PLAYED ON TWO PITCHES Pakistan beats N.Z. in disputed match

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33786, 7 March 1975, Page 14

PLAYED ON TWO PITCHES Pakistan beats N.Z. in disputed match

I (NZ.P.4. Staff Correspondent) KUALA LUMPUR. Pakistan beat (Sew Zealand 2-0 in a rain-interrupted mate! played on two grounds in the World Cup hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur last night.

A heavy tropical downpour forced the players off Mhe field at the main Merdeka Stadium immediately after 1 Pakistan scored the first 'goal of the match about seven minutes after the Istart of the second half. The New Zealand manager (Mr Tony Palmer, Auckland) protested when the International Hockey Federation technical delegate in charge of the match, Mr M. Raafat (Egypt), ruled that the game would be continued on another ground, but Mr Raafat would not accept his protest. The New Zealand and Pakistan teams were taken j by bus with a police motori cycle escort to anothei ground on the other side of the city and the game started again about one hour and a half later.

Pakistan’s second goal came about 12 minutes after the restart when the Pakis- ■ tan inside-left, Mohammad (Zahid, grabbed the ball from ; field play, beat two New Zealand defenders and pushed it into the net.

Mr Palmer lodged a protest immediately after the game over the circumstances in which the match was interrupted and switched from one ground to the other. He can still go to the appeal jury if the technical delegates, over-rule his protest. ‘UNFAIR’

“It is totally unfair to expect players to go back on the field after one and a half hours when some of them are still in wet gear and they’ve cooled down,” he said. The New Zealand coach (Mr Ross Gillespie) was also angry at the decision to continue the game on another ground. "The decision makes the game just a farce,” he said. “It seems a bloody incredible decision. I’ve never struck anything like it all the time I’ve been playing hockey, even at club level.

“A game is either off or it’s on. It is very unsettling for the players to interrupt the match and then make them go to another ground like this.”

“At first they thought the match had been abandoned because the first announcement over the public address system was that teams , were to go to their buses and back to the hotel.

“Then they were told they

1; had to play on another .'ground, which meant driving ( over the other side of town, ‘ pushing through a crowd to * i get in to the ground, and [■’then getting wanned up [I again against a top world I! side. j “It’s just not on,” Mr Palmer said. ■ ; Mr Gillespie said a game J was meant to be played over 70 minutes with a 10-minute 1 interval. “I think it was a tremen1 dous handicap to have that 1 break when we had a l-0{ - deficit,” he said. ' “This meant we had to! score two goals in 30 minutes, which means you| have to depart from youri normal game, and I think’ the] result showed that.” He added: “The thing that) upsets me la that it is diffi-| cult for the players toj restart the game.” The New Zealand defence

held firm against the Pakistan forward line in full cry and did not give an inch. But the New Zealanders fell down on their penalty corner game and were not able to capitalise on the six they got in the second half to Pakistan’s four. “I think the Pakistanis deserved to win because they took their chances,” Mr Gillespie said. Pakistan beat New Zealand 2-0 at the Christchurch international tournament. New Zealand has never met Pakistan in the World Cup before, and it is a long time since they have met in the Olympics. Pakistan won two of the three matches in the 1958 test series in New Zealand and drew with New Zealand in the Wellington test. In another Group A match yesterday Malaysia beat Poland 3-1, to go to the lead in that section, but the Netherlands-Spain match was postponed a second time because of rain.

j The England-Argentine Jmatch in Group B was , i abandoned at half-time i because of heavy’ rain Argentina led 1-0. West German beat Ghana 1 3-2 in a Group B match and leads that section