NUAFC 1968-2018

forward to outside of football. A day trip to London
where a lot of money was spent by the boys on
gear and football shops we could only wish to have
in NZ. There were floors dedicated purely to
football!! Again, going to London was a great
experience and one to remember forever.
The day after London we had a light
training in the morning and to our delight we were
told we were going to Nottingham Forest vs
Leicester where NZ’s Chris Wood has been playing
and scoring goals regularly.
The game had extra edge as the winner
was to gain a spot in the play offs for the premier
league. It was a cracking 5 goal thriller with the
winner coming in the 93rd minute after Chris Wood
set up a team mate for a tap in and a day the
Leicester fans were dreaming of.
All that was left in our way was England.
The team everyone wants to play against. The
country with the greatest league in the world. The
history of football in the country is something
different and we really wanted to be a part of it.
The English approach was similar to that
of Northern Ireland in it being we were only little
NZ and they were receiving their international caps
later that afternoon. A toughly contested first half
meant we went into the sheds at 0-0. After a strong
talk we were told that all will be un-done if we
don’t get a result here. This is the game everyone
will look at and say “but you lost to England”.
Determined not to let people make these
assumptions about our team we came out firing.
After winning the ball high we got 1 on 1 and our
top goal scorer on the tour made no mistake of the
finish. We found ourselves 1-0 up vs England.
Something we were dreaming of with 20 minutes
left of the tour.
However a host of opportunities that
could have put the game to bed weren’t taken and
England made no mistake of their chance when it
came with 10 minutes to go and our fairy tale
ending was taken away from us. The draw was still
a great result and something to be proud of.
We were still the most successful tour to
go to the UK and achieved some great results. The
experience was awesome, training twice a day and
focusing solely on football was something I could
get used to. With the added experience of seeing
Dublin and London and going to watch some live
games it made the tour even more special.
All that faced us now was the 30 hour
return flight back to Auckland!! Results: vs
Scotland 1-1 vs Northern Ireland 2-0 win vs
Ireland 1-2 loss vs Wales 2-1 win vs England 1-1
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank all the people that have helped me get to
where I am today and for making this tour possible,
especially all of my family and main sponsors Mum
(Liz), Dad (Paul) and brother (Danyon). Also big
thanks to all the other generous groups and people
especially the Mizuno Half Marathon Trust for
donating and sponsoring money to help me get
over there.
Thank you to the team at Narra for
providing a great place to play football and grow
with the game. The experience of International
football was special and if it wasn’t already clear to
me it is after having a taste of this type of football
that I now need to work harder if I am to have pro
football full-time in my life.
Reid Drake
New Zealand Schoolboys Tour Squad
Judd BAKER—Westlake Boys’ High School
Daniel BOWKETT—Wellington College
Sam BROTHERTON—Westlake Boys’ High School
Luke BULAY—Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Hamish CADIGAN—Papanui High School
Henry CRAYTON—St Peter’s College, Cambridge
Reid DRAKE—St Peter’s College, Cambridge
Jacob HARRIS—Kapiti College
Damien HIRST—Kelston Boys’ High School
Cameron HOGG—Mount Albert Grammar School
Shuiab KHAN—Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Stewart McKAY— Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Xavier PRATT— St Peter’s College, Cambridge
Daniel RIDGELY—Auckland Grammar School
Cameron SINCLAIR—Mount Albert Grammar
Ben THOMAS—Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Jevon WILLIAMS—St Peter’s College, Cambridge
Jared GIBBS—St Kentigern College
Non-Travelling Reserves . . . . .
Harrison EDEN—ACG Parnell College, Auckland
Charlie MORRIS—Wellington College
Staff . . . . .
Danny HAY—Head Coach
Jim DALE—Assistant Coach
Neil PENFOLD—Team Manager
John O’DRISCOLL—Physiotherapist
Tony AMBROSE—Tour Leader
2013
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