NUAFC 1968-2018

1974
Newspaper clippings from the Huntly Press & The Waikato Times (1974)
Ngaruawahia United
Begins Season With Two
Points
Huntly Press, 1974
A determined Ngaruawahia
United Soccer team turned out
to meet Camer on in th e fi r st
m at ch of the 2nd Division
Competiti on for 1974. United
had t h i s a s a h o m e g a m e
a ga i n s t t h ei r op p on en t s wh o
had pr evi ousl y been m e m ber s
of Un i t e d . Al th ough Cam er on
had l ost the services of their
newly acquired coach, Dave
Hall, United wer e not going t o
take them lightly and had been
wor king on a hea vy fitness
programme to great success
over the proceeding two weeks.
United opened well with some
probing runs to test t h e
C a m er on d e fen c e t o find that
Chris and Murray Barakat kept a
ver y ti ght r e i n i n fr on t of
k e e p e r Ba r r y O l d . E a r l y i n
t h e match Charlie Gorman was
pull ed down just outside th e
penal t y ar ea. Ge or ge Sunnex
diverted the defensi ve wall t o
all ow Sandy MacDonald to
drive a shot into the - top right
corner. However, the goal was
disallowed through a pla yer
being offside.
Maurice Frankhouser
h a d t o l e a v e t h e f i e l d
throug h b e i n g i n j u r e d i n a
t a c k l e a n d h i s b e r t h w a s
t a k e n by newcom er Kevin
Riley. Kevin had an excellen t
game and has an e ye on keeping
this spot.
Charlie Gorman, fully
recovered from his crippling
injury early last season, put
United's name on the board with
a scintillating run onto a through
ball and had no difficult y
beating the Cameron keeper,
who had failed to come out to the
shot.
In the second half Came r on
t r i e d t o p u t on t h e pr essur e
by br in ging for ward their
defence players and dropping
back some att a c k e r s t o t r y a n d
i n s t i l s om e fr e sh vi g our a n d a
means of breaking through a
solid defence. Jeff Brunn i n g ,
M a l c ol m B ur t a n d M i k e
L i d d l e h a r r i e d t h e attackers in
midfield with such success that
few dangerous attacks could
devel op. A pla yer that had th e
Cameron defence concern e d
w24
a s n e w c o m e r D a v e
B e n ne t t on Un i t e d' s l e ft
wing. He nearly goal ed in his
fi r st ga m e for Un i t ed wh en h e
c a l m l y br ou g h t down a high
ball and wrong footed it just over
the bar.
George Sunnex and Neil
Gorman combined well in the
forwards and it was onl y t h e
ur g e of G e or g e t o shoot too
early that Barry O l d,
C a m er on ' s. K e ep er , wa s a bl e
t o m eet man y of th e sh ot s. It
wa s C harlie G or man t hat
sea l ed Un i t e d ' s w i n wh e n h e
w on a chase between himself
and Bar r y O l d for a t h r ou g h
ball and side-footed it past him
i n t o t h e n e t t o g i ve United a 2
-0 advantage.
A t t h i s st a g e Cam er on thr ew
ever ybod y i n t o th e a t t a c k a n d
t h e i r d e fen c e looked as though
Ngaruawahia’s defence might
c r um bl e a t a n y m om en t .
Unit ed, sati sfi ed with th e
s c or e, br ough t t wo m or e
players, Brunning and Burt, into
th e ba ck lin e t o con tain
Cameron's drive.
June 13th 1974
After 45 minutes of play the Waikato
second division soccer match between
Fraser and Ngaruawahia was
abandoned by the referee when the
Fraser pitch became water-logged
and unplayable.
At this stage Fraser was up 1-0.
This game was the only one rained
off, as other pitches carried the
weather well and play was possible.
Fraser's goal came when Ngaruawahia
keeper Nightingale dived out to
meet a skidding ball, only to have it
stop in a muddy patch short of his
fingers for Fraser, to net.
OPPORTUNITIES
Thereafter Ngaruawahia began to
press and missed many
opportunities and it should have
been only a matter of time before the
deficit was rectified.
The match will probably be
replayed later in the, season
April 13th 1974
An eagerly awaited match against
Cambridge was played on Sunday,
Ngaruawahia travelling to
Cambridge to conclude the game
due to have been played at Easter
weekend.
With each game Peter Vela,
Ngaruawahia striker, has improved on
his form and took a personal tally of
four goals home with him, one being
a classic header. Brunning,
B ul l i v a n t a n d G or ma n
brought up the tally to seven.
After three goals in the first 10
minutes Ngaruawahia relaxed again.
It was not until they played into the
wind in the second half that more
action was seen with a further four
goals.
Cambridge netted from a penalty
when defender Ian Todd called out
his keeper's name to take the ball
instead of his position.
Ngaruawahia had the greater part
of the possession but, as in the past,
could do little with it. But the
developing striking power in
Charles Gorman and Vela should
see things rectified in coming
matches.
Although Ngaruawahia would
like to have seen Hamilton beaten by
Cameron for an increased points
advantage, three points lead is still
handy with one game outstanding.
April 13th 1974
Ngaruawahia first division made a
poor start to the soccer season
by going down 4-1 to Hamilton
and 4.0 to Claudelands in the first
two games. Ngaruawahia came up
from second division last season to
play in a grade which would force it
to improve its style of football and so
far Hamilton and Claudelands have
been dishing out the lessons.
However. it is early in the season
and positions are bound to change
frequently as the round progresses.
Ngaruawahia third division has had it
easy in its first two matches and
accumulated 14 goals at the
expense of Fraser (4-1) and
Putaruru 2 (9­0). Jeff
McLaughlin and his brother
Trevor McLaughlin have collected
eight goals between them.
Newcomer Mike Liddle looks a s
though he will pose a serious
threat to the first divi­sion goalkeeping
position if he continues to progress
as he has in the last two months.
The battle is on in the third
division. After playing each other
once, the teams will be split into two
sub-divisions. Ngaruawahia has the
aim of staying where it is on the
table.
April 20th 1974
With one match in hand, Ngaruawahia
United holds the lead on goal