United held to 0-0 draw

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33817, 14 April 1975, Page 19

United held to 0-0 draw

( By

DERRICK MANSBRIDGE)

Goalmouth incidents} [ which came in bursts, i fast and furiously, had to be a second-best substitute for actual goals, when Christchurch United and North Shore fought out a 0-0 draw at Queen Elizabeth II Park yesterday. Statistically, United should! have been a safe winner. It I had eight of the 10 scoring chances the game produced. But in the final analysis, the near misses counted for nothing. The biggest “if” of all was that if United had had a full team for more than the first 40 minutes, this edge in possession might have been put to better use. MORAN SENT OFF But Norman Moran was} sent off for deliberate kicking when being held down by I a Shore defender and United; had to struggle for every- j thing because of a lack of! support in attack. Even so, United was desperately unlucky not to get a' goal. In the first 15 minutes Kevin Mulgrew deceived thei Shore defences and shaved! the left-hand post, Moran had a header bounce off a! post and another go inches! too high, and Kees Doomen-, bal slipped going for a loose ball with no-one to beat. PLAY EVENED OUT As has happened so otten before to the team. United lost its! control when these endeavours! were not crowned by a goal,! and tor the rest of the first} half play evened out, with Shore! looking to be more dangerous i in mid-field and on the flanks. ; Keith Hobbs produced thel only scoring attempt from Shore i

, before half-time, a long-range 'drive that gave Phil Dando no; trouble. Brian Hardman replaced; Doornenbal at half-time, and the; 10 men fought magnificently to ; hold Shore and then push home I i its own attacks as they largelyl j dominated the later stages.! Shore made two substitutions as the game threatened to get away from the visitors, but in the end United was mainly at fault for; not getting the goal it sought so desperately. HIT THE BAR Mulgrew was unlucky toj j bounce one cross on to the top of the bar with Shore’s 19-year-! old goal-keeper, Allan Gilchrist, beaten, but then he missed a runaway goal. He tried to take the ball past Gilchrist but the goal-keeper got a leg in the way, and the ball rebounded off Mulgrew and ran clear. A superb movement between Sumner and Tom Randle left Sumner with the next change, but his powerful shot was fingertipped inches wide. Mulgrew had one more chance but his next effort was palmed into the side : netting by the goal-keeper. Hard- ' man made United’s final thrust i but Gilchrist was again equal to * the occasion. In the end, Shore went closest I to getting the winner, with four I minutes remaining. One of the Auckland club's substitutes, Jack Schuurman, got his head to the! ball and lan Park and Dando' 'watched as the ball crept out-| jside the far post. INJURED HEAD 1 Gilchrist played an extremely plucky game. He came off second best from a collision with Roy I Drinkwater after 30 minutes and ’ his head was swathed in bandages for the rest of the game. Yet. he stuck to his task without flinching from the pressure he was put under. The substitution of Doornenbal i by Hardman released Sumner to join Mulgrew in the depleted attack, and Sumner played a magnificent game. If one playl er’s efforts deserved success they were Sumner’s. But the whole United side i overcame its misfortune with great credit. The defence held ; Shore resolutely, the players fought for each other, and Muligrew .joined Sumner in the onslaught on the visitors’ goal, running as hard and as purposet fully as his colleague had done.