NUAFC 1968-2018

wingers Stuart Lawrence and Colin
Shannon, who both showed touches of
close ball control before crossing to
the centre.
But although Unicol striker John
Villiger persevered he was either
beaten by Brown, Bowers or the pitch,
and Unicol's other front man Russell
Holmes never really got stuck in until
the second-half.
The mud saved United in the 25th
minute when Shannon sent a through
ball to Villiger who shot just outside
the penalty area, but the ball
stopped dead before it reached the
goal and was cleared from the
danger zone.
Unicol looked well on top for the
first 25 minutes, then the home side
started to put some hopeful moves
together up front.
In the 29th minute Philip Bullivant
worked his way down the right wing
to cross to United teammate Mike
Liddle who managed to get in a
reasonable shot.
Two minutes later following a Charlie
Gorman corner, referee Peter Hawes
surprised most spectators and players
by pointing to the penalty spot. Brown
took the kick and sent Grimes the
wrong way to put his team ahead.
Hawes said after the game that the
culprit who conceded the penalty was
Holmes who, he claimed, nudged a
United player before the ball arrived
from the corner kick.
After the downpours of the first-hale,
the rain subsided to make playing and
spectating more pleasurable for the
latter 45 minutes.
Straight into the second spell
Brown caused havoc when he
lobbed a freekick from near halfway
deep into the Unicol area and he had
Grimes thumbling the ball round the
post.
Eventually in the 61st minute Brown
put a .foot wrong to concede a penalty
with a last-ditch tackle which tripped up
Shannon, who had been sent clean
through by Holmes.
Given the chance to compensate for
the penalty infringement he was alleged
to have committed, Holmes made
no mistake when he took the spotkick
to equalise.
From then until the final whistle
both sides struggled hard to gain the
final advantage, but despite
scrambles at either end nobody
seemed to have the power left in their
legs to drive home the ball, by then a
heavy mass of sodden leather.
United Frightens Kelston
West
The Huntly Press
Wednesday August 10th, 1977
Northern League 4th Division
Ngaruawahia-Affco United
soccer team comfortably swinging easy
in sixth place in the Northern League 4th
division threw a major scare into secondplace-holders
Kelston West at
Blockhouse Bay on Saturday.
It was Kelston that had netted
three goals in eight minutes to beat
United 3-2 in the last meeting and with
nothing to lose on the table United went
out with an attacking team with John
(the Boot) Brown captaining from the
centre-back spot and five front-runners
in Vuletich, Gorman, Bullivant, Liddle
and Haniff.
Kelston applied early pressure
and netted in the first five minutes to
have it disallowed for offside, but came
back two minutes later from a free-kick.
Bowers cleared off the line but the ball
was smartly returned to the net to give
Kelston a 1-0 advantage.
John Brown equalised for
United from the half-way line when his
direct free kick powered over the
keeper’s fingertips and dropped under
the bar. United had a narrow escape
when a long drive was tipped onto the
bar by Sandy MacDonald in goal and
the rebound lodged back between his
elbows to cheat the fast follow-through
of the Kelston striker.
Long balls from John Brown
had the opposition defence working hard
and United were unfortunate in not being
able to latch onto several. In the second
half Brown put away a penalty to take
United 2-1 up and then Vuletich and
Haniff added another, both being
disallowed.
MacDonald pulled off a fine
diving save late in the game but could
not keep Kelston from equalising in the
last two minutes when a lobbing cross
was met at the far post by a striker who
had eluded the defence to enable Kelston
to salvage one point.
United travelled north with no
reserves and were well please with their
performance despite having left their top
defender at home. John Brown was
awarded player of the day.
Unicol Downed 3-1
Waikato Division 3
What has two legs, drives
trucks and flukes goals? Answer –
SuperStaf. Striker Stafford McGhie set
the early pace for the 3rd division “Dad’s
Army” soccer team against Unicol of
Hamilton at Ngaruawahia. Using only
the tips of his booted toes Staf slotted
home the first off the inside of the post
following a fine low cross and then,
shortly afterward, cunningly screwed the
ball in from across the face of the goal,
1977
having eluded the keeper and fullback.
Staf was trying to centre the ball at the
time!
Unicol pulled one back in the
second half through courtesy of Ben
Henckel whose defensive tactics fooled
everyone except the referee and a
correctly awarded penalty was given.
Ben later denied any allegations of foul
play!
Glen Solomon illustrated the
strength of the schoolboy talent in the
side by finishing off a fine move by
United with a goal. William Harding
and Andy Bell, previously of the 4th
division got through a tonne of work
with Grant Prendergast having a
steady game between the “sticks”.
Haggie & Cargo Make
Debut
The Huntly Press
Wednesday August 10th, 1977
Northern League 4th Division
Dean Haggie and Jason Cargo
made their first forays into the Northern
League soccer competition for
Ngaruawahia-Affco United in Auckland
against Teachers United on Saturday.
Dean returned home with a goal and
Jason with credit for laying on one of the
most spectacular goals scored by United
this season.
Regular team members
Graham Bowers, John Brown, George
Sunnex and Eddie Carrigan were
spelled from first-team duties for this
match for a more relaxed run in the
lower division. Ngaruawahia took to
Auckland the eleven players required
with no substitutes. With no chance of
making progress of any consequence up
the 4th division ladder, and being clear
of relegation worries, the team
approached the game in a relaxed
attitude and were prepared to take the
game as it came to them.
In the previous encounter
Teachers had soundly outplayed United
3-1 but this time the boots were on the
other feet as Ngaruawahia strode away to
a 5-1 advantage and won 5-3.
From the outset Haggie and
Cargo moulded into the flow of the
team. Haggie gained in confidence with
each play as he rapidly adjusted himself
to the new style of football. Cargo also
worked as though he had been in the
team as a regular and worked tirelessly
in the halves with Liddle and Haggie.
Teachers commenced in an
attacking vein, having United at sixes
and sevens, but poor finishing and a
gram or two of luck kept them from
scoring. Keeper Sandy MacDonald
pulled a shot back from over the line and
the referee waved play on as he was
unsighted and could not rule a goal. A
Teachers’ snap-shot from near the
penalty spot was palmed over and with
61