Nomads endeavoured to tighten their wobbly defence. but Neerlandia were still on top and were rather unlucky not to increase their tally. Nomads reduced their deficit when I. McCullum scrambled the ball in from a goal mouth melee. Neerlandia. undeterred by this set-back, were still playing the better football and regained their two-goal lead when M. Campfens dribbled the ball away on the left wing and then pulled the ball back to the head of van Scholten, who headed into an empty goal. The home side again reduced the lead near half-time when J. Bouwhuis scored from close in. The second spell was spoilt by rough play, some players playing the man instead Of the ball. Neerlandia was unable to score in this half and five minutes from time Nomads saved the game when J. Bouwhius evened the scores with a well-taken goal. For Neerlandia. H. Hoevers played a sound game in goal and P. Van Hout had one of his best games at left-back K. Orsouw, at centre-half, was a tower of strength, and played P. Kay out of the game. J. Van Hout, the right wing, was playing well until he was injured and replaced by G. Proost. who was a capable substitute. R. Van Scholten, at inside-rieht, was the best forward on the field, and was given valuable support by M. Camfens at centre-forward. For Nomads, whose defence had a bad day. J. Joynes was uncertain in goal, and was not helped by the loose marking of some of the defenders. F. Burridge. at left-back, was weak, and played like a player with no confidence. I. Graham his partner, fortunately was the best defender on view and played a great game on cover defence. The Nomads forward line did not click until near the end. D. Ennis, at inside-left, covered a lot of ground without achieving anything. P. Kay was cancelled out at centre-forward, and Van Rooyen. at inside-right, suffered by the inability of I. McCullum to beat his’ marker and get the ball across. G. Bouwhius, left wing, was the best of the forwards. The referee was Mr T. Walker.

Results In Other Centres ,

Auckland.—Championship: Mount Albert 3. Mount Roskill 2. Falcon Cup: Onehunga 2. Suburbs 0; Ellerslie 3. Point Chevalier 1. Manawatu.—Wanganui 3, Manawatu 0.

Tarsnaki.—City 2, Stratford i; Moturoa beat Opunake by default. Wanganui.—Marist 5, Athletic 2: Rangebrooke 4. Ref man 2: Settlers 4. Queen's Own 1. Wellington.—Chatham Cup: Northern X North Shore 2. Auld Cup semifinal: Stop Out 2, Railways 1. Senior B: Marist 3. Western Suburbs 0. Dunedin.—Roslyn-Waikari 3, Mmgiel 1; Technical Old Boys 3, Continental 0; Green Island 8, Maori Hill 0. «