NUAFC 1968-2018

of one when a def e n s i v e fr e e
k i c k f r om Wanderers came straight
to him. He tra pped the ba ll a nd
ch ipp ed it 30 ya r ds over the
keepers head and into the net. Shots by
Tony Ar mstr ong, Mike Liddle
a nd Geof f B r unni ng had the
power but no direction as they
skidded wide of the 'uprights. An
infringement prevented U nited’s
third goal when a succession of five
consecutive headers was netted on
the fifth attempt.
Ngaruawahia Regains
Lead in Soccer
June 1st 1974 (Huntly Press)
Otorohanga dethroned
Hamilton 2-1 on 'Saturday to
'allow Ngaruawahia United to move
back into top spot in Waikato
second division soccer. United
still ha ve on e gam e u p th e ir
sleeve and will not be play­ing this
off until June 16 at Cambridge.
Hamilton has now had two
losses from nine games to give
them 14 points, whereas
Ngaruawahia has had no losses
from eight games for 15 points
(one draw). Cameron made very
heavy going of their win over
bottom-placed Morrinsville in a
home game to take it 2-0. Of late
Cameron have found it hard to find'
form in the forwards as has Wanderers
who were taken 6-1 by Putaruru.
Ngaruawahia's new sele c t or ,
C ha r l e s G or m a n (snr), showed
some slight satisfaction in the way his
s q u a d w e n t a t W a i k e r i a . Despite
the 8-0 win he was extremely concerned
at the number of wasted ,
balls in
a tta cking pos itions . A t l e a s t s i x
f u r t h e r s hots should lave been
netted. His rearrangement of the
team proved to be an
imp r ovem e n t o n p r e v i o u s lineups.
Neil Gorman was moved out to
left wing to partner his brother
Charlie who filled the inside for
ward spot and Ian Todd, United's top
defender, was instructed to move up
more on attack. The proof of the
pudding was in the eating and United
gained three goals within 10
minutes of the start.
Smith on Waikeria’s left
wing, had a very good game. He had
one shot headed off the line and
another volley palmed around the
post. The Waikeria keeper had a
great day. In spite of the score he
prevented double figures. Rex
Nightingale, Ngaruawahia’s keeper,
had started to improve after an
indifferent period of goalkeeping
and has let through only five of the
301 goals netted by second division
teams this season.
Goals for Ngaruawahia came from
Charles Gorman (4), Peter Vela
(2), Geoff Brunning and Sandy
MacDonald (penalty). These and
other strikers are hoping to carry
Ngaruawahia through a clean sweep
in the next three matches,
Otorohanga, Fraser and Cambridge,
to gain a handy points lead for the
second section of play starting June
22nd.
Interesting Cup Contest
June 8th 1974
An interesting situation is
developing among the top six
placings in the race for the
Marshall Cup in Waikato second
division soccer.
Ngaruawahia appears to have a
secure lead but the trailing five
are all eager to peg them back.
Putaruru has, on paper, superior
striking power with 53 goals to its
credit with a leap back to Te Kuiti
with 44.
However, lea gue leader
Ngaruawahia has a defensive record
second to none after conceding only
six goals in 10 matches. It has been
the inability of the opposition to
score against Ngaruawahia that has
been the problem.
Ngaruawahia proving itself
June 8th 1974
Ngaruawahia United Soccer Club
has started to prove itself this
season after resting low in the second
di­vision competition for the past
four years.
With essentially the same squad as
in previous years it has started to
knit together. It has a defence
second to none in this division but
lacks striking power.
This is not easily remedied as the
senior squad has only 15 players
from which to choose, with no first
division team from which to draw
players.
After nine games in the competition
Ngaruawahia has conceded only one
match-point, and that to Te Kuiti (1­
1), and leads the division by two
points from Hamilton, which has
dropped two games and drawn one
from 10 played .
Under the presidency of Mr Joe
Templeton, the club has grown in
morale if not numbers this season
especially and has its eyes set firmly
1974
on the Marshall Cup. Key players in
the success have been keeper Rex
Nightingale, defender Ian Todd,
link-men Mike Liddle and Geoff
Brunning and strikers Peter Vela
and Charles Gorman.
United is welcoming players to
help build the in-depth strength
of its squad and cannot hope to
move forward until this is
accomplished.
Waikato 2nd Division
Marshall Cup
June 15th 1974
After 45 minutes of play, the
match between Fraser and
Ngaruawahia on Saturday, June 15,
was abandoned by the referee when
the Fraser pitch became waterlogged
and unplayable. At this
stage Fraser were up 1-0.
The second division game was the
only rained off as, other pitches
carried the weather well and play was
possible in other matches.
Fraser's goal came when .
N g a r u a wa h i a k e e p e r R e x
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. Thereafter
Ngaruawahia began t o pr ess a n d
m i ssed m a n y opportunities and it
would , have been only a matter of
time before the deficit was
rectified. The match will probably
be replayed later in the season.
An eagerly awaited match against
Cambridge was played on Sunday,
June 16th, with Ngaruawahia
travelling to Cambridge to
conclude the game due to have
been played on Easter weekend.
Shirley big help
towards victory
June 22nd 1974
J. Shirley, Hamilton's left w i n g e r ,
p e g g e d b a c k Ngaruawahia's lead
by two poi nts wh en h e l ed his
team-mates to a 2-0 defeat of the
league leaders.
Shirley was given too much room in
which to work and both his goals
clipped the near post on their way in.
W. Hume, of Hamilton, blunted
Ngaruawahia's attacks repeatedly and
his headed clearances travelled over
a quarter the length of the field. If
"near things" are to be counted
27