Chch seeks to avenge defeat

Press, 27 June 1987, Page 84

Chch seeks to avenge defeat

By

GARY BIRKETT

Christchurch will be seeking to avenge its first round defeat when it meets Wellington United in a top-of-the-table Air New Zealand soccer league match in Wellington tomorrow. Wellington leads the Teague by one point from Christchurch after- 13 games, and the ■Christchurch coach, lan Marshall, is keen to open the second round with a good result. • / “This is a very important match but it won’t decide who wins the league. It’s just , one of a series of very important seco n d -

round games although against the top teams

there is always an extra incentive.” Wellington, inspired by Bill Harris, beat Christchurch, 3-2, in the opening round of the league, a match that produced bright, open soccer. Mr Marshall expects Wellington to attack tomorrow and is hoping his players will get more space to operate in. “Against Manawatu and Nelson our strikers have been coming up against packed defences. I’m looking forward to tomorrow as I have no doubt that Wellington will attack us.” Christchurch downed Wellington, 2-0, in the corresponding fixture last season and is in the right

form to repeat that success. It has won five out of its last six matches and drawn the other, a record which earned Mr Marshall a “Coach of the Month” award. Wellington’s last loss was on April 19 and since then it has scored six wins and two draws. It paid dearly for its last win, 1-0, over Dunedin City, when its leading scorer, Brent O’Neill, suffered a badly broken leg. The central defender, Richard Romijn, will also be missing through injury, according to the Wellington coach, Barrie Truman. Mr Truman said he had a lot of respect for Christ-

church and predicted a very hard match. He also made a plea for Harris to be recalled to the All Whites. Harris walked out on Kevin Fallon during the Dynamo Minsk tour after a personality clash but Mr Truman believes he. should be given another chance. “New Zealand is too small a country with too few quality players. I realise that Bill is not everybody’s cup of tea but he fits into our team and plays very well for us. Kevin Fallon should bury the hatchet and recall him. If there are any better midfielders around then I have not seen them.” Other matches are.—

Manurewa v. Napier; North Shore v. Hutt Valley; Gisborne v. Mt Maunganui; Manawatu v. Papatoetoe; Nelson v. Mt Wellington and Dunedin v. Miramar. Bumdale United will attempt to end the winning run of Dunedin City in the Hertz southern league in Dunedin tomorrow.

Dunedin leads by four points from Burndale and Rangers with three matches to play and has won its last nine in succession. In the first round Dunedin proved far too strong, beating Bumdale 3-Q. In other matches today Christchurch entertains Caversham, Rangers hosts South Canterbury and Oamaru takes on Western.