$l500 soccer stake

Press, 13 September 1976, Page 32

$l500 soccer stake

Fourth place, and $l5OO in prize money, will be at stake when New Brighton and Eastern Suburbs complete their 1976 Rothmans National Soccer League programmes at Auckland next week~end« And if Suburbs, the beaten Lion Chatham Cup finalist this season, should win this vital match, it may need a calculator to separate them. Both won the only league matches played yesterday — Brighton beating Gisborne City, 4-2, at Queen Elizabeth II Park, and Suburbs defeating North Shore United, 3-2, at Newmarket Park.

Brighton is in fourth position, on 19 points; Suburbs are placed fifth, on 17, and

Brighton has a slight superiority in goal average — 1.115 to 1.034. If they were beaten, 1-0, the seasiders would still stay ahead — 1.074 to 1.068 — but their hopes would disappear in a 0-2 defeat. As the Brighton coach, Martin Stewart, said last evening: “It is obvious, then, that we either have to win or draw, or hold them to a onegoal margin.” Suburbs were in a much stronger position at half-time in their match against Shore yesterday. Then, they were leading 3-0, from goals by Bob Couwenberg, Jim Nimmo, and Gary Jenkins. But Shore came back strongly after the interval, scored twice through John Edwards

and Jim Smith, and went close to snatching a point. Mike Glubb (2), John Verweij (penalty), and Peter Bennie scored for Brighton yesterday, and Harry Bell and John Lavery (penalty) replied for Gisborne. The only other league match to be played is between North Shore and Blockhouse Bay, which will probably be held in midweek.

The league table is.— P W D L F A pts W.D.U. 18 13 1 4 31 29 27 Mt Wn 18 10 3 5 33 17 23 Ca’ham 18 8 6 4 40 26 22 Brigh. 17 9 1 7 29 26 19 E, Subs 17 6 5 6 30 29 17 B'house 17 6 4 7 23 21 16 T.T. Ut 18 7 2 9 21 23 16 N. Shor 17 6 3 8 27 28 15 Stop O. 18 4 4 10 26 41 12 G’borne 18 3 3 12 21 39 9 (Report of Brighton-Gisborne . match, Page 20.)