The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 50

49 The Sydney Morning Herald Sport Norman pockets 000 00 kins win l' Picture by BfcN RI'SHTON Demons' coach Les Scheinflug who believes his team will surprise many critics this season I am lucky in that I have many of the best youngsters in the country here at the Why the Demons believe they have the talent and that time will do the rest in GOLF a variety of markers for the following 17 holes. "When they got to the second tee some started hitting off the white, some off others and so we had no choice but to abandon the round," the spokesman said. The decision means yesterday's scores will not count, and the round will be replayed this afternoon at Keysborough. A total of 180 players teed up at Keysborough and Rosanna courses, vying for 20 places in the 120-strong field. The Coca-Cola Classic, to be played on Royal Melbourne's famed composite course, is a new tournament being promoted by the Japanese Dunlop Sports Enterprises company.

Twenty spots in the field have been reserved for leading Japanese players, many of whom played in last week's Palm Meadows Cup on the Gold Coast Other major drawcards are former US Open champion Scott Simpson, Bicentennial Classic winner Rodger Davis and Bruce Crampton, one of the first Australians to succeed on the US circuit and who is now making a killing on the US senior tour. One man who will not be there is Norman who is flying borne to Florida to supervise the move into his new multi-million dollar home. In Palm Desert, California, Steve Jones beat Paul Azinger and Masters champion Sandy Lyle, of Scotland, in a sudden death playoff to win the SUS1 million (SAI.I6 million) Bob Hope Classic on Sunday. Jones, a three-stroke winner last week in the Tournament of Champions that opened the 1989 Professional Golfers Association Tour season, became the first golfer since Gil Morgan in 1983 to win the first two tournaments of the season. In Kingston, Betsy King, riding a seven-stroke lead into the final round, scored a comfortable six-shot victory in the SUS500.000 (SA580.300) Jamaica Classic on Sunday.

King shot a one-under-par 70 for an 11 -under winning total of 202 to take the first prize in the .1 Injury toll puts Arok on the spot The injury worries of Socceroo coach Frank Arok continued last weekend when Sydney Olympic stopper George Haniotis was carried off during a trial match at the Croatian Sports Centre. Haniotis. who gained his first Socceroo cap when he came on for the final 10 minutes of the World Cup match against Fiji last month, strained his ankle ligaments after only 15 minutes of the match against Sydney Croatia, and may be out of action for at least four weeks. The injury could not have come at a worse time for Arok, who in the past month has seen regular sweeper Charlie Yankos head overseas under a three-year deal with Greek club PAOK Salonika and his stopper Garry McDowall break down with an Achilles tendon injury. Their absence and doubts over the fitness of Haniotis will force Arok to field a makeshift combination in the centre of bis defence for the two-match series against visiting Swedish champions Malmo next month.

St George skipper Andrew Koczka is likely to replace Yankos at sweeper, while candidates for the centre-half position include Sydney Olympic pair Robert Hooker and Andrew Bernal and Adelaide City utility Alex Tobin. One piece of good news to emerge from the trial match at Edensor Park, won 2-1 by Sydney Croatia, was the successful return from injury of fullback Wally Savor. After four months on the sidelines with a knee injury. Savor was one of tfce best players on view and is in line for a recall to the national team against Malmo. St George, boosted by a l-l draw in a trial match against champions Marconi last Friday night, are on the verge of signing Socceroo utility Ernie Tapai.

The impending loss of Pedro Ricoy to Apia-Leichhardt has created a vacancy for an attacking midfielder and coach Arok is keen to secure Tapai after a failed attempt to snare him two seasons ago. However, Tapai will not be available for the full season. The Melbourne City player trialled with Belgian champions Club Brugge last month and plans to return to Belgium for pre-season training in mid-June. Tapai played for Melbourne City in a Buffalo Cup match last weekend. However, his desire to further his Socceroo career under Arok seems likely to sway him to move to Sydney.

St George have also signed former Sydney City midfielder Andrew Harper, considered an outstanding prospect before he opted to spend most of last year on holiday in Europe. Meanwhile the Saints are certain to use former Socceroo striker Gary Cole to spearhead their attack against visiting South Melbourne in the opening match of the West End National League season on Friday night. MICHAEL COCKERILL Quick strikes see Forest home LONDON, Monday: Goals by Gary Parker and Nigel Clough gave Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win over Tottenham in their English first division soccer clash at White Hart Lane yesterday. Parker opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, and Clough added his goal in the next minute. Chris Waddle got Tottenham's reply just before half-time.

Forest's fifth consecutive league win spoiled the debut of Spurs' Norwegian goalie Eric Thorsvedt, who made a series of fine saves. Greg Norman put a poor showing in the Daikyo Cup at Palm Meadows behind him to walk away with SI 00,000 in a Skins tournament at the New South Wales course at La Perouse yesterday. The event, which received little attention from the media it was shown only on Japanese television featured Norman, Daikyo winner Curtis Strange, American Ray Floyd and Japan's Mashahira Kuromoto. Norman finished equal 19th in the Daikyo tournament at Palm Meadows on the Gold Coast with scores of 75. 68, 73 and 75.

He finished three over par for the four rounds, 19 shots worse than he recorded to win the event last year. But yesterday The Great White Shark looked relaxed during his round on the NSW course, a lay-out for which Norman has always had a liking. "NSW is one of my favourite golf courses in Australia," he said. "I think we all played mundane golf but we had a good match and had a lot of fun." Norman and Strange ended the round with seven stableford points each, leaving organisers in a quandary over how to find a winner. The two players were forced to shoot out from a bunker.

Both finished so close they were able to tap in with their sand wedges. However, Norman finished a fraction closer than Strange, which was enough to gain him victory. Kuromoto was third with four points and Floyd, runner-up behind Strange at Palm Meadows, was a well-beaten fourth and last with a negative four points. Is Melbourne, a blunder by officials means 90 hopefuls will have to tee up again today to try to grab a spot in this week's $600,000 Coca-Cola Classic Red-faced tournament organisers had to abandon a qualifying round at Keysborough Golf Club after admitting that the golfers had been hitting off the wrong-tees. A tournament spokesman said the players were told to hit off the blue markers but, because of an oversight, the markers were missing on all but the first tee.

As a result the players had used we don't succeed. This team is only going to get better and better, and we are prepared to wait." The days are long gone when the Gabbie Stadium was a refuge for veteran players, or what Thorne kindly describes as a "mature When the NSL began in 1977 Blacktown City were in the nether regions of the NSW State League second division, fielding a team largely devoid of local talent. Their promotion to the NSL in 1980, however, changed all that, with their subsequent relegation two seasons later hastening the development of their youth policy. This season the Demons will field only three experienced overseas-born players midfielder Zarko Odzakov and strikers Kevin Hagan and Lawrie McKinna, although they are also in the market for another player of similar description transfer-listed Preston midfielder Ron Campbell. Whatever the final make-up of the team, however, it will be dominated by local books at the Gabbie Stadium, and he likes what be sees.

"The emphasis at this club is never on the $30,000 player," he said. "For us the idea is to get young players and improve them. I am lucky in that I have many of the best youngsters in tbe country here at tbe moment. How long it will take them to succeed I don't know. But I have patience, and so does the club.

There are no Monday morning meetings with the committee here. "I enjoy the fact that there is no interference. There is no pressure to put Italian players, or Greek players, or whatever players into the team. $ly job is to put the best players into the team, whatever their age and wherever they come from. "This is a real challenge for me.

I am really looking forward to getting back into tbe NSL. I want to show people that we can produce a good team without throwing money out of the window. We are going into the competition with tbe aim of winning everything, but we are not going to cut our throats if The low brown-brick building which houses the licensed club in the midst of Seven Hills suburbia is modest enough. So for that matter, is the adjacent stadium facility surrounded on three sides by a low grass bank and marked only by a small brick building behind one set of goals which contains the dressing rooms. Indeed, if you were to perch on a step-ladder in any of the backyards which face the ground, you could peer over the fence and enjoy a free view of the game.

The overriding impression is that Blacktown City, wbo occupy the modest ground labelled the Cabbie Stadium, are not a "big" soccer club in any sense of the word. And yet. The Demons, now back in the West End National League for the third time, are perhaps the biggest thinkers in tbe game. They are a club full of admirable ideals, full of sensible planners, full of vision. Some may say one quality they are short on is ambition, and certainly their trophy cabinet is hardly imposing.

Only the Ampol Cup (1985) offers tangible evidence of their commitment to the highest level. Trophies, however, are not what Blacktown City are about Yes, say club officials, there is ambition here. Yes, says coach Les Scheinflug, there is ambition within himself and his team. Yet the winning formula is unlike any other in the cut-throat national league. Winning, Blacktown City-style, is achieved on a sensible budget with a team full of Australiao-born youngsters, preferably those from tbe local district As a result, patience is a byword at tbe Gabble Stadium, tbe pressure for instant success almost non-existent.

Scheinflug, attracted by the promise of guiding the careers of some of the best young players in the country, was given three years to gain promotion when he joined the club soon after their relegation to the NSW State League in 1986. That he has achieved that goal a year ahead of schedule has delighted club officials. Promotion has not, however, changed the ground rules at the club. "We aim to show the national CLUB FILE: BLACKTOWN CITr -v w. And this policy is not only based on moral grounds.

The Demons benefit financially from using cheaper local players, while eventually they believe their reputation as a district team will lead to a substantial boost in their meagre crowds. "We are a bit like Sydney City used to be, we can afford to put a team on the park with nobody watching it," Thorne said. "But that doesn't mean the licensed club will continue to pour money in la $260,000 grant last yearfif the interest isn't there. We are in the middle of a five-year plan, and in the next two or three years we are putting all our efforts into developing our relationship with the local area. "Our aim is to remain in the NSL for that time, and by the end of the five years we honestly beliete more and more local people will show their appreciation by coming to our games.

There is no point marketing towards people who don't want to buy your product. "By strengthening our ties with the local junior districts, and by promoting ourselves to the youngsters who have not settled on their favourite sport, we are going to improve our crowds." To pave the way for boosting their profile, the Demons have recently appointed national under-16 coach Vic Dalgleish full-time development officer. Tbe club will also embark on a $600,000 upgrading of the Gabbie Stadium at the end of the forthcoming season, and by the time the first full season of summer soccer gets underway in November they expect to have relocated their pitch, built a new grandstand and installed floodlighting suitable for night matches. Ironically, it is by having their licensed club populated by Rugby League supporters that has enabled Blacktown to progress so quickly. Yet if those who pour their money into the poker machines or spend it over the bar are indifferent to the fortunes of the team which plays next door, the chances are that their offspring will take a greater interest.

The Demons, and soccer, are counting on it. up THE and neither he nor Terry Alderman (0-42) were able to influence proceedings as they did in Melbourne on Saturday. Greg Ritchie will lead Queensland in their four-day match against the West Indies, beginning at the Gabba on Friday. Ritchie, who will celebrate his 29th birthday during the match, retained the captaincy of the Maroons following Allan Border's request to stand down from the match. Queensland Cricket Association chairman Alan Pettigrew said he had spoken to Border in Melbourne on the weekend.

"Allan felt a mid-season break would do him good and freshen him up both physically and mentally for some important matches ahead," Pettigrew said. He said while it was important for Queensland to field their 0' YvH Founded! 1949 (as Toongabbie). I Home ground: Gabbie Stadium. JJf I Nickname: The Demons. I Coach: Les Scheinflug.

1 Record crowd: 14.220 Sydney Croatia. 5585! (match transferred to Marconi Stadium). Founded: 1949 (as Toongabbie). Home ground: Gabbie Stadium. Nickname: The Demons.

Coach: Les Scheinflug. Record crowd: 14.220 Sydney Croatia. 5585! (match transferred to Marconi Stadium). Record transfer fee paid: $25,000 to Sydney Croatia for Zarko Odzakov (1988). Record transfer fee received: $25,000 from Marconi for Robbie Wheatley (1986).

Most capped player: Robbie Wheatley (4 caps). SOCCER MICHAEL COCKERILL league that you can be successful on a realistic budget and by using home-grown talent," secretary-manager Peter Thorne said. "This season we will be fielding one of the youngest teams in NSL history, and we are proud of that. I think this club will be around a lot longer than some of tbe other clubs who rely on short-term planning and who spend way beyond their means. "Trophies really mean very little to us.

Our aim is to represent our district at the highest possible level. We don't jump up and down if a few results go against us. We are planning for the long-term, and I'm sure in the end we will get our rewards." There are many within soccer who question those sentiments. Thorne has long been an outspoken administrator, a man whose opinions on tbe way tbe national league is run are rarely disguised. He is a fierce critic of the ethnic oligarchy which he believes controls the game, and his commitment to protecting tbe interests of his club often leads to confrontation.

Certainly, bis forthright views have regularly created tensions within the NSL, and his critics point to a bare trophy cabinet as evidence that Blacktown's methods have not worked. Yet, if Thorne is sometimes guilty of taking the wrong tack, the sentiment behind his logic can hardly be questioned. For all those who criticise the Demons approach, there are many more hoping to see the club succeed. For all the right reasons Blacktown offer the best hope for the future of tbe game, even if they have yet to translate that into on-field success. That, however, may soon change if Scheinflug has bis way.

Tbe former Socceroo coach, who took Marconi to the national championship in 1979, is optimistic his team will surprise many critics this season. As national youth team coach be is ideally placed to appraise the talents of tbe six Young Socceroos he has on bis their 50 from 8.3 overs and the 100 from 1 7.3 overs. Their dominance was such that Border had to abandon his carefully-laid plans. He was compelled to use each of his six bowlers by the 1 9th over. Off spinner Peter Taylor, with Border, the most able of the bowlers, provided the Australians with a moment's respite from the assault when he had Greenidge (a well-crafted 46 from 56 balls with two audacious reverse sweeps against Greg Matthews) neatly caught in the deep by Jones.

While he did not strike the ball with the certainty to which we have become accustomed this summer, Richie Richardson still frustrated the bewildered Australian attack and rejoiced when Viv Richards, his mentor, was reprieved on nought And how costly the lapse by How can thev retaliate, even if they want to? By the dinner break, the Trustees Reserve is beginning to fill. Many of the invited guests have been round in the Brewongle Stand because it offers a better view. But the food is better here. Anything is better than hot dogs, or fried something. Sir Nicholas Shehadie, host for the night, is in good form.

Sir Nick has a way of making everyone comfortable, either through a joke or a kind word. He is still slightly on edge though as he waits for Arrogant Windies romp home to set decider strongest possible side against the tourists, he was sympathetic towards Border's feelings. "He has been playing without a break for 2'i years and the pressure of the Australian captaincy has been an enormous task," Pettigrew said. The 12-strong side named by selectors leaves the way open to start the match with a four-strong pace attack, or three pacemen and two spinners. For the first time this season, aside from the rain-ravaged Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria in which only one day's play was possible, Queensland will field their top-strength pace attack of Craig McDermott.

Carl Racke-mann. Dirk Tazelaar and John Maguire. Greg Ritchie (ciot). Trevor Hohm rke-cot. Trevor Barsbv.

Peler Cjntrell. Peter Clifford. Ian Heaiy. Stuart Law. John Maguire.

Craig McDermott. Carl Rackemann. Dirk Tuelaar and Jeff Walker (12th man to be named). From Page 50 Given that he was severely weakened by three vomiting spells and the demands of hard running in the high heat of the afternoon, Haynes played with extraordinary power and skill. He took his 62 from just 68 balls and struck seven boundaries one, a sensational reaching, square drive with rolling wrist that only the gifted can play.

He and Greenidge played with such spectacular force and arrogance from the earliest part of the innings a score of somewhere between 270 and 300 was inevitable. In Melbourne in the first final, the West Indies reached 50 from 20.4 overs and the 100 from 27.2 overs. Yesterday, with the world's most thrilling opening batsmen on song, the West Indies registered ft'. i -'v 4 i-riiKdw YfSirM- on middle and leg stump. Richards and Richardson took 80 from 66 balls in an exhilarating fourth-wicket stand before Richards was bowled trying lift Merv Hughes over mid-on.

Richards finished with 53 from 40 deliveries with three fours as well as the three sixes and along the way reached 2,000 runs in limited-over matches against Australia at the stunning average of 54.91. Hughes, again preferred to Craig McDermott who, with Simon O'Donnell and Graeme Wood attended to dressingroom duties took four wickets for 16 runs from 17 balls at the swinging death. He would have served the cause better had he been able to restrict Haynes and Greenidge at the top of the innings. His first four overs cost 2816 from his fourth Wilf Slack caps. three Test Stephen Waugh proved to be.

Already peeved that he missed a difficult catch to remove Gus Logie at four (he scored 18) Waugh bowed his head when he put down the master. Richards drove the third ball he received from Border straight to Waugh at mid-on. While the ball swerved away from him at hip height at the death, it was a catch that had to be taken at this level of the game. Hardly believing his good fortune, Richards then launched ai astonishing assault on poor Matthews, hitting him into the bucket seats over long-on and mid-wicket (twice). Matthews, summoned by Border to make the most of the SCG conditions, conceded 62 runs from seven overs 48 from his last five when he consistently bowled too fast and concentrated class war Premier Nick Greiner, who is expected for dinner but is running late.

The Premier arrives shortly after 6 pm and immediately tucks into a meal of chilled soup, slices of lamb and a cheese plate. His minders stand discreetly behind a pot plant. One of the first to rise from the main table, Greiner is especially eager to see the first over of the Australian innings. As port and cocktails are passed around, the Mexican Wave and the anti-members' chant starts again. Cricket ignored in this Slack dies of heart attack BANJUL, Gambia, Monday: West Indian-born England cricketer Wilf Slack collapsed during a cricket match in Gambia today and later died in hospital.

The Middlesex and England opener, who toured Australia with England during the 1986-87 summer, slumped to the ground during a friendly match at Banjul's MacCarty Square between his touring Cavaliers side and the Gambiao national team. A doctor said Slack, 34, died of a heart attack shortly after being taken to hospital. Slack suffered blackouts while batting both at home and abroad. He blacked out while practising in the nets during England's 1986-87 tour of Australia, and last May he was told not to play cricket for two weeks while doctors investigated why he blacked out at the crease during a Middlesex match. Slack played for England in three Tests two against the West Indies in the Caribbean and one against India in England.

From Page SO meet The natives are bored. They attempt a Mexican Wave. After two aborted attempts the rhythmic waving of hands goes right around the ground until it stops near the Members' Stand. Only a few members mockingly raise their hands. The Hill erupts in boos, then the chant "The Members are wankers" begins again.

It is an unsubtle way at getting back at the toffs. Those in the Members' Stand and the Trustees Reserve just laugh. Picture by DORIS THOMAS Greg Norman lets fly with another winning shot during yesterday's Skins tournament at La Perouse..