Best of Suburbs soccer yet to be, seen

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 9

Best of Suburbs soccer yet to be, seen

(By

D. P. MANSBRIDGE)

r pHE second half of the Rothmans National Soccer League will begin today, bringing to English Park for its return match with Christchurch United the most intriguing of all eight teams in the competition. The Wellington club, Western Suburbs, at present sits forlornly on the bottom of . the table, with only two points from seven matches, a goals tally of 10 for, 21 against, and the realisation that if there was promotionrelegation this year, Western would be a prime candidate for the drop. Yet, only three months ago, on most experts’ list of possible winners of the $4OOO first prize, Western Suburbs would have been one of the strongest challengers, and, in Wellington

at least, probably first on the list. After all, Wellingtonians would have argued, Western Suburbs had won the central league championship for the two previous sea- , sons, and the central league had proved its worth time and again, with victories over the northern league and Cardiff City, and the holding of the English F.A. to a 3-2 victory when all other teams had been overwhelmed, including the national eleven. It was natural to believe, they would have argued, that the central league champion, therefore, must be a leading candidate in the national competition. Instead, Western Suburbs has been the least success-

ful of the four central league clubs and no-one seems to have a ready-made answer to the club’s failings, least of all its talented player-coach, the Hungarian, I. Kiss. After Western’s defeat in the opening match of the season, by the northern league title-holder, Mount Wellington, Kiss described the result as “just beginning of the season playing.” Kiss shook his head and merely said, “Unusual,” after Western next went down 1-5, to Blockhouse Bay. Since then, as Suburbs has suffered four more defeats and chalked up only one victory, against Gisborne City, the Hungarian has been more outspoken.

Rarely, however, has he tried to make excuses for the team, although Western has had some cause to bemoan its luck. After the first match, the former New Zealand centre-half, A. Jeffery, was on the sideline for three rounds suffering concussion; later, the team’s dangerous left-wing. M. Watson, missed two matches, including the visit to Wellington of Christchurch United a fortnight ago, when United won, 5-2. If Western had been at full strength all season, the present picture might have beep a different one, for the team has considerable strengths. Kiss, himself, is an architect of mid-field play, always laying off thoughtful, penetrative passes, and a quick snapperup of loose balls on the edge of the penalty area. Jeffery is a ruthless, de-