Cashmere-Technical twins’ double ton raised
The second of Canterbury football’s ‘‘mirror twins’’ has joined his brother in totting up 200 matches for Mainland Premier League football champions Cashmere Technical.
Dan Schwarz – Tech’s centreback and assistant-coach – brought up the milestone in dramatic fashion last Saturday, with a 88th-minute goal in a 1-0 win over Christchurch United while wearing the captain’s armband for the day.
‘‘You couldn’t write it any better than that,’’ Dan Schwarz said of the storybook finish. Schwarz’s twin, Tom, joined the 200-club last season, and Tech goalkeeper Danny Knight is also closing in on a double ton.
Add in Tom’s 159 matches – and Dan’s 34 – for the Canterbury United national league club, and the Schwarz siblings have played around 600 matches in New Zealand
since immigrating from England. Dan said it was ‘‘a nice honour’’ to join his brother and fellow centreback in the record books.
‘‘We’ve played together since we were eight. Apart from the first couple of years Tom was in New Zealand, there hasn’t been a season where we haven’t played in the same team.’’
‘‘We’re called the ‘mirror twins’, with Tom being left-footed and me being right-footed [at the centre of the defence].’’
Tom left England in 2010 to play for Dunedin club Caversham, but soon shifted to Christchurch to turn out for Tech and the Canterbury United Dragons.
Dan joined him in 2013, and since arriving has helped Tech win 16 titles in the Mainland Premier League (6), English Cup (4), South Island Football Championship (4) and ‘‘the two big ones’’, back-toback Chatham Cup national knockout competition titles in 2013-14.
The twins grew up in Winsford, Cheshire and were Stoke City juniors before Walsall as apprentices. Their paths diverged for a while in non-league football, with Tom turning out for Kidsgrove Athletic while Dan was with Witton Albion and Mossley. ‘‘But even then we played in the same Sunday league team,’’ Dan said.
They teamed up again at Kidsgrove for a season before Tom’s move to New Zealand. Dan stayed on a couple of years with the Staffordshire club before joining his twin at Tech.
With a stack of silverware in the trophy cabinet, Dan has no regrets about leaving English football. Playing in two Chatham Cup winning teams, captained by Tom, was a special memory. ‘‘It’s been quite a successful time. We’ve always been up there and pushing for things, and hopefully that will continue.
‘‘It’s a well-run family club. All the players, coaches, board and volunteers and the supporters understand how much work goes on behind the scenes and everyone gives back to the club.’’
As for his milestone goal, Schwarz quipped he had ‘‘completely miskicked it into the goal’’ after pushing up to bolster the attack at a long throw-in. ‘‘It’s probably something I don’t do enough of. But it was nice to get a goal in quite a big game and come away with a 1-0 win.’’
Cashmere Technical president Bill Cowen said the Schwarz brothers were ‘‘talented, necessarily stubborn, serious but with a contagious sense of humour’’, and were ‘‘understandably extreme popular’’ role models at their adopted club.
He quipped Dan was ‘‘quick to point out he is the eldest and had to look after Tom by sharing an incubator with him as Tom had a tough start to life’’. ‘‘They are both colossal for Tech off the field, as well as on it,’’ Cowen said. ‘‘They regularly help out at our junior base at Centennial Park and provide a visible, practical connection with the 500 plus young players.’’