Creditable soccer performance

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 44

Creditable soccer performance

NZPA staff correspondent , Nottingham Despite losing 2-0, the New Zealand soccer team emerged with credit from its clash against England B in Nottingham yesterday. Even the most partisan supporters would have given the All Whites little chance against a side that included only one player who had not previously represented England at some level. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, the New Zealanders went into the final moments of the match still just one goal behind. England’s second goal, in injury time, was both well deserved and crowd pleasing, but it did little to remove the impression that New Zealand was the team that played to the i limit. The New Zealand coach, ; Mr Allan Jones, said after I the match: “If you had said ] to me ‘you’re, going to lose I 2-o’, I would have said ‘that 1 would be high respectabil- i ity’.” .»• He praised both rhe dis- f

cipline shown by his team and their “unreal” courage in the face of constant attack by the talented Englanders. The match was very onesided. The All Whites struggled to gain possession and struggled even harder to hold it. Time and time again England B would get the ball and rush headlong towards the New Zealand goal only to be beaten back by the solid defence. Mr Jones said he knew before the match how good the English players were and how much pressure they would place on his team. But all the same, he still seemed surprised by their sheer pace and power. “I mean, it was like the Red Army coming at us,” he said. The goal-keeper, Mr Richard Wilson, who bore the brunt of the England attack, played an inspired match, at times diving on the ball with apparently no regard for his own physical safety. Ricki Herbert was outstanding at the back of the i

field while Malcolm Dunford, one of the surprise choices for the tour, justified his inclusion in the squad. The captain, Allan Boath, made some useful moves whenever an opening arose and Steve Sumner and Grant Turner played energetically in the mid-field. The England B players, many with an eye on a berth in the World Cup squad, played aggressively from the start. Seven minutes into the match Gary Mabutt from Spurs proved correct Mr Jones’ prediction that England B would go for long shots at goal when he kicked from 20 metres. Wilson had no difficulty stopping the ball and was also untroubled two minutes later when Watford’s Luther Blissett tried a similar.shot. England came close in the 15th minute when a diving Steve Hodge got his head to a cross from Blissett but the ball hit the cross bar. Tfcte Nottingham Forest

player had his revenge five minutes later when'he found his way past the New Zealand defenders and surprised Wilson by sending a low ball spinning into the right hand corner of the net. New Zealand had its first scoring chance in the thirtyfifth minute when Colin Walker took a free kick from just outside the penalty area after being tripped. Turner failed narrowly to get his head cleanly to the ball. Billy Harris had a good chance in the sixty-fourth minute, moments after coming on for Kevin Birch, when he beat Steve McCall and surged towards the goal. But the one defender between Harris and the England goal-keeper, Chris Woods, managed to deflect the bail over the line. With three minutes left Walker headed a cross from Dunford over the top. Two minutes into injury time, the substitute, Terry Gibson of Aston Villa, sent a long high shot into, the box from well out on |he left

and Mabutt was in the right place to head into the net. England squandered many chances. Throughout the match it won more than 20 corners but was unable to score off any. The result left New Zealand with one win from six matches in England. But despite that the tour, which was aimed at preparing players for the World Cup qualifying matches next year, has been judged a success. The New Zealand Football Association deputy chairman, Mr Warwick Gendall, said: “It has exceeded our expectations because it has achieved a development of the squad, a unity in team spirit and an improvement in individual and team play that could not have been achieved through any other exercise.” “We have never had a better initial preparation for a World Cup campaign.” Scores: England B 2 (Steve Hodge 15min, Gary Mabutt 92). New Zealand 0.