Gisborne has no punch in forwards

Press, 26 July 1976, Page 17

Gisborne has no punch in forwards

By

DERRICK MANSBRIDGE

Trans Tours United may not nave oeeu aote to uau u u.ukuug touch m cue xvoutmaus -saoOniu soccer ncague suice changing us name, out if mere is a jmx upsevung me ciuo, u uoes not reveal itself lu LiUtvO s uetence 01 me other major tropuy it wou last season, uie uiou Chatham Cup. nnhougu out ic.ealing its full potenua, uiitu tile seevnu goal was scureu, well into tile seevuu hair, Lniteu couilortaviy disposed 01 msoorne City, 3-u, in tile enu.

United has had two draws and three losses in me league under the name or Trans tours, out has chanted up tnree successive wins m the cup competition uuung the same period. Gisuorne proven an unlikelyloosing team to oe propping up the national league taoie — except, mat is, when ns forwards came within range of the goal. And although they had axoriniaaoie oarrie* to overcome m United’s central defenders, Roy Drinkwater and Lawrie myth, Gisborne s tailing was also of its ow n making. in most respects Gisborne’s periormaiice was like a chocolate box in a siiop window — prettily decked out in coloured ribbons but with nothing substantial inside. Had there oeen a Aorman Moran turning around tlie unitel goalmouth as there was at the other end of the field. United might well have been in trouble.

Billy Cakebread, on the right wing, gave lan Park a torrid time, and Canebread also took the bail past Brian Hardman more times in half an hour than another dozen players would do in a whole season. And the fluent football was not confined to this clever little wing. Gisborne used the bail well throughout the match, building up attacks from deep in defence and creating the atmosphere of a side really going places. But those places did not include the United nettfng, and Dave Turner, making his debut for the home side, was never seriously troubled. United had the boost of an early goal, after only six minutes of play, and it was Moran who set his team on the way to victory. Steve Sumner placed an accurate free-kick into the middle and Moran puled off a dream header — so powerful that even though the in-form George Fleknor managed to get a hand to the ball, it was brushed aside. This was a luxury for United, but it did not build on the goal with any confidence. Gisborne, in fact, began to dominate possession, and United needed the reinforcement of Kees Doornenbal, Hardman, and Sumner deep in defence, to lend cover to Park, Drinkwater, Blyth, and a very solid Trevor Reece.

Even so, Gisborne never really looked like scoring. The element that kept the match alive when it appeared to be losing interest was whether the United defence would make a disastrous mistake before it added another goal. The answer came 27 minutes into the second half. The hard-working Sumner won the ball on the left, got in

his centre while under strong pressure, and when the ban oroke clear, Kevin Mulgrew had the time and space in which to pick his spot in the netting. This goal semed to throw off all the shackles on United’s play. It now produced some exhiliarat ing football and tore huge holes in a dispirited Gisborne defence And the movement that brought the clinching goal 10 minutes from the end was a glorious one. Mark McNaughton and Mulgrew created it, and Moran finished it off with another superb header. In the end United could have won by a much bigger margin. Flecknor was called on to make some fine saves, and he denied Moran a hat-trick with a onefinger save that fractionally deflected the ball past the lefthand post.