Valuable points for Mount

Press, 8 May 1978, Page 28

Valuable points for Mount

By 1

DAVID LEGGAT

The Mount Wellington coach (John Houghton) joyously hugged his goal-keep-er, Sandy Davie, immediately after the final whistle of his team’s Rothmans Soccer League match against Trans Tours United at English Park on Saturday. Were it not for Davie’s efforts in the final quarter of an hour, Mount Wellington would not have come away with the invaluable two points it gained from its 2-1 win.

Yet if Davie saved his team at the defensive end of the pitch, Houghton also had much for which to thank his nuggety international striker, Kevin Weymouth. It was a match played in sections. The first 20min were largely dominated by United. Then there was an even spell before Mount Wellington took control for the final quarter of an hour in the first half.

The early part of the second half was even: United had a good spell soon after its goal and Mount Wellington came back for a briefer period before the final hectic lOmin.

The match was always entertaining, hard, and clean interesting comparison. In and the two teams offered an the eight seasons the league has been in existence, Mount Wellington has been blessed with some of New Zealand’s best players but seldom if

ever can it have had a better side than this.

United has no peers as an efficient unit. It is also a team in which individual talents are given a chance. As early as the fourth minute, United went close to scoring. Mark McNaughton angled his header just wide from lan Park’s cross. Mount Wellington seems to have worked around its minor problem of having two organisers in midfield, where only one can really work. Brian Turner still runs the middle, with Dave Sneddon playing wide on the right flank. Turner had a quiet match by his own standards while Sneddon made his presence known from time to time. Graham Griffiths made an appearance at both ends of the pitch early on. First he headed a dangerous free kick by Sneddon over his own cross-bar, then, a minute later, he flicked a short Steve Sumner corner just over Mount Wellington’s bar.

Weymouth showed his ability after 18min when he collected a long Clive Campbell ball, worked his way into the penalty area, and, from an acute angle, shot the ball across the face of the goal. At this stage United’s team work was probably close to its best. The clearest example of this was when Sumner gained possession in midfield, worked a one-two with Park, and fed Kevin Mulgrew on the left.

His low cross was just cleared by Stu Carruthers for a comer.

After 24min, Campbell pushed the ball into Weymouth’s path. With Bobby Almond and Glen Adam on his back, Weymouth picked his spot beautifully, his angled left-foot shot ending in the corner of the net.

United came back strongly, McNaughton and Sumner both trying a 20m drive and both narrowly missing the upright. Mount Wellington’s second goal took some of the stuffing out of United. Sneda don produced a magnificent, defence-splitting pass, Weymouth raced onto it, fought off Griffiths, rounded the United goal-keeper, Peter Moot, and placed the ball inside the right-hand upright for a superb goal. Now Mount Wellington began tightening the screws. Ted Edwards, equally as dangerous as Weymouth, should have scored but chipped the ball across the face of the goal when he should have shot. Just on half-time, he rammed the ball against the side-netting from a difficult angle, with Almond breathing down his neck.

United scored only once in the second half but came very close on several other occasions. That they did not score in the final 20min could probably be attributed as much to bad luck as to sound Mount Wellington defence, Davie and his captain ,Tony Sibley, excepted.

lan Marshall scored after 61min when he picked up the ball in the penalty area, found a metre of space, and placed his left foot shot well.

A diving header by Park, coming in from the blind side, hit the bottom of the upright and bounced away; Mulgrew judged his chip from the left expertly, forcing Davie to flick the ball over the bar.

Interspersed with this are tion at one end of the pitch, Mount Wellington added some polished play. Sneddon, Weymouth, and Edwards worked a good ploy, Edwards shooting just wide. Soon after, Sneddon gave Weymouth another good ball and the aggressive striker, after beating Adam, shot into the side-netting. McNaughton produced a grand header which seemed goal-bound but Davie, at full stretch, plucked the ball out of the air in his best effort.

In the final minute, United came forward again for a last-ditch effort. Mulgrew shot, Davie parried the ball, and it came to Park, who, under intense pressure, saw the ball hit the post and fly over the goal-line. It is very difficult to pick a player of the match. There were several. For United, Adam, McNaughton, Sumner, and Park performed well. For Mount Wellington. Davie, Sibley (in his 126th game for the team), Weymouth, Edwards, and Sneddon, were the pick of a top class team.