SOCCER Hurley Shield First Round Matches

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29177, 11 April 1960, Page 20

SOCCER Hurley Shield First Round Matches

The first round of the Hurley Shield soccer competition was played in ideal conditions on Saturday. The leading teams of last year had fairly easy wins.

Western beat Rangers and City had a convincing win over Atlantic. Nomads played good attacking football to beat Tech-

nical. The two teams promoted to first division, High School Old Boys and University, went down to Shamrock and Neerlandia. Results: Christchurch City 6, Atlantis 1. Nomads 4, Technical 1. Neerlandia United 2, University Shamrock 8, High School Old Boys 0. Western 3, Rangers 0. TKCHNICAL OLD BOYS V. NOMADS Technical Old Boya were well beaten by Nomads in the main Hurley Shield fixture at English Park. The final score of 4-1 was a fair Indication of play. The Nomads forwards provided a feast of good attacking football, especially In the first half. The main weakness In the Technical team was the defence. Continuously forcing the opposition into error, the Nomads forwards made few mistakes, scoring four goals before half-time. The Technical forwards rarely looked formidable and spoiled many scoring chances by lack of combination and weak shots. The Nomads goal-keeper, W. Adam, made some good Saves but was Seldom under pressure. The full-backs, J. Cullen and I. Graham, were reliable defenders. Dominating mid-field play were the Nomads half-backs. D. Stapely. D. Simmonds and E. Toth. Toth moved to the ball very quickly and used it to set his forwards into attack. A. Van Rooyen was a tower of strength at centre-forward, giving the Technical defence plenty of anxious moments. The Inside forwards, D. Hlllicker and P. Rennell. played well. Rennell showed tremendous power in his shots at goal. The two wings, I. McCallum and J. Bowhuls were fast and had good ball control. McCallum Impressed with his centre and corner kicks. K. Flintham had a torrid time in goal for Technical. Although he conceded four goals, his performance was not without merit. The Technical full-backs, K. Rasmusen and L. Naggi, defended stoutly but found the clever footwork and accurate passing of the Nomad forwards a little unsettling. The centre-half, K. Hendy, played well but found Van Rooyen too experienced. The halves, C. Spinks and W. Shannon, combined well with the forwards, and proved a useful cover defence against the Nomads attacks. The best fetaure of the Technical attack was the playing of the Inside right, A. Verham and the right wing, A. Chee. Both showed speed and combination to score Technical’s only goal. The centre-forward, M. Jones, played a solid game, but was well marked by his opposing centre-half, D. Simmonds. The left-wing attack played well at times, but could not penetrate Nomads* defence. Nomads scored first after 10 minutes. The outside left, Bowhuis, sent a good cross kick into the goal-mouth where McCallum was waiting. McCallum’s shot was a good one. giving the goal-keeper no chance. Nomads ’scored its second goal five minutes later when Van Rooyen headed In a corner kick ■ from McCallum. Bowhuis made the third goal for Nomads when he kicked to Van Rooyen who headed in. P. Rennell sent in a cannon-ball drive from 30 yards out to score Nomads' fourth goal. The half-time score was Nomads 4, Technical Old Boys 0. The second half produced mediocre football. The Technical team settled dowrt but the forwards were rarely formidable. The only goal in the second half was scored by the Technical inside forward A. Berham. Chee made a good break down the right wing and passed to Verham who sent a wellplaced shot past Adam. Technical maintained the attack in the closing stages but failed to add to its score. The referee was Mr R. Cullen. CHRISTCHURCH CITY V. ATLANTIS Christchurch City beat Atlantis 6-1 in the early game at English Park. The City team displayed good combination and used the ball well to score five goals in the first half. The Atlantis players were clever Individually, but they lacked combination. Atlantis was unlucky on many occasions not to score. B. Salt, the Atlantis goal-keeper, was a little unsure of himself in the first half, conceding five goals. He gave a much improved display in the second half, his handling and clearing kicks being considerably safer. The full-backs, R. Brown and J. Cole, were overwhelmed by the City attack in the first half, but- they played better in the second spell. The Atlantis half-backs. W.. Brown, J. Heggerty and J. McGrath, were hot spectacular, but covered well, especially in the second half. The inside attacking trio of J. Adams, W. Ferris and P. Saunderson lust missed scoring several times. Saunderson, at Inside left, played a sound game. His anticipation and passing were very good and he always looked formidable in the City half. The two wings, A. Condie and J. Whillis, failed to combine with the Inside forwards. I. Hunter, in goal for City, was very impressive, his handling and clearing kicks being of a high standard. R. Laby ana T. Lynch, who filled the full-back positions, fed the forwards with long clearing kicks. The City half-backs, R. Herbert, M. Wild and T. Clarkson dominated the mid-field play, proving their worth on defence and attack. Clarkson was stopped from scoring only by an excellent save by Salt early in the first half. The City forwards were always potential goal scorers. They combined well with accurate passing and used intelligent footwork to force the defenders out of position. E. Bennett and N. Keeman kept the opposition on the defensive with powerful shots at goal. A newcomer to first division football, B. Sayers, played a very good game. His centring kicks and passes were powerful and accurate. D. Worthington played his usual reliable game. _ , City attacked from the kick-off. The Atlantis defence. held until Worthington received a’ pass from Bennett and scored easily. A minute . later a scramble occurred in the . Atlantis goal-mouth and Bennett , scored. Four minutes later Keeman , scored the third goal for City. Two ' more goals were scored by City before half-time. Keeman drew the goal-keeper out and lofted a fine shot over his head to score his second goal. Bennett headed a pass into the net on half-time to make the score 5-0 in City’s favour. ' The second half was more evenly ; contested. The Atlantis defenders : gave the forwards a better service, tut they missed many chances through inaccurate shooting. It was late in the second half before there was any further score. Worthington made a grand solo run down the wing and centred to Keeman, who pushed the ball past Salt to acore lis third goal. Atlantia made a determined attack ’ two minutes before time. Whillis ■ sent a good cross to '-Ferris who gave the goal-keeper, Hunter, no ' chance. ' The referee was Mr C. Anderson. Western’s Clear-cut Win Western ended its opening game of the season at Elmwood Park against Rangers, with a clear-cut 3-0 win, and gave indications that when it settles down it will put up a good campaign in defence of the Hurley Shield. Although there was little to choose between the two teams In the opening half. Western had a decided territorial and incisive advantage in the second spell and a measure of its superiority at this stage could be gauged from the busy time given to E. Brown in the Rangers goal compared with the almost watching brief held at tha ether end by D. Smith for Western. Whereas Western [improved as the game progressed, I Rangers became mere and more innocuous, a factor partly contributed ho, it waa auepeeted, by a lack et

l full fitness in some of its players. In a somewhat ragged first half, I when the defences were well on top as the forwards strove to find their ' touch in combination, J. Adam was I a tower of strength for Rangers and [ kept the midfield road to goal well , sealed. He was not quite so effective later, but nevertheless stood out in a defence which did not give up even when the going got tougher. R. Pearson was a hard-working right-half who, by contrast, was more and more in evidence as the game ’ progressed. The outstanding player of the losers’ defence was undoubtedly Brown in goal, who could scarcely be faulted for any of the three short that beat him, and who handled his large share of work cleanly and confidently. But for him, western : might have had a rather more , flattering final result. Midway through the goal less first half, Rangers began, to show the better soccer as the inside men, P. : Cole and G. Gill, used the long cross pass to good effect. Better finishing could have put Rangers in the lead at this stage, but the centre-forward, J. Sampson, was too slow and generally was well held by A. Laffey, who was a cool general of Western's rearguard. The winners had two hard-working wing halves, S. Furlonger and W. Rodger, the latter turning in a particularly good performance. Furlonger drew attention with his long throws-in, which were as good as a corner kick when be waa near the opposition penalty area. The forwards tended to bunch too much in the first spell, but later, well backed by their wing halves, found their touch and produced some sustained attacks which had the Rangers’ defence wilting. C. Whitehead, in the centre, was energetic, if somewhat impetuous, and took two good goals. Alongside him a little Chinese newcomer, Hing Y Sue, showed some neat touches and might well have put Western ahead in the first half, K. Olley was very industrious and linked well with his half-back, Rodgers, in starting many attacks. The Western wingers, A. Bishop on the right and B. Newsome, who had to leave the field about 10 minutes from the end with a foot injury, proved formidable once they had found the measure of the opposing full-backs, and put across some fine centres. Newsome slso tested .Brown with some good shots. Twenty minutes after the resumption, Whitehead took a ground pass from the left wing, turned, and from 12 yards shot high into the left-hand side of the goal, giving Brown no chance to save, to give Western a deserved lead. Soon after, Rodgers, over prompting his forwards, was up to head for goal after a melee. A defender handled with Brown out of position and Rodgers made nd mistake from the penalty kick. The third goal went to Whitehead who was on the spot to drive the ball into an unguarded net after a cross from Bishop had been punched away by Brown off the head of Newsome. The referee was Mr A. L. Gray. NEERLANDIA UNITED V. UNIVERSITY Fast, open football was the main feature of the game at Linwood Park, where Neerlandia just beat University by 2 goals to 1. The ball was In the air too much for constructive football, both teams being guilty in this respect, , . Play opened With both goalkeepers soon in action, but the short were mostly from long range. Neeriandta’a forwards were lively, but found S. Seevaratnam, at centre half, playing the third back game to perfection, while University’s full-backs gave him valuable Support. It was nearly half-time before a goal was scored and the movement came from the Neerlandia centre forward, J. Kemp, who shot from close range, only to see L. Duckworth save brilliantly. He was only able, however, to parry the ball to J. Herp, who had no difficulty in scoring. Neerlandia was on top * early in the second half, and it seemed only a matter of time before the side added to its tally. University's goal had some narrow escapes: H. Van Scholten hit the underneath of the crossbar, and W. Thompson found the net only to find the referee had given offside. University never gave up trying, but rather against the run of play drew level when D. Brunton, the outside right, scored an opportunist goal. Neerlandia waa obviously rattled by this change of fortunes, but just when it seemed a draw would be inevitable, J. Kemp, who had had rather a lean time against Seevaratnam. scored the winning goal. . For Neerlandia, H. 'Hoevers was sate in goal. P. Roscam was the b * ek «> although he had the better wing to mark. W. Joung showed promise at right half. ha u * te , n “*P c y to screw the ball when clearing. W. Thompson Played a good game at outside right, snowing good ball control and linking intelligently with his partner. H. Van Scholten was a penetrating inside forward, but his through passes were sometimes a little too strong, finding his opponents Instead of his colleagues. J. Kemp tried hard at e ? forward, and with his speed should be persevered with, but he must have the ball on the ground. University was well served by its d . e f e " ce > with L. Duckworth outI! goal. He had no chance with the two shots that beat him. A new, but obviously experienced player In A. Ross played a solid game at left back. But at the moment Is a little slow on the turn, and obviously found W. Thompson’s S ? e . et L a u M! 110 disc oncerting. Dj Lee; at left half, was the duly weak link m a line in which S. Seevaratnam was a tower of strength at centre. D. Brunton, at outside right, stood out in a disjointed University attack, which was weak in its finishOommen was outclassed on the left wing, and A. Newman, his Sl i ff ! i . red by 11,8 insbiUty to “01 d the ball and make use of it W. Mlddleberg tried hard at cenc - Davidson will be yaluable to his side when he more room to move the ball. The referee was Mr J. Davidson. SHAMROCK V. OLD BOYS Domain Shamrock easily beat the youthful and inexra e W h hooi Old Boys by ™ an^ o S’ C ’«u a . mor * experienced ?? better of the game throughout. J Callaghan, in goal, was seldom called on to make anv serious saves. H. Verdellen, a newcomer at left back, had quite a useful debut, and with P. Fletcher at right back, and T. Neale, who re- I placed Fletcher midway through the first spell after an ankle injury, had i no difficulty in steming the Old Bovs I forwards. P. Barrett, at right half, showed that he will be able to put i some fire into the defence and at- : tack. H. Taylor, at left half, was not up to the standard he showed i last year when he gained represen- i tative honours. He appeared to lack training, and was sfuggrth on debut his direction of hrt y—— jeft something to be desrted. X®** Pl*y e d a gsand game and fully deserved the three goals he scored. It is s pity thst Yates has to fill this position: as an inside forward his enthusiasm and constructive play would be mpre pronounced. At inside left J. Price worked hard, and his just reward was the scoring of two goals. N. Donnelly, on the left wing, was not impressive, his crosses and penetration being weak. E'er Old Boys the goalkeeper, D. Chapman, played a sterling game, and with a little more experience should be first-class. The full-backs. P. Dow at right back and I. McAlptne at Ijft back, had a difficult any team to pass. R. Lowes, st right half was the best of the wing halvee. Hlo paaase, wall directed

time and again set his forwards In motion. At centre half, D. Hicks had a trying time with the Shamrock centre forward, Yates, and with a itttle more understanding with his full-backs could prove a useful ’layer.. F. Dennis, on the right wing, lacks the necessary experience, as a ■ the ° d Boys forwards do, but with a few more games players such as J S. McNaught at inside right and B. Masters at centre forward, will improve. W. Pugh, at inside left, and P. Benson, on the left wing, hardly combined well all through the game, and a better understanding is necessary with their wing half. •

After nearly half-way through the first spell Shamrock opened the scoring, when after a fine passing move, ment Yates heeled the ball for Price to score. Yates was th* next to score when he headed in from a melee in front of goal. The halfBo* e o C ° r * Wa * Shamrock g. Old . “ WBB . Shamrock in the second Shamrock scored again when Klllick m*J** ■ flwh down the right wing pd Ids well-directed cross found Yates l la position to tap the ban into the net. After a period of Indecisive play Fates scored again, this time from a shat by J. Price, which rebounded off the erossfbar. J. Price added the fifth goal when he outsped the tired defence. Klllick, on the right wing, scored the best goal of the same when tn a solo run he weaved his way past three defenders and shot a grand right foot drive to the corner which gave goalkeeper Chapma* no chance. The referee waa Mr L. Tolnton.