Western, City Chatham Cup Soccer Finalists

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31084, 13 June 1966, Page 15

Western, City Chatham Cup Soccer Finalists

For the first time this season the Chatham Cup matches ran their true and predicted courses on Saturday. The underdogs, New Brighton and Waterside, were beaten, and Christchurch City and Western will repeat their final of last year, at English Park on June 25.

Waterside was overwhelmed, 9-0, by Western, and Brighton went down 0-2, struggling to the last against City.

When they met in the final last year City scored twice in thelast 20 minutes to beat Western, and the signs are that this year’s final will be as close.

In each semi-final. on Saturday, the better team won. Waterside collapsed with scarcely a whimper as Western went ahead after five minutes and then popped in goals with montonous regularity for the next 85 minutes. For the second time in this season’s Chatham Cup competition the centre-forward. A. Treadwell, collected four goals, the other occasion being his club’s 12-7 victory over Timaru Hearts. RECORD BROKEN Brighton fought a tremendous rearguard action to preserve its unbeaten record this season, conceded two goals to the Canterbury centreforward, J. Logue, but found that its own light-weight forwards were no match for the tightly-constructed City defence. The goal that wrote the finish to Brighton’s “giant-killing” eup run came within a minute of the second half starting. Then the light faded and went out on Brighton’s hopes of reaching the local final for the first time. Brighton had ended the first 45 minutes a gaol down and still very much in the game. It had survived many dangerous moments and had contributed hugely to a first half rich with fast, exciting soccer. It needed a goal, quickly, to set the second half alight. The goal came—but to City. The Brighton defenders were still settling down when City mounted an attack from the kick-off. The ball went backwards and forwards across the goalmouth, boots were swung and did not connect, one defender left it to another, and the ball ran loose to Logue. The next second it was in the back of the net, and a two-goal barrier had suddenly loomed in front of Brighton. HELD IN CRIP It proved insurmountable. The Brighton forwards, who had cracked In five goals against Technical and Shlrley-Nomads in the previous rounds, were held in a vice-like grip by City's defenders. The young centreforward, A. Caine, who had

scored a hat-trick in his previous four appearancs at English Park this season, only twice found the space and time to shoot on Saturday, but both were off target. His young assistant in the victories over Technical and Shirley. G. Taylor, was rarely in the game, while T. Conley was needed too often to bolster the Brighton defence to give his full attention to attack. City’s winning margin was unflattering. Twice its rightwinger. R. Bruce, had shots rebound off a post, and on two other occasions shots from R. McLean and R. Tayior were blocked by defenders when goals seemed certain. And there were many other times when the City forwards were sadly astray. Experience and strength and depth in defence carried City through to the final. The middle was blocked to Brighton by G. Evans, the flanks controlled by A. Westwood and W. McKenna, and the mid-field dominated by A. Gowans, J. Le Poidevin and Taylor. There were less than a handful of occasions when Brighton had the opportunities to break through. COSTLY MISS One of these came a few minutes before half-time and it proved a costly miss. A bad clearance by McKenna left the Brighton winger G. Spiers, with a wonderful chance to put his team on equal terms. But his boot went under the ball and his shot hit the top of the bar. Outsanding in a gallant Brighton defence was the rightback. G. Davis, the under-18 representative. He never put a foot wrong and made some mag nlficent clearances. Often when he was heavily outnumbered. The goal-keeper, J. Van Vliet, made some fine saves but he was also to blame for the first goal: he should have plucked the ball out of the air from McLean’s corner kick before it reached Logue’s head. But it was not a game to dwell on the mistakes made. It was an absorbing struggle, particularly in the first half. Also, It was a gallant effort by Brighton, for whom every player fought to the last. It was no reflection on the seasiders that it should not prove enough. But City had more of what counts in the places it was most needed. WESTERN ON TOP

The early game was the complete opposite Waterside having only one short period when it looked capable of extending Western. But this came when the side was four goals down and all its efforts for the next five minutes were dealt with brilliantly by the Western goalkeeper, D. Smith. Until he lapsed into the rnis-

take of trying to do too much on his own, C. Martin was a match-winner on the right-wing for Western. He helped to make the first two goals and scored the sixth The most spectacular of the nine was T. Haydon’s 30yard drive—an all too rare sight at English Park.

Waterside was unfortunate to lose its goal-keeper, J. Burrows, with an injured eye mid-way through the first half and had to replace him with the righthalf. J. Forster. But the score then was already -0 and made no difference to a one-sided game.

Western's goals were scored by Treadwell <4), M. Clements (2) and P. Skelton, Martin and Haydon.

Size Of Team May Be 13 fN.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) LLANDUDNO (Wales). The International Football Association board deferred decision on a proposal by F.1.F.A., the international federation, that a team should consist of 13 players, with 11 on the field at any one time. The board referred the proposal to its committee of study. The committee, headed by the F.I.F.A. president, Sir Stanley Rous, will meet in September.