Struggle in Midland League

Press, 29 August 1979, Page 26

Struggle in Midland League

By

DAVID LEGGAT

With the exception of Rangers and Woolston W.M.C., the performances of the Christchurch teams in the Midland League were generally disappointing. At the halfway stage, Woolston was in an excellent position to win the league and return immediately to the Rothmans League. It lost its first game but then won 10 successive matches, averaging almost three goals a game. But Woolston’s challenge faded rapidly. It was beaten in consecutive matches by Rangers and Technical and drew the next match with Caversham. Suddenly. although it still had four

matches to play, Woolston’s hopes were gone. Woolston had six players who did their reputations no harm. Neville Petrie was an imposing goal-keeper, one of the best in the league. Colin Chisholm had a good season in the middle of the defence while Peter Bennie was always purposeful and diligent in the midfield. Graham Dacombe had one of his best seasons as a striker, and occasionally as a mid-fielder, while Brent Simpson, in addition to being the highest Christchurch scorer in the league with 13 goals, was strong in the air and difficult to knock off the ball. But the outstanding Woolston player was Allan Boath. He controlled

the mid-field, found time to score 10 goals and was an excellent organiser and distributor. Woolston still has one match, against Papanui W.M.C., remaining. Western began the competition very well, beating Woolston and having the better of a draw with Rangers in its first two matches. However, the chronic lack of a goalscorer let the side down. When John Brand arrived midway through the competition he made a dramatic impact, scoring 12 times. Good end-of-sea-son form carried Western comfortably into fourth place and showed what it might have done if Brand had been playing from the start. Technical was largely

unimpressive, yet provided two of the biggest upsets of the season, taking a point from Rangers after trailing, 3-0, and beating Woolston, 2-1, in its fifteenth match. Only two teams, North End United, which was relegated, and Papanui, conceded more goals than Technical. Its best players were lan Cowan, the team’s leading scorer, and Gerard Kemp, who improved during the season. No-one matched Shamrock for inconsistency. Three times it scored five goals in a game, but after eight games it had scored only three points. Fortunately, it averaged a point a game for the final eight matches, which certainly saved it from relegation. In its first season in the

Midland League, Papanui completely surprised by taking eight points from its first five games. It then lost four matches in succession and steadily tumbled down the points table. Papanui was an aggressive team, and relied heavily on Alan McCall and Mike Hogan for its goals. Unless it beats Woolston in its final match, it will finish third from the bottom. Cashmere - Wanderers lost six of its first seven matches and the rest of the competition was a continual battle to avoid relegation. It was ably led by Alan Smith but could score only 20 times, lower than all other teams except North End.