Poor display by United

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 30

Poor display by United

By

DAVID LEGGAT

Christchurch Mogal United chose the worst possible day to produce its most inept Rothmans Soccer League performance of the year, at Queen Elizabeth II Park yesterday. Manurewa beat United, 1-0, in a truly awful match, to take over the top position in the league from the Christchurch side. The day’s problems were compounded by the sending off of one player in each side. Kevin Birch, Manurewa’s striker, was ordered off six minutes after half-time for striking United’s goal-keeper, Frank van Hattum, a former Manurewa player himself. Grant Turner was then dismissed — for the second time this season — for using foul and abusive language to the referee, Mr Arthur Edwards. In a match in which United could have increased its lead in the title chase, most its players turned on a woeful display. Not that Manurewa was much better. It went ahead by virtue of an own goal, sat on that advantage, successfully repulsed United’s sporadic raids and contributed little in terms of purposeful attacking play. The stop-start nature of the match, with Mr Edwards’ whistle regularly piercing the air in the first half, did not help, but that could not excuse

the sloppy passing and indecisive team work of United. But for Manurewa the circumstances were different. It clearly came south with the aim of taking a point. With that in mind, it massed in numbers behind the ball, making United’s job difficult. However, when Manurewa had been reduced to 10 men, United was still unable to shake off its lethargy and make use of the extra player. There were few incisive runs from the front men into space, and when the situation cried out for Manurewa’s defensive resources to be spread wide across the pitch, the ball was played short and too often up the middle. Yet it was not a match without incidents. Johann Verweij was first awarded a goal, from a header, only to have it ruled out by the referee, Mr Arthur Edwards, when it was discovered that the ball went over, not under, the cross-bar before resting against the netting. In the nineteenth minute, Manurewa went ahead. Paul Wilkinson opted to turn the ball back to his goal-keeper, Frank van Hattum, from point blank range, only to see it deflect off Bobby Almond's leg into the goal. United's one clear chance in the match fell to Graeme Archer, whose shot was brilliantly turned away by Rudi

Feitsma, Manurewa’s goalkeeper. Archer, along with Marcel Verweij, was perhaps the pick of his team. Turner drove a free-kick against the cross-bar shortly before half-time, and Mr Edwards fell over an advertising sign, positioned too close to the goal-line. For many people, the fate of the unfortunate Mr Edwards was the highlight of the day. Ricky Hill had a snap shot, which flew wide midway through the second half. The crowd clearly found little to entertain them, judging by the numbers who left well before the end. At times, the noise level emanating from the stand matched that of a cemetery. United will be hoping its title aspirations do not go the same way, after a day it would like to forget quickly. Manurewa rubbed further salt into United’s wounds by taking over top place on goal difference from Wellington Diamond United and Dunedin City. Both had good wins yesterday, Dunedin City having to come from behind to head off Papatoetoe. Mount Wellington made ground from eighth place to fifth with a 4-1 win over Dunedin Technical on Saturday evening. Three players were taken to hospital, two were booked and

Keith Nelson missed from the penalty spot for the Mount. For the second consecutive match, Peter Wainwright scored twice for Napier City Rovers in its win at Gisborne. Results:— Mount Wellington 4 (Fred de Jong 2, Nigel Debenham, Eddie Gavigan), Dunedin Technical 1 (Bill Chisholm). Half-time 2-0. Christchurh Mogal United 0, Manurewa 1 (own goal). Halftime 0-1. Gisborne City 1 (Jim Doherty), Napier City Rangers 2 (Peter Wainwright 2). Halftime 1-1. Wellington Diamond United 3 (Malcolm Dunford 2, Paul van der Breggen penalty), McKee Nelson United 0. Halftime 1-0. Dunedin City 2 (Steve Jones, Ceri Evans), Papatoetoe 1 (Colin Tuaa). Half-time 0-1. Hanimex-North Shore 1 (Gordon Brown), National Mutual Miramar 1 (Nigel Simpson). Half-time 1-0.

ROTHMANS LEAGUE P W D L F A Pt Manurewa 13 6 4 3 22 12 22 W.D.U. 13 6 4 3 21 13 22 Dun. City 13 7 1 5 16 16 22 Chch Utd 13 6 3 4 23 16 21 Mt Wgtn 13 6 2 5 23 18 20 Nth Shore 13 5 4 4 20 16 19 Miramar 13 4 7 2 21 19 19 Papa toe. 13 5 3 5 15 19 18 Napier 13 4 5 4 16 15 17 Nelson 13 5 2 6 18 20 17 Gisborne 13 3 4 6 13 19 13 Dun. Tech. 13 0 3 10 8 37 3