NUAFC 1968-2018

1977
division.
If United can maintain the spirit it
showed on Saturday through the
remainder of its Northern fourth
division matches, it should stay
clear of relegation and have time
to strengthen its weak spots.
ALL-ROUND STRENGTH
The all-round strength of
Huntly was too much for United
to contain but one can only speculate
what the score would have been if
Huntly had been without canny
striker Hugh Malone and captain
Graham Hancock.
Malone put away two brilliant goals
and Hancock scored one in the last
minute, after hitting the woodwork
three times and thinking it was not
his lucky. day. But it was also
Hancock's command in mid­field
which was a telling factor in the
game.
United had its own heroes.
For m er Ha m i l t on player Eddie
Carrigan was named as his team's
man of the match.
He had a solid game in the centre
of United's defence along with
Graeme Bowers, while
midfielder Malcolm Sowerby
worked like a beaver all over the
park and captain John Brown
showed ball skills up front.
Where United fell down once again
was lack of finishing power.
Brown was fighting a solo battle up
front, without support against the
likes of J i m m y M oye s a n d
D ou g Snapes in Huntly's defence.
SHORTLIVED
Surprisingly it was United who
came out attacking from the kickoff,
but this situation was shortlived
when Huntly found its feet on
the slippery surface.
Huntly went into the lead after
10 minutes when Hancock caught
the United defence unawares with
a quick piercing ball down the
centre to Malone, who turned on the
spot and hammered a right foot
shot into the net from 15 metres.
United was beginning to leave
gaps at the back, so Ken Murray
was moved from midfield to the
defence — allowing Hancock and
his men even more space to set up
moves in the middle.
Huntly turned on the pressure
straight after the break. Within five
minutes Hancock had shot against
the United crossbar twice, Carrigan
made a goal-line clearance and the
United defence scrambled the ball
clear in a goalmouth melee.
To their credit, the United
players never gave in and had a
few promising breaks. Their first
true scoring opportunity came in
the 69th minute when Brown
56
mis­connected with a loose ball
in front of the Huntly goal.
A couple of minutes later right
winger Charlie Gorman charged
down his flank and only had
Huntly's goalkeeper Warren
Mankelow to beat when he halfheartedly
kicked wide.
FAST PACE
In the last 15 minutes the pace
was fast and furious as United tried
hard to equalise and Huntly tried
equally hard to make sure of a
win.
With about seven minutes to go
Huntly left winger Alan Nobilo
beat his marker Barklay McGhie
and put a hard cross along the
byline.
United keeper Sandy MacDonald
could not hold the ball and the evereager
Malone pounced to bang
home the rebound.
From then until the final
whistle, Huntly ran riot. A long
range Hancock blast just skimmed
t h e p ost a n d a Moyes' header hit
the cross section of the bar and
post.
Hancock eventually gained a
reward for his efforts when he ran
in to head home a Moyes' free
kick in the dying seconds of the
game.
Ngaruawahia Soccer
in 1-13 Rout
The Huntly Press
Wednesday June 8th, 1977
With the junior grades games
cancelled all interest focussed on the
senior section of the Ngaruawahia-
Affco soccer club. Two wins, a draw,
three losses topped off a changeable
weekend.
The Ladybirds lost 0-2 to
Wanderers with the Under-16s
defeating Fraser 6-4 (4th div.). The 3rd
division had a royal time over Unicol
to the tune of 7 goals to nil, while the
2nd division held off a challenge from
Claudelands to draw 2-2 with goals
from Dean Haggie and Bruce
McIntosh.
An early game at 11:00 am
between Ngaruawahia and Hamilton
1st division saw Ngaruawahia go from
a 1-1 early start to a 1-13 rout. With a
slippery ball and no gloves, keeper
Czichy for Ngaruawahia had to parry
nearly every shot. His moment of glory
came when he pushed a penalty off the
line but could not recover in the
slippery goalmouth to stop the second
shot. In this instance he did not have
the advantage of the defence coming in
to cover the rebound, all being
spectators of the initial save.
Hamilton handled the
conditions more effectively than did
United and played the game with short
balls until a through ball could be used
to best advantage. Tony Armstrong
netted for the home team to avert the
“duck”.
The United senior team lost
their sight of the Chatham Cup when
they were eliminated 3-0 by Huntly
Thistle in the Waikato finals.
Lower level results
Huntly Press
June 15th 1977
An enviable record has been
established by one of Ngaruawahia-
Affco United’s two consistently
winning t ea m s - th e 8th an d
t h e 13th grades.
The 8th grade (un der 12
yea r s) boa st s thr ee Wa i kato
r eps an d from six games played
to d a t e h a v e w o n 5 a n d
drawn 1, gaining 40 goals and
conceding 2. Striker John Bell
has amassed 21 of th ese goa l s
dist antl y chased by Paul
McMillan with 11.
Peachgrove were at the
recei ving end of the on slaught
on Saturday when J o h n B e l l
p u t 5 g o a l s t h r ou gh wi t h
P a ul M c Millan and Kerry
McKee addin g on e ea ch. Goa l ­
keeper Keri McGee touched th e
ba l l t wi ce i n th e match but
wa s still well in vol ved wi th his
t eam.
Pe te r McGe e an d Phil i p
Gray played the consistent
football expected of them and all
the team showed a devel oping
cohesion not a l t og e t h e r
a p p a r en t i n 9th grade yea rin
1976, wh er e th ey fin i sh ed th e
season in the middle of the table.
Coach Glen Gray feels t h a t
p e r h a p s t h e t e a m should have
been graded by the Hamilton
Association as "A" division, but
the boys are making the most
of the B di vi si on. The team has
been carryi n g n o r e s e r v e s
s i n c e Graham Herman, one
of th e squads out standin g
forwards, suffered injury four
weeks ago and had to withdraw
from the team.
G a r y R i d l e y h a s be e n
really dependable and confiden t
in defen ce, con sistently setting
up counter-attacks from
opposition forays.
Other results: Northern
L e a g u e dr e w 2 - 2 wi t h Hi gh
School Old Boys of Auckland. 1st
division lost 1. 2 t o Wa n der er s.
2n d divi si on l ost 0. 7 t o T e
Aroha. 3rd division lost 1.2 to