NUAFC 1968-2018

1998
17 AUG 1998 , Edition 2, Page 17.
Whistle goes on Ngaruawahia's fairytale run
By: ANDERSON Ian
Spirit, dreams and support can take you a long way.
But they can't produce magic.
Ngaruawahia United's fairytale Chatham Cup run
ended in Dunedin yesterday with a 2-0 loss to Dunedin
Technical. The inevitable finally happened --
Ngaruawahia got beaten by a better side.
The home team, unbeaten this year and Cup
semifinalists for the third successive year, deserved the win.
But Ngaruawahia can hold their heads high.
They scrapped for every meagre morsel of
possession, ran until legs and lungs gave out and nearly,
possibly, could have grabbed another miraculous victory.
But Tech survived two close shaves and their size, strength
and pace eventually told.
Nikolai Helwig came close to hero status after 20
minutes when Scott Granville's free-kick, with a gale-force
breeze behind it, rebounded off Tech goalkeeper Rod
Renfrew's chest and Helwig poked his shot goalward only
for a desperate defending leg to deflect the ball over the
crossbar from near point-blank range.
Aaron Kingi flashed a header from a corner
centimetres over just minutes later but the match turned
when Kingi was off the field receiving urgent treatment for a
nasty gash to the head suffered from a clash when bravely
clearing a dangerous cross.
With Ngaruawahia down to 10 men temporarily,
Tech cut through the heart of the visiting defence to set up
striker Rod Fleming, and although his first shot was blocked
brilliantly by keeper Simon Eady, the rebound fell neatly for
Fleming to blast home after 36 minutes.
As Dunedin coach Roger Brooks admitted
afterwards, the goal settled the nervy favourites and
disheartened the tenacious underdogs.
The diminutive twin strikeforce of Glen Brown
and Helwig struggled to make any headway in the second
spell into the wind as Tech pressed forward regularly, but
the game wasn't decided until Graham Marshall snuck in
behind the Ngaruawahia defence with 15 minutes left.
Defender Marcus Traill tried valiantly to make up
the ground but his lunge as Marshall shot could only provide
a deflection which left Eady stranded and the home
supporters jubilant.
Eady produced a handful of superlative saves and
his handling of crosses was exemplary.
Brian Hayes was inspirational too for his adopted
winter league side in the centre of the park. It wasn't a day
when anyone from Ngaruawahia should have felt down,
despite the result. The dream was over, but it was marvellous
while it lasted.
Ngaruawahia not only shook
off any possible effects of a Chatham
Cup hangover in division one but went
goal crazy also (in Ngaruawahia terms.)
The team which has struggled to net
24 Aug 1998 , Edition 2, Page 17.
Ngaruawahia goes goal crazy
By: ANDERSON Ian
goals all season got them from a classic
Matty Williams strike engineered by
Stu Watene, Marcus Traill and reserve
-team call-up Andrew Kettler as they
beat Papakura City 3-2 to stay
comfortably mid-table. Melville United
got a 1-1 away draw with University and
are ninth in the 12-team league.
WAIKATO TIMES, 31 AUG 1998 , Edition 2, Page 12.
Ngaruawahia on a roll
By: ANDERSON Ian
Ngaruawahia United could cap off the
best season in the club's history with
third place in the Northern League
division one soccer competition.
United thumped Manurewa 4-
0 at home on Saturday to climb to fifth
spot in the league and can rise further
if their excellent form continues.
Coach Jeff Coulshed has reminded his
players since the end of the fairytale
Chatham Cup run recently not to finish
the season on a low note. His players
have responded to the call.
Nikolai Helwig netted a hat
trick for the winners at Centennial Park
with captain Matty Williams getting
the other. This week's encounter will
be a lot harder however,
with Ngaruawahia still likely to be
without the injured Kerry Hawkes and
Gary Kingi and the unavailable
Wayne Bates for an away trip to
already promoted Tauranga City.
At the end of this 1998 season, after 15 years in the green jersey, Regan MacDonald moved with his computer
expertise to Sydney Australia where he works as an IT Solutions Manager. He became heavily involved in Futsal as a
player and a club administrator as well as running an Australian Futsal website over the following 24 years.
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