Soccer: Chances go begging for Kingz

By BOB PEARCE

The Kingz did everything but score in their 0-0 draw with Marconi at Ericsson Stadium last night, and the one point leaves them needing miracles to make the playoffs.

Nobody could fault their commitment, but Andy Vlahos, Harry Ngata, James Pritchett and Patricio Almendra all had glorious chances which went begging.

And when a goal seemed inevitable the post and defenders' legs, and possibly arms, kept the ball out of the net.

Marconi also had chances, but Jonathon Perry and Mauro Donoso kept the dangerous Joe Spiteri under control

Jeremy Christie's debut for the Kingz almost began with a disaster.

Fresh from Barnsley, the former New Zealand under-17 captain was caught out of position by Spiteri and pulled him down on the edge of the penalty area.

Fortunately the free-kick was cleared and Christie improved as the first half progressed.

In fact, the Kingz dominated the first quarter and should have scored.

After 19 minutes Vlahos outwitted the defence and found Almendra unmarked with the goalkeeper out of position.

But the Chilean opted for a chip which flew over the goal, when a placement might have been better.

Almendra, as usual, carried out a one-man war with the Marconi defence. His niggling tactics brought an attempted punch from Shane Webb in the 23rd minute, but referee Con Diomis decided it was a handbag wave and opted for no action.

Potentially more dangerous was a studs-up tackle from Alex Brosque, which sent Donoso to the sideline for treatment.

Brosque, a former Australian under-20 player, got behind the defence in the 32nd minute, but was thwarted by Michael Utting's legs.

On the stroke of halftime Marconi almost scored against the run of play.

Utting failed to clear from a corner and Michael Thwaite's shot was blocked on the line by Raf De Gregorio.

At halftime, Mark Beldham, whose speed on the left had stretched the Marconi defence, was replaced by the more experienced Burton..

Almost immediately the Kingz made a mess of a golden opportunity. Angelo Costanzo dallied too long on the edge of his penalty area. The ball fell to Ngata, but instead of shooting, he slipped the ball to Almendra, who was blocked.

At the other end Spiteri was just wide as the Kingz' defence lost their composure for a moment..

In the 53rd minute Pritchett volleyed a cross from Vlahos on the left, but it flew wide over a defender's shoulder.

Two minutes later Pritchett laid the ball back to Burton and he hit the post with the goalkeeper beaten.

In the 78th minute Vlahos found Ngata unmarked in front of goal, but he shot wide.

Then Burton had a free header from six metres but Webb cleared it off the line.