NATIONAL LEAGUE SOCCER Penalty disallowed, United survives

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34131, 19 April 1976, Page 11

NATIONAL LEAGUE SOCCER Penalty disallowed, United survives

(By

DERRICK MANSBRIDGE)

The result of yesterday’s Rothmans National Soccer League match will go down in the record book as Christchurch United 3, Stop Out 2. But unless it has an asterisk after the scoreline and a note at the end of the page saying “Disputed.” it will never satisfy Stop Out.

And if the referee, Mr Brian Hulton, taking his first national league match, is sensitive to criticism, he will go through this week with ears burnt crimson.

He disallowed a penalty for Stop Out a minute into injury time, sent off the Lower Hutt’s two-goal scorer, Sam Malcolmson, in the furore that greeted his decision, and was described as a “disgrace to soccer refereeing” in the Stop Out dressing room after the game. And Mr Hulton’s critics, ironically, were not all in the Stop Out camp. Equally, he was lambasted by United people for having “lost control of the game” and for not sending off the Stop Out centre-half, Ken Dugdale, for a blatant “over-the-ball” tackle earlier in the second half. TWO CAUTIONED Even so, his notebook had more than Malcolmson’s name in it. He also took the names of two Stop Out players — Maurice Tillotson, the New Zealand representative, in the first half for tripping, and Dugdale, in the second half, for another incident. It wm a hard, exciting, fullblooded match, packed full of incident, and gave United an extra $5O — the first time it has won the new Rothmans bonus for a club scoring three or more goals in a league match. And it was in the nature of this enthralling game that the bonus and the two points were won with a goal that was a 4*once-tn-a-lifetime” effort.

Such was the run of the game that it is difficult to know where to start describing it. Yet, the second minute of play was as good ds any. It was then that Stop Out opened the scoring.

Malcolmson, with no pressure on him, was able to hit a first-time shot against the left-hand post, collect the rebound, control the ball, and stab it past a beaten Phil Dando. "FINEST FOOTBALL" This goal opened the door wide to Stop Out, and for the next 25 minutes it produced football that the new South Island coach, Doug Moore, described as the finest he had seen in New Zealand. Stop Out’s defence was compact and ruthlessly efficient; its mid-field men pounced on any United player with the ball; and it had four men pouring through to back up every attack. United retaliated with pressure that lacked a full head of steam, and it was the long foot of Ross Durant that saved Christchurch from going two down when Malcolmson was quick to take advantage of a loose back-pass by Trevor Reece. One great chance for each side — by Bill Amey and Peter Brown — went begging before United suddenly took the match by the scruff of the neck and shook it decisively with two goals inside a minute. Kevin Mulgrew won the ball from the Stop Out goalkeeper, Alf de Mun nick, and then superbly kept him away from it. De Munnick might have done better to have given it up as a lost cause and got back into his goal. Instead, Mulgrew won himself space and lobbed goalwards. Dugdale headed the ball out, United appealed that the ball was over the line, but Kees Doornenbal saved the referee from needing to make a decision by smashing his shot in through the bunched players. MORAN ON SPOT Before Stop Out had time to recover, Doornenbal was helping to make his side’s second goal. He took a pass from Brian Hardman, and while Hardman was drawing defenders with a run down the line, Doornenbal went through the middle, brushing off defenders, and shooting. De Munnick failed to hold the ball and the ever-ready Norman Moran was in quickly and slid the ball home. Five minutes later Moran missed a great chance from Bill Arney’s superbly-laid free-kick, Malcolmson was a fraction wide with a header, and Tillotson, his name just having gone into the book, nearly beat Dando with a dropping centre from the touchline.

It had been an all-action first half, and the tempo did not subside when the second half began. After only nine minutes Malcolm* son took the ball past Laurie Blyth — again not pressed hard and close enough — and his shot was accurately placed into the corner of the net. Exchanges became rugged as Stop Out left only Malcolmson and Jim Richardson up front, and United went all out to get the winner. Even then, Richardson nearly had the final say with a great shot in the seventy-ninth minute which Dando turned aside for a comer in a magnificent diving save. CHEEKY WINNER Four minutes later United got' its spectacular and cheeky winning goal. Mulgrew took a corner from the right and aimed it at Moran, who was standing just outside the near post. A defender, Glen Winter, was pressed close behind him, so Moran opened his legs, let the ball go through, and watched It skittle into the far side of the net. But this was not the end of it. The match was petering out when the speedy Richardson, who had been very quiet, broke through and bore down on Dando. Durant, coming from behind, made a desperation tackle and Richardson went down. It was a penalty — and the nearest linesman thought so too. But Mr Hulton did not, and the abuse that followed his decision led to Malcolmson being sent off. There was one more moment of high drama. After Mr Hulton had stopped play and dismissed Malcolmson, he went across to speak to the linesman. The crowd waited silently, wondering whether Mr Hulto? would change his decision after play had been allowed to go on. But all he wanted to know was where the ball went dead. United took a free-kick and seconds later it w*as really all over — the play, at least. But not the argument. That will go On all week. Blyth, Doornenbal, Moran, and Mulgrew, stood out for United, but the whole team did its part in the two spectacular recoveries the side made. Malcolmson was always a danger, whether as the target man for his colleagues, laying qff passes, or Snapping up his chances. Tillotson always did well, and Dugdale looked far too good a player to need to resort to unsavoury tactics.