Soccer Western Loses, 4-0 In Semi-final

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29869, 9 July 1962, Page 15

Soccer Western Loses, 4-0 In Semi-final

Northern, of Dunedin, was untroubled to beat the champion Christchurch club soccer side. Western, 4-0, at English Park on Saturday. The occasion was the first of the Ijome-and-away series of matches in a semifinal of the national Rothmans competition. 1 he second leg will be plaved in Dunedin on Julv 21.

There was no doubt as to the superiority of the visiting s de. Northern presented a well -organised defence and a speedy and enterprising forward line. Western’s young team, which had exceeded the expectations of its supporters by even reaching this stage of the competition, was not d.sgiaced m losing to such a formidable opponent. In the seor.d match in Dunedin. Western will probably find the four-goal deficit too much of a hurdle.

It was scrappy football, w.th little to enthuse about in the way of good combined moves. Passing, especially on Western’s side, was well below the standard expected, and the home team’s forwards never looked likely to gain the better of the Northern defence The teams were:—

Northern: J Stephenson; A Young, T McFarlane; J. Rae, J Ferguson, J Little: W Berry, D McVey, G. Little. R K.ngsland, P. Little. Berry was replaced during the first spell by R. Little Western: D Smith; D Glass, I Laby; J. Young, K Clarke. P. Frost; A Bishop. T Haydon, M. Clements, D Torking’on. B Newsome. Both teams took time to settle down, with Western doing the better in the early stages Constructive midfield play was non-existent The Northern forwards found some combination mid-way through this spell, but it was not until after half-time that Northern really moved into top gear. Inexperience

Western’s comparative inexperience showed in the incident which gave Northern its second goal Northern took a free kick just outside the penalty area, and the ball bounced forward off Smith Western’s players, expecting a whistle for a Northern off side, stood and watched the ball, while four Northern men moved through and Kingsland tapped the ball into the net.

If any one man could be said to have dominated this match, it was surely the lanky Northern centre-half and captain, Ferguson. Cool

and unruffled, he was capable of dealing with everything that came his way Clements and Haydon found him unpassable, and his clearing kicks invariably found their man Thanks to his grand display. Western's forwards managed not one solid shot at goal during this match.

Stephenson, although never appearing fully confident, was capable of dealing with the few shots which reached him Young and McFarlane covered each other well, and Rae, at right-half, was always a danger on attack. Ability on cover-defence was a telling feature in Northern’s play. Allied to the Western propensity for wasting passes, this checked scoring moves. G. Little and the replacement, R Little, were the most dangerous of the visiting forwards. The youngest of four brothers in the Northern side. R Little showed all the dash and determination which characterises this family of fine footballers In the centre G Little was always a danger, and made one perfect cross from the right which brought Kingsland his second goal. Laby was always trying for Western, but the only defender who came through with his reputation untarnished was the centre-half. Clarke Frost gave McVey far too much room in the second spell In the forwards, only Torkington had a satisfactory match Haydon could make little progress and, as a result, Clements bad few chances. Goals for Northern were scored by Kingsland (two), P Little and McVey.

Mr J Nichol (Nelson) was the referee.