CITY AGAIN ON TOP

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31660, 22 April 1968, Page 12

CITY AGAIN ON TOP

Christchurch City proved on Saturday that Its four*year run of almost unbroken sue* cess Is not past history. Reversing the pre-season floodlight final, City over-ran Technical as Technical had outplayed City the last time they met. Admittedly, the heavy going favoured City’s stronger, more rugged type of play and almost nullified the neater, set-piece designs that Technical favour. Admittedly, too. Technical was heavily weakened by the loss of K. France. But the greatest difference between the two sides from when they met last month was City’s grasp on the mid-field play. The switching of M. Clements to wing-half was a vital move to City’s success. Clements played magnificently, using the ball intelligently and covering diligently, removing the pressure on G. Evans so that the player-coach could once more dictate the terms of the match. City, also, won two more battles that it had lost last time. F. Madrussan gained the upperhand over G. Davis, bringing the City attack more into the play, and W. McKenna overshadowed Technical’s right wing, A. Dawe. Technical aided and abetted City’s recovery by holding the ball a fraction too long. Time

and again its players were caught in possession, and this accounted for the injuries the side suffered. City tackled hard and swiftly, and its strength proved a decisive factor. A fine goal by J. Logue opened the scoring in the fourteenth minute. He hooked an awkwardly-bouncing ball from a difficult angle past an out-of-form W. W’eir. Madrussan made it 2-0 a minute from half-time, his in-swinging centre dipping under the bar, and K Whitehead magnificently sealed Technical’s fate mid-way through the second half. Madrussan began the movement and from his pass, Whitehead cleverly shielded the ball, turned and drove wide of Weir from 20 yards out. So Close, So Often Rangers will never forgive themselves for going so close, so often, to beating Northern, and then finally having to be content with one point from a 1-1 draw. In the last 20 minutes Northern’s goal was peppered from all sides. The lanky I. McDougall bore a charmed, life, getting his knees and elbows and chest to deflect and stop shots when he could not get his hands to the ball. And the woodwork intervened once, when D. Torkington cut through on a narrow angle and shot past the goalkeeper. The ball rebounded off the post, skidded across the goal-line, and evaded the Rangers players up in support. However, to a large extent, Rangers were to blame for allowing a point to slip away. They played some neat football on a heavy pitch, but for the whole 90 minutes there was a hesitancy and a lack of real bite in their play. It seemed as if they became much too anxious much too soon, and a lack of experience showed up in the many quick and foolish things players did under pressure. T a Haydon was not the influence he had been in the Chatham Cup match last week, for he had to spend too much time cajoling and pleading with his players to lift their game than concentrating on his own game. But he scored a powerful goal from a free kick just outside the penalty area in the thirteenth minute, managing to fool the Northern defence into believing he Would chip the ball to the far post before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net. Northern equalised 11 minutes later when C. Pickrill was too late and too slow getting his head to a long through pass, and left the right wing, R. Sinclair, in the clear. Sinclair got the ball back into the centre where R. Neilson brilliantly hooked the ball home. From then on, Rangers pounded away, always a little too hectically, and Northern held out, albeit by its fingertips. The Dunedin club’s centrehalf, G. Crawford. injured early in the first half and his right arm held rigid to his side for the rest of the game, was a match-saver for Northern. D. Simmonds and V. Pollard had very sound and solid games for Rangers, and R. Binns did his side tremendous service by holding the New Zealand international, J. Ferrier. Finally Triumphed Shamrock ran through the gambit of triumph, disappoint-

ment and frustration before finally scoring the deciding goal with five minutes remaining against Dunedin Technical. It was a goal ahead, should have had six more in the first half, found itself 1-2 down mid-way through the second half, and then had to scramble and fight for a victory that should have been sealed and delivered long before. In the first half, Shamrock played some delightful football; fast, crisp, sweeping movements that had the Technical defence floundering. But the combination of good goal-keep-ing and inaccurate shooting held Shamrock to one goal, scored by D. Glubb. Northern equalised from a penalty and then took the lead after a breakaway attack. However. straight from the kick-off. Shamrock equalised with a header by H. Taylor, and in a great finish, W. Yates volleyed a powerful shot that gave the goal-keeper no chance. Missed Chances After scoring first and retaining a 1-0 lead until the fortyninth minute, Western surrendered both points to St Kilda in the main game at Dunedin. It was a disappointing Western performance, made more so by the side twice failing to convert indirect free-kicks close to the St Kilda goal. Brighton Struggle Brighton had a tremendous tussle with Maori Hill before clinching the match late in the game. Brighton had led 2-0. been pegged back to 2-2. and survived mounting pressure as Maori Hill strived mightily to save a point. With constructive football, using the open spaces to develop and press home movements. Brighton dominated the first half, and with its second goal soon after the resumption, seemed to be coasting home. But a few moments of overconfidence allowed Maori Hill to strike back, and K. Feathers, with a hard shot and a header, scored twice. Instead of being crushed by this quick reversal, Brighton regathered its strength, and deserved its win when D. Harvey scored with an angled shot which the goal-keeper, A. Crosland, was powerless to stop. Harvev and W. Quirke scored Brighton’s earlier goals. Vital 10 Minute? On a water-logged Western Park. Shirley-Nomads lost its match to Caversham in the first 10 minutes, when the Dunedin team scored twice and then hung on for the next 80 minutes to score a 2-1 victory. Withdrawing both inside-for-wards deep in defence in the early stages, Shirley left huge mid-field gaps that Caversham ruthlessly exploited. Before Shirley had woken to its error. lA. Kirkham and B. Duncan scored one each, and it was an uphill battle for the Canterbury club from then onwards. In the seventy-second minute R. Muirson scored from a goalmouth scramble, but Caversham refused to allow Shirley another goal. The whole Shirley team played well after its early misadventures and none better than Muirson. who revelled in the heavy conditions, and the goal-keeper. K. Flintham. once again in splendid form.