NUAFC 1968-2018

1982 Ngaruawahia-AFFCo 7th Grade I, Division 3
1982
Damien Mahara (19 goals)
John Newman
Nicholas Brown
Jeremy Payne
Roger Trembath
Kane Goodman
George Sunnex
April Henckel
Michael Irvine
TABLE
17 Western United
16 Pukete
9 Tramway Rovers
8 Ngaruawahia I
7 Hamilton East
3 Marist
Rear: Michael Irvine, Damien Mahara, John Newman, George Sunnex, Kathy Irvine (Coach).
Front: Jeremy Payne, Roger Trembath, April Henckel.
Keith got in some telling shots.
Phillip Hunter nearly wiped
himself out of the game when he
collected the far upright trying to push
home a cross and there was a concerned
huddle at the post for a minute or so.
Mike Liddle back-tackled as
fiercely as ever and was always
dangerous on the moves forward. Keeper
Jim Barry dealt effectively with Rovers
efforts at goal and kept his goal intact.
Ngaruawahia Confident of
Winning Next One by Two!
Waikato Times, 27th August 1982
By Steve Waddingham
The Country Foods soccer
league third division promotion race is
going right down to the wire.
On Saturday Oratia United beat
Cornwall 5-2 to set up a finale to the
season which could see three sides tried
on the same points, with the same goal
difference.
Oratia's win means it has
finished the season with 27 points, 39
goals for and 16 against.
Otara Rangers, the league
leader for most of the season, has
finished with 27 points, 38 goals for and
15 against.
And with one game left, against
Tauranga City next weekend,
Ngaruawahia has 25 points, 37 goals for
and 15 against.
So, the season-long three-way
battle for promotion has come down to a
simple equation — Ngaruawahia must
beat Tauranga by two clear goals to win
the division and be certain of playing in
the second division next year.
Should Ngaruawahia achieve its
aim, it will be up to the Auckland
Football Association, the league's
administering body, to decide which
team will take the second promotion
spot.
Both Otara and Oratia have
finished with a goal difference of plus
23. Oratia has scored more goals — by
one — but the AFA may decide on a
play-off.
The situation would become
even more complicated if Ngaruawahia
was to beat Tauranga 1-0.
In that case all three teams
would finish on 27 points, with a goal
difference of plus 23 — a situation unprecedented
in the history of the league.
Whichever way the decision
goes, one of the teams involved in the
dramatic run to the post is going to be
the unluckiest team in years to miss
promotion.
Ngaruawahia coach Dave Hall
is certain his side will not be the one to
miss out.
"We should beat Tauranga by
five or six goals," was Hall's confident
prediction.
"There is nothing in it for
Tauranga, whereas there is everything in
it for us.
"We beat Tauranga 4-1 in
Tauranga when they were still fighting to
avoid relegation. Now they are certain to
stay up, and they have nothing to gain by
beating us".
Hall said his team was "totally
keyed up" for the Tauranga match, and
de­termined to win the league, rather
than finish second.
"There is no doubt in our minds
we can do it. The only question as far as
we are concerned, is which team is going
to finish second".
Tauranga added spice to the
situation by hammering Pt Chevalier 5-1
on Saturday, a result which made its
third division place safe for another year.
That win, added to Tauranga's other endof-season
results, shows it will not be a
side to be taken lightly by Ngaruawahia
at Centennial Park next Saturday.
We’ll Go Up,
Says Boss Hall
Waikato Times, 3rd September 1982
By Steve Waddingham
Ngaruawahia-AFFCO United
will be in the Country Foods soccer
league second division next year,
That's the confident prediction
from coach Dave Hall as his side faces a
crucial last game against Tauranga City
at Centennial Park, Ngaruawahia
tomorrow.
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