SOCCER Canterbury And Otago Draw In Jones Cup

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29235, 20 June 1960, Page 15

SOCCER Canterbury And Otago Draw In Jones Cup

An equalising goal in the last minute of play by the evergreen E. Cto-lton robbed Otago of victory in the Jones Cup match at English Park on Saturday. This was tee first of the season’s homeimtaway games between the provinces, and the final score of two goals each leaves the result of tee return game at Dunedin on July 2 hard to predict A crowd of about 2300 watched i natch marked by brilliance and faults by both sides. The game wm dominated in the first half by tee Canterbury forwards, but the fanner New Zealand goalktaper, J. Stephenson, made tpaetecular saves. In the second hrif Otego held a definite terrigame was the tategtaent play of borahalf lines, led joined his right-half in pMgtag the attacking wing half Ptee. B was loss of po*re**ion in many O«fo moves that gave the home tenords the superiority in the • wsteges of the match. merbury*s captain, W. Rodger, Ms defence in an astute manner ’ h accurate peases, clever ben e tori. and some One solo runs to • I tee- antra -tote . lm-Ihe -dbrwato i l T. Lynch and I. Graham were n aide full-backs but were not as ete under consistent pressure in the latter stages. D. Chapman played eg his first senior representative POM without any major errors, u. Simmonds was more Impressive than H. Taylor in the halves. His height and head wen used to good advantage when clearing. D. Worthington lacked the speed to make him a formidable wing, but his ban control and shots at sod stere of a high standard. A. Vettam was more reliable on the nght wing than he was at centreforwtrd against Wellington recently. Hh combination with his inside player. T. Haydon, led to many Potential scoring movements, one of which was successful. D. Anderson Showed an abundance of speed in bls first representative game in New’ Zealand and combined this with clever ball control. A lastminute goal by the centre forward. Charlton, rounded off a fine game for ■ this clever exponent of the Otego's full-backs, J. Middelton and K. Watkins, were reliable and passed a solid first half without blemish. The centre-half, J. Ferguton, was a worthy pivot, but had a busy 10 minutes marking Charlton. The right-half, D. Downie. and the right wing. N. Cunningham, ahowod good combination and Used ware a wen-drilled inside trio, re-, qutrtog expert marking by the Canterbury defence. P.Littie was a useful outside left, but was left little room in which to move by the right-half. W. Itodger.

Canterbury went Into Otago territory- from toe kick off and attacked solidly for the first 10 minutes. Shots at goal by Worthtagton and Charlton went over the posts, and a drive by Haydon from 35 yards out bounced dear from the upright. Except for isolated attacks by the Otago forwards Canterbury had .the game well in Ito control, but the half-time whistle sounded with no score on the board. The second half opened with a determined onslaught by Otago which resulted in a comer. Canterbury cleared, and Anderson gained possession and made a fine solo run downfield and tested Stephenson with a good shot. Verham opened the scoring for Canterbury after a fine solo run. He beat two defenders. drew the goalkeeper, and put the ball into the net with a wellangled ground shot. Canterbury 1, Otego nil. Three comers in rapid succession failed to add to Canterbury's score, and McVey equalised for Otago soon after, when he sent a "floater" over Chapman’s head. Canterbury 1, Otago 1. Otago found the home teun’s defence out of position eight minutes later and scored a further goal. Cunningham outsped the defence in his race down the wing, gathered in the ball and centred a lovely cross kick onto the boot of Flaws, who made no mistake. Otego 2, Canterbury 1. _• Canterburr ■ aoualistafl aoal came fmLa TBtagd’a most outstanding player, Stephenson. He moved out of his goal to pick up and clear, but it slipped from his grasp on to the boot of Charlton, who sent it to the back of the net. The Anal score was: Otago X Canterbury X The referee was Mr J. Sheffield.