Successful tour of Fiji

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33654, 2 October 1974, Page 36

Successful tour of Fiji

(By

D. P. MANSBRIDGE)

Tired, sun-burned and heavily-laden Christchurch United players returned yesterday from their highly successful soccer tour of Fiji, where they won all four matches, including a 4-0 victory over the national side on Sunday. The team manager-coach, Terry Conley, described the tour as “outstanding in every facet, even to the near-riot that threatened to disrupt the match with Fiji.”

The incident, Conley said, was sparked off by a foul tackle on I. Park (not R. Drinkwater, as the report from Suva stated in Monday’s paper) and Park’s reaction after the referee had failed to penalise the Fijian. “Before we knew where we were, a huge spectator began rushing towards Park, the crowd moved to the sidelines, the players took evasive action and the police waded in with batons,” Conley said. “It looked so ugly that 1 wanted to take the United players off the field, but Fijian officials kept telling me that it was “all political’ and our men were not in danger. “Just as quickly as it blew up, 'it suddenly settled down. It did not take up more than a few minutes but it seemed longer. We were 1-0 ahead at the time and scored again immediately after the match resumed. “Two more goals followed in the second half and we finished completely on top. There was no resentment after the game. In fact, everywhere we went Fijians wanted to celebrate our victory.” Conley said that before the team went to Fiji he had been told it was a Rugby stronghold and there was little interest in soccer.

“We saw no evidence of that being the case,” he added. “I estimated there were 14,000 at oiir match with Fiji and 10,000 of them were in the ground an hour before the kick-off. “Wherever the players went, they were followed by kids. We used to train on the beach at 7.30 a.m. to escape the worst of the heat and there were always hundreds of children there. “After our training, the players used to split up with the kids and organise 20-a--side games all over the beach. They went into schools and villages to talk and coach soccer and were given tremendous hospitality.” The heat (97 degrees for the first match, in Lautoka) and the bumpy grounds caused most problems, but the team overcame both, Conley said. “The young players did their part magnificently. Glen Adam (aged 16) played in every game, at centreback with Drinkwater, and showed great potential. Johan Verweij and Mark McNaughton were also in fine form.” Conley picked out K. Doomenbal (“a favourite with the crowds in every match”), who top-scored with four goals, B. Hardman and N. Moran among the stars of the tour, and praised the captaincy of T. Randles, who

took over the team leadership in the absence of K. France. “But there was no cause to single out any player: all did their part in a splendid team effort,” he said. Three of the tourists —S. Sumner, Doomenbal and Verweij—did not return to Christchurch. They flew from Auckland yesterday to join the national under-21 side on its internal tour. The rest of the United squad will be back in training tomorrow evening for the club’s final match of the extended 1974 season, against the South Australian state champion, Hellas, at English Park on Saturday. Conley has added two of the outstanding players from the Junior National Cupwinning side, R. Larter and R. Mulligan, to the squad from which the team to meet Hellas will be selected.