City Now Undisputed Soccer Leader

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30740, 3 May 1965, Page 11

City Now Undisputed Soccer Leader

Christchurch City is now undisputed leader of the Hurley Shield soccer competition and Shamrock has climbed off the bottom rung of the ladder for the first time. These were the significant outcomes of the fourth round matches on Saturday. City won the match of the previously unbeaten when it defeated Western, 7-3, and stands supreme at the top with eight points from four games, and a goals record of 28 for, four against.

In the battle at the other end, Shamrock narrowly beat Rangers 2*l, and Rangers slipped to the bottom. In this match, the Shamrock player. J. Logue, was sent off the field three minutes from the end. High School Old Boys lost their third successive match, going down to Nomads, while Technical Old Boys and New Brighton shared two goals and two points. Results:— City T, Western 3. Brighton 1, Technical 1. Nomads 2, H. 5.0.8. 0. Shamrock 2, Rangers 1.

Striding Forward Like the conquering hero of the storybook, Christchurch City is striding forward, thrusting aside all opposition, if not contempetuously, at least by margins that suggest it. Western joined the defeated after the main game at English Park, and even so early in the season the Hurley shield seems destined to stay in City’s grasp for another season. There was a time on Saturday when it looked possible for City’s colours to be lowered for the first time in a long while. From 0-3 and 1-4 Western dragged itself up from a hopeless position to be 3-4 with only 20 minutes remaining. But the extra effort needed to batter down City's strong defensive barrier was beyond Western's resources, and it was City which surged through to final victory with three more goals in 11 minutes. This Is the strength of Ctiy. Its defence may totter but it does not crumble; its forwards may be bogged down but they cannot be subdued. The team needs only a breathing space to regain control of Itself, and when in full flight takes every chance and half-chance that comes Its way. Of the four goals scored by the centre-forward, D. Watson, three were snapped up wthin six yards of goal; the two scored by K. Pahl were the result of swift following up after shots had rebounded off the bar. The two clear-cut goals were Watson’s header from F. Madrussen’s accurate corner kick, and A. Gowans’s fierce drive from 20 yards out that was a goal from the moment the ball left his foot. Western had the men to fetch and carry, but only C. Martin, on the right-wing, consistently to try to finish off this work. He did not score, but he was the only forward to threaten he might for the whole 90 minutes. Western’s goals came from a penalty by D. Torklngton and a neat deflection and a fullbodied drive by D. Bussey, but although the forwards could worry the City defence they did not seem able to do more than chip at its foundations. City rarely wasted a ball or a chance, and nearly everything it did was with purpose, even to varying free-kicks between the chip on to a player’s head and the low drive for a lunging foot to add the finishing touch. In this, and many other things, City is now a step or two ahead of other teams in the competition. And the results are proving it. Referee: Mr R. W. Cullen.

Unlucky Brighton The record book will show that Technical Old Boys and New Brighton drew the early game 1-1 at English Park. And the record book will be strictly accurate. But the bare details will not tell the grisly story of Brighton’s wretched bad luck and the huge smile Lady Fortune bestowed on her favourite for the day, Technical. Between the fifth minute when A. Verham gave Technical the lead with a cracking drive from 23 yards and the 81st when J. Besant scored Brighton's equaliser, the seasiders hit the bar twice, a post once and twice had efforts that looked certain goals, cleared off the line. But even this series of misfortunes was to be capped for Brighton in the final seconds, Besant's magnificent shot from 20 yards, the equal of Verham’s in all but direction, rebounding off the bar. The sight of J. Chalmers walking off the field with a consoling arm round the shoulders of his opposing captain, T. Conley, of Brighton, was the final poignant picture of a match that will haunt Brighton all season. Technical began with plenty of attacking spirit and dash and

ended desperately defending and the forwards almost at a standstill. Brighton’s defence began like a team of cats hopping about on hot brieks and ended joining the forwards in a sustained onslaught on the Technical goal. It was that type of match. Mistakes were frequent, the football hardly to the purist’s liking, but the excitement swelled to bursting point as play swung from end to end and goals were always threatened.

For Brighton there was Conley, masterly in midfield, probing Technical's weak spots with his accurate, thoughtful passes, and he was the player of the match. But sharing the honours with him were R. Smith and I. Hunter, of Brighton; Chalmers and G. Griffiths, of Technical. Hunter played extremely well for Brighton in goal, and although the greatest impression remaining of the match was Brighton's bad luck, the number of fine saves made by Hunter was another measure of Technical’s early attacking superiority. For the record, and they deserve a mention in dispatches, Foley, Conley and Besant hit the bar. A. Dawe's shot struck the post, and a shot and a header from Conley were cleared off the line. Also remembered in a feast of goalmouth thrills was that Verham's shot in the second minute left a mark on the Brighton woodwork. On another day this would have been worth more than just a postscript. Referee: Mr C. Anderson. Ball Control On a ground at Burnside Park which had a long, thick sole of grass, Nomads defeated H. 5.0.8., 2-0. It was a game in which poor ball control and ill.directed passes were prevalent, tempers became frayed and many of the referee’s decisions did not meet with the approval of players and spectators. The Old Boys showed the better ball control but could not press home this advantage except for a period in the first half. It was not until the second half that their movements included cohesion and drive. However, too often the forwards carried the ball too far, allowing the Nomads defence time to re-group. They had the ball In the net once, but a goal was disallowed. Although no forward stood out, G. Williams, S. Sayers and C. Hicks worked well together. But quite often promising movements broke down due to poor passing. K. Samson, in goal, showed good anticipation and clean handling. The one mistake he made was watching the oncoming player instead of the ball when the second goal was scored. The centre-half, R. Richardson, impressed with his coolness and ability to turn defence into attack.

R. Muirson once again spearheaded the Nomads attack. He scored both of his side’s goals, the first being attributed to his speed and ability to move into the open space. D. Ennis was the main link between the defence and attack in the absence of the injured R. Batchelor, forever probing Old - Boys’ weaknesses in defence. G. Donaldson, at centre-half, was off form, and the full-backs, A. Hawthorne and J. Kissack, were the defensive mainstays and it was mainly due to their efforts that Old Boys were denied a goal. Referee: Mr J. Sheffield.

Fast, Unconstructive

In a fast but unconstructive fame at Rlccarton Dpmaln, hamrock defeated Rangers, 2-1. With both teams lowly placed in the league, the major quest of both was the evasion of the “wooden spoon,” for which, on this performance, they are likely contenders. The whole 90 minutes was spent in a fcick-and-rush style that did nothing to enhance the respective team’s reputation. On occasions H. Taylor (Shamrock) and P. Cole (Rangers) attempted to put a spark of life into the forward lines, but lethargic efforts by their respective teammates made these endeavours worthless.

E. Brown, a new acquisition to Shamrock, proved his ability as a goal-keeper with a fine dis. play. Taylor and his right-half, J, Barrett, were the most competent of the Shamrock defence. The outside-forwards, J. Rea and J. Killick, provided the attacking force that was funda. mental in their team’s first victory. Little could be said In defence of the Rangers’ forwards. Time and again they squandered chances produced by Cole, J. Hinchley and A. Inglis. The full-backs, M. Shardlow and J. Adams, played solid, 90-mlnute games and the goal-keeper, M. Henderson, displayed many fine talents in keeping out some hard drives from Killick and Rea. Goals for Shamrock were scored by J. Logue and Rea, while Shardlow netted for Rangers. Referee: Mr A. Coulson.

p W D L F A Pts. City 4 4 0 0 28 4 8 West. 4 3 0 1 13 10 6 Nom. 4 o 1 1 11 6 5 Tech. 4 1 2 1 12 9 4 Bright. 4 1 2 1 4 5 4 HSOB. 4 1 0 3 7 9 2 Sham 4 1 0 3 29 2 Rang. 4 0 1 3 1 8 1