Changes At Both Ends In Shield Soccer

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31090, 20 June 1966, Page 15

Changes At Both Ends In Shield Soccer

The ninth round of the Hurley Shield soccer competition will go down as the most topsy-turvey of the season so far. There were changes top and bottom and movement back and forth in the centre.

Christchurch City regained the leadership by its 4-2 victory over Technical, and Waterside climbed off the bottom rung by its narrow defeat of High School Old Boys.

Shirley -Nomads, only able to draw with Shamrock, slipped back into last place.

But the shock result of the day was Rangers’ magnificent 4-2 win over Western, the Chatham Cup finalist. City now has a one-point lead over Technical and one game in hand, and these two have the race on their own the defeats of H. 5.0.8. and Western. Shirley-Nomads are a point behind Waterside, and their meeting in the second round, put back to later in the season, will be crucial to both dubs. Results: — City 4, Technical 2. Shamrock 1, Shirley 1. Waterside 4, H. 5.0.8. 3. Rangers 4, Western 2.

Faster, Stronger City Is back on top of the ladder and, by its performance In the main game at English Park, where it deserves to be. There was half a yard, half a second and more than two goals difference between City and Technical on Saturday, and this victory seems to have paved the way for City winning the Hurley shield for the third successive season. For 45 minutes City gave its most impressive display since the club’s palmiest days in the early part of last season. The players settled down immediately, the two wingmen, R. McLean and R. Brucd, were quickly in their stride, and the half-backs, A. Gowans, G. Evans and J. le Poidevln, gained early control of the midfield. At half-time City led 4-1 and twice had had shots rebound off a post. There were visions of bigger and better things to come. These did not materialise, because Technical began to fight back with greater efficiency and because the City players lost their keen edge. The only goal of the second half was scored by Technical and suddenly there was greater pressure being put on the City goal than at any other time in the match. But there was never any real expectation that Technical would take complete control, and whereas in their first match Technical had been unlucky to lose, this time there

was no doubt which was the better-equipped and stronger team.

Three of the five goals were magnificent: Gowans’s 25-yard dr.ive that put City two up; A. Wardle's quick call for the ball and accurate shot that reduced the lead to 2-1; G. Griffith's brilliant run down the rightwing that took him past two defenders and his slide-rule pass to A. Daw that gave Technical the only goal in the second half. And there was, too, a save by O. Nuttridge which was every bit as good as the goals that were scored. Daw was on his own and seven yards out when he let fly, but Nuttridge moved like a panther to snatch the ball out of the air. I. Marshall, also, made some fine saves for Technical, but some of his clearances caused heart failure among his own defenders. The biggest blot on the City's play was the team's failure in the second half to keep the ball moving quickly and simply. These tactics had brought their reward tn the first half and it was Impossible to understand why all but Evans neglected the game City does best. Two Poor Teams If Shirley-Nomads were to find at the end of the Hurley Shield competition they have failed to save themselves from relegation by only one point, the club will cast a few regretful glances back at the match with Shamrock. These were two poor teams on duty at English Park but Nomads should have won. And they would have done so if their forwards had taken only one of a dozen chances that came their way. The one goal the club scored came from a penalty by the centre-half, G. Donaldson, which brought scores level five minutes before half-time. There were no further goals and Shirley had to be content with one point from a draw when it desperately needed two. Shamrock has suffered considerably from a loss of key players since the season began; Shirley is seeking its first victory so desperately that its play lacks rhythm or cohesion. Either could have stumbled on to victory on Saturday: neither shared the purpose to deserve it.

Shamrock’s goal came after 10 minutes when a shot by J. Killlck was parried down by the 'keeper, H. Hoskin, and W. Yates was on the spot to score. Donaldson’s penalty goal came half-an-hour later, and the fulltime whistle a long 50 minutes afterwards. In between there was a lot of scrambling football and lots of wasted opportunities. But throughout there was hardly one movement that deserved the name. Standing head and shoulders above the muddle was Donaldson, manfully striving to put a semblance of order into the Shirley play. It was a losing battle. He had his supporters in Hoskin, a neat and efficient goal-keeper, and A. Hawthorn, the left-back, while in the forwards, D. Ennis covered acres of ground.

Shamrock’s play, too, was un-co-ordinated. The ball ran here and It ran there: the players ran after it, but there was rarely any indication that they knew where they were going. E. Brown made some good saves, H. Taylor made some sharp tackles and W. Yates worked hard in mid-field. But in the end It was all pretty hopeless. Inspired Goals Young, fit forwards prepared to run until they dropped gave

Rangers ■ much-needed victory over Western. It needed a goal, and a lucky one at that, to give Rangers the inspiration, but once they got it they proceeded to outplay and outrun the Chatham Cup finalist. Rangers were still only one goal ahead at half-time and were beginning to need another boost to their confidence to get right on top. And for the second time the goal they desperately needed arrived, only this one was a brilliant effort by the 20-year-old rightwinger, W. Penman. The first of the two helping hands came when the Western goal-keeper, D. Smith, fumbled a corner kick from B. Presland, and then could not prevent the ball crossing the line. The second came shortly after the restart when Penman used his speed to pass two defenders and his powerful shot to score from 28 yards. With their tails high Rangers poured on attacks and the Western defence, which had been troubled by long passes and was handicapped by an injury to D. Almond, began to panic. From a long free-kick by M. Shardlow, the centre-forward M. Smythe neatly headed Rangers Into a 3-0 lead, and soon afterwards the 15-year-old G. Adam cracked home the fourth goal from just inside the penalty area.

Belatedly, Western struck back with two goals in the last 10 minutes, through C. Martin and A. Treadwell, but these came far too late to affect the result. Western had started well and for a time seemed to have the Rangers measure. The forwards had their chances, and play was built up in the mid-field but when these efforts went unrewarded and Rangers began to fight for every ball, Western lost its grip on the play. A. Inglis was a calming influence on the young left-wing pair of Presland and Adam, and Smythe kept up a constant battering on the Western defence. Western was well served by P. Frost, T. Haydon, M. Clements and Treadwell but this was RangersT day. And they made the most of it. Deserved Win Playing even, purposeful football that belled its crushing defeat in the Chatham Cup semifinals last week, Waterside well deserved its surprise victory over a weakened High School Old Boys team.

Too much bodily contact prevented the football from developing a smooth flow and there were generally too many Inaccurate passes. However, neither detracted from Waterside’s ability to snap up the chances it was offered and there were other times when goals were narrowly missed. The Old Boys defenders gave Waterside’s marauding forwards too much scope and it was not until late in the second half that H. 5.0.8. were able to get on top. Then P. Coman reduced the leeway to 3-4 but in spite of some herculean efforts the equaliser was denied to them. Had Coman been moved into the attack a little earlier, that elusive goal might have come, for he injected new life into the forward line.

S. McAlpine, as well as scoring two goals, worked hard and intelligently, but he did not get enough support from Old Boys team-mates. J. Price and W. Rodger combined well to hold down the H. 5.0.8. forwards, and had good support from their full-backs.

For Waterside, goals were scored by T. Wilson (3) and J. Butterworth. S. McAlpine (2) and Coman replied for H. 5.0.8.

P W D L F Pts City 8 6 2 0 18 6 14 Tech. 9 6 2 0 17 13 13 HSOB 9 4 2 3 21 13 10 West. 8 3 3 2 19 9 9 Sham. 9 4 1 4 15 17 9 Rang. 9 2 2 5 13 23 6 Wate. 8 2 0 6 9 24 4 Shir. 8 0 3 5 6 13 3