Solid defence by Brighton

Press, 13 June 1977, Page 3

Solid defence by Brighton

Special correspondent Auckland [ ■ New Brighton earned itself| la valuable Rothmans soccer; [league point in its battle to! [avoid relegation when it! [drew 0-0 with Blockhouse! i Bay in Auckland on Satur-! day. With a no-nonsense dis-' play, which was more! effective than it was enter-; taining, Brighton gave little; away to its higher-placed; opponent in a match which • [always looked likely to' 'finish goalless. ; Neither goalkeeper was, [really tested in 90 minutes! of frustrating football which | [was dominated by both

; defences. Each side had only jone real goal-scoring chance land both chances went begiging. Neither side, however, can :!take all the blame for the J lack of goalmouth action. (The teams were hindered by ia number of curious refereering decisions by Mr Mansell ;i Heath and had to contend •iwith a bumpy and unpredictable Newmarket Park pitch. .; The game’s only near 11misses came in the first 20 /minutes. Brighton's golden chance , 'after nine minutes, fell to | defender Rab Brown who ilfound himself in the clear ronly 8m from the Bay goal

but scooped his shot high,< dover the crossbar. i J Then, after 20 minutes,ij ‘the Bay midfielder, Jimmy;! i; Hogg, got on to a bouncing i’ .'ball 12m out but volleyed; Jhi shot on to the Brighton |1 '\ crossbar. j] ■i The second spell was only!’ 'notable for the booking, in ji listrange circumstances, ofji •ithe Brighton winger. Franco ii iMadrussan. •’I Madrussan was having i i trouble with a wandering!! icontact lens in his left, eyeu (land in the fifty-fifth minute;! limade anxious signals to his: < jitrainer’s bench. ■'l Fearing his lens would i I drop out, Madrussan rushed:;

,off the field and attended to lit. On his return to the! ipitch, Mr Heath booked him; ‘for leaving the field of playi i without permission. • Surprisingly, Mr Heath; | kept his caution cards in hisi jpocket two minutes later I when a scuffle started between Brighton’s Peter Benjnie and the Blockhouse Bay midfielder, Paul Codd. Brighton can be happy with their point away from i home and can thank its solid defence ably led by Alan (Smith. The full back, Pauli IGlasson, was Brighton’s cap--tain of the day as it was his* fiftieth Rothmans League appearance.