Chch trails by six points

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 38

Chch trails by six points

Mount Maunganui shot six points clear of Christchurch United in the Air New Zealand national soccer league yesterday when United was held to a 1-1 draw by Manurewa in Auckland. United trailed to a second-half goal by Mark Armstrong, who intercepted a back pass from Steve Sumner but with five minutes left Mike McGarry raced on to a through ball and cracked a shot past Frank Van Hattum to salvage a valuable point. Manurewa, beaten 4-0 in the corresponding firstround fixture, had enough chances to record an upset win but poor finishing cost it dearly. Mount Maunganui overcame the loss of four leading players through suspension or unavailabil-' ity to beat North Shore, 31.

The northern club has a game in hand over United and with 10 rounds remaining it is eyeing the possibility of going through the 26 game programme unbeaten. It has 12 wins and three draws from 15 games. The two sides clash in Tauranga in two weeks time in a match that United will probably have to win to get its bid for three successive titles back on an even keel.

The injured United striker, Allan Carville, had exploratory surgery on his right knee on Saturday and was told that he would have to wait a few years before any further surgery could take place.

Carville had a cartilage removed a few years ago and his knee is slowly wearing down where the cartilage was removed.

He expects to be playing again in about two weeks, provided the swelling from the surgery goes down.

Carville said the knee restricted his ability to stretch out during games and was impossible to bend fully.

His doctor said that it will continue to swell up should he keep playing but the speedy goal poacher is determined to get fit again. “I’ll be getting out on the bike and doing weights. With a bit of work I could be back in a couple of weeks.” Mount Wellington scored three late goals to beat Gisborne City, 3-1, in Gisborne and move into third place.

Gisborne scored late in the first half through Paul Harrison but the Mount equalised after 74 minutes

when Ricki Herbert scored. Noel Barkley touched home a cross soon after and another Herbert strike in the last minute earned it a much needed win. Results.—Waikato 2 (Mark Cossey, Grant Carlson, Napier 2 (David Swailes, Martin Akers); Waterside-Karori 1 (Graeme Scott), Papatoetoe 0; Wellington United 2 (Steve O’Donoghue, Neal Cave, Miramar 1 (Colin Tuaa); Mount Maunganui 3 (Kevin Meacock, Brian Roberts, Tony Ferris), North Shore 1 (own goal).

P W. D L F A Pt Mt Mating. 15 12 3 0 26 6 39 Chch 16 10 3 3 35 15 33 Mt Wgtn 15 10 2 3 40 12 32 Napier 16 8 5 3 33 24 29 Hutt V. 16 9 2 5 26 21 29 Waitakere 15 8 3 4 26 23 27 Wgtn 16 8 1 7 24 22 25 Waikato 15 4 7 4 16 17 19 Manurewa 16 5 4 7 18 22 19 Waterside 15 4 3 8 22 29 15 Paptoe 15 3 3 9 19 37 12 Miramar 16 2 4 10 20 26 10 Gisborne 16 2 3 11 14 47 9 N. Shore 16 2 1 13 21 40 7