NUAFC 1968-2018

when he headed just wide under
defensive pressure.
Shortly after the turn­around it
was Tozer who pressured the defense
into making a hasty cross-field clearance
in front of the Wanderers goal and Mike
Liddle cracked in a 20 metre left-foot
shot under pressure from a tackling
defender.
Wanderers nearly pulled back
the lead when John Mohn cleared off
the line after Crowe spilled a pressure
save. In the 62nd minute it was again
Tozer who pressured the defense and
Mike Liddle picked up the loose ball to
net his se­cond from 15 metres. Both
Liddle's shots were scored from an
almost prone position as he slid in to win
the kicks.
Immediately after Ngaruawahia's
third goal Wanderers netted a
glancing header that was credited to
Wanderer's Colin Malcolm although it
appeared that the ball came off Steve
Williams back to arc over the advancing
Crowe.
Crowe was called upon to
withstand some added pressure from
Wanderers and made several fingertip
saves with Harman clearing off the line.
Near the end John McDermid
beat the defense and laid the ball back
for John Cyples to place into an open
net, but the ball took an awkward bounce
and the shot went astray.
Keith Mackrell came on for
McDermid and was immediately into
action by nearly putting in a fourth goal.
Harman did a rugby conversion effort
and Jason had a good ranging shot well
saved.
Geoff Harman thoroughly
deserved his Waikato Wines & Spirits
Player of the Day with the Wanderers
counterpart going to Ian Pretswell.
Ten points from six outing
keeps Ngaruawahia well in with a
chance for promotion to the Northern
League 2nd Division next year.
Ngaruawahia Soccer Club
Honoured
Huntly Press, 9th June 1982
Nigel Thorne of the
Ngaruawahia-Affco Soccer Club's 13th
Grade team represented his Club when
he went onto the Mount Smart soccer
field during the Interval at the Watford/
N.Z. game.
Charlie Dempsey (Chair­man
New Zealand World Cup Squad) and
Bertie Mee (Watford Assistant Manager)
presented Nigel with a Plague commemorating
the N.Z. World Cup effort
in recognition of Ngaruawahia's turn-out
in the pre-match parade of Juniors.
Ngaruawahia, being the club
who had travelled farthest, led the parade
of thousands of junior foot­ballers from
the Auckland province and were judged
the best turned-out club (along with
Blockhouse Bay).
Just before the match some of
the Ngaruawahia boys had the
opportunity to exchange kicks with
Wynton Rufer and several other N.Z.
players, as they were positioned behind
the N.Z. goal during the warm-up.
Michael Mercep came home
with his new soccer ball autographed by
both teams vowing never to kick it
again!
Fifty-six juniors and their
parents travelled by bus to the match -
the juniors pay­ing $2.50 for bus fare
return, morning tea, lunch and afternoon
team, and free entry to Mount Smart.
Having notified the Auckland F.A. of
their intended arrival, the parade was
held up until the Ngaruawahia teams
arrived and, with their banner, they lead
their peers onto the ground.
The public address system
acknowledged the boys and girls in the
green strip as parade leaders and the
distance they had travelled. It appeared
that there was no other representation
from the Waikato!
The Plaque received will be
officially presented to the club at
tonight's junior Smorgasbord dinner at
the Ngaruawahia Victorian Restaurant
and will be on permanent display in the
Centennial Park Clubrooms.
Stunning Burst
Waikato Times, 14th June 1982
"That's what we should have
done to them last week," be said, after
watching his northern soccer league third
division side trounce Pt Chevalier 7-1 at
Ngaruawahia's Centennial Park.
Last week Ngaruawahia failed
to take its chances and lost a vital point
in the promo­tion race when it was held
to a 1-1 draw by Pt Chev’ in Auck­land.
"We had our chances last week,
but we couldn't put them away," said
Hall. "This time everything we did
turned out right".
Hero of the day for
Ngaruawahia was Chilean Nacho Reyes,
who scored two goals, set up several
others and deservedly won the man of
the match award.
After the frustrations of last
week, Ngaruawahia made certain of
victory on Saturday by turning a vast
possession advantage into a stunning five
goal burst in the first 30 minutes.
Fullback Geoff Harman started
the rout with a goal after only six
minutes, and inside 12 minutes
Ngaruawahia was two up through a
Keith Mackrel intercept.
Mackrel was on hand again 13
minutes later to put Ngaruawahia three
up with a powerful shot, and although Pt
Chev broke back only a minute later to
pull one back, the result was already a
fore­gone conclusion.
Reyes slammed home two goals
from identical moves within two minutes
to give the home side a 5-1 halftime lead.
1982
Midfielder Steve Williams,
who had a goal disallowed in Auckland
last week, put two more in the back of
the net in the opening minutes of the
second spell, but again had both ruled
out by the referee.
But he had the satisfaction of
making the sixth for John McDermid
and finally got his name on the score
sheet six minutes from fulltime when he
nodded home from a free-kick.
Still on Course For
Promotion
Waikato Times, 21st June 1982
Ngaruawahia-AFFCO United's
chances of promotion took a hammering
at the hands of a never-say-die Kelston
West side.
With nothing to lose and
everything to gain, Kelston threw the
works at second placed Ngaruawahia and
came away with a well earned 1-1 draw.
Player of the day Steve
Williams gave Ngaruawahia a dream
start with a powerful header from a
Natcho Reyes corner in the 17th minute.
But Kelston, second from
bottom before Saturday's game, showed
fire and determination to fight back, and
equalised in the 30th minute from a bad
Ngaruawahia defensive error.
Ngaruawahia held a massive
territorial and possession advantage, but
Kelston had the better of a torrid second
half, and only a fine penalty save from
former Hamilton keeper Jim Barry kept
Ngaruawahia in the game.
Agonizing Football
Waikato Times, 28th June 1982
Ngaruawahia-AFFCO United
had to suffer through 45 minutes of
agonising foot­ball before clinching a 2-
1 win over Huntly Thistle, keeping its
promotion hopes burning.
The match looked more like a
trapeze act than a soccer game as players
from both sides dived so often some of
them spent more time on the ground than
on their feet.
It was a gutsy effort from
Huntly, especially in the second spell
and for long periods the Ngaruawahia
defence was pounded by long balls and
the hard running of Geoff Flowerday and
Jock Farries.
Ngaruawahia, had looked set to
run away with the game late in the first
spell when goals in the 34th and 39th
minutes had it well on top.
Tiny right winger Keith
Mackrell took the first with hard
running which turned a hopeful through
ball into a class goal.
The second came when Huntly
goalkeeper Ray Foran fumbled and Jeff
Tozer knocked home a well-placed shot
from a narrow angle.
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