21 JUL 1998 , Edition 2, Page 1.
How do they get to the ball?
The mayor has never seen them play, most of the squad live out of town, and, in a rugby league hotbed, they even play the wrong game.
Yet talk in Ngaruawahia today is about their Cinderella soccer team and the Chatham Cup.
The north Waikato club’s run to the semifinal of New Zealand’s equivalent of the England’s FA Cup has been, in the words of rugby-inclined Waikato District mayor Angus Macdonald, absolutely wonderful.
But the side from the Northern League first division have been handed a poisoned chalice — a match against Dunedin Technical, and less than a month to raise more than $10,000 to get there.
Coach Jeff Coulshed felt “a bit sick” with the draw yesterday afternoon. There was even a suggestion the club might default.
But Coulshed is the right man to have in times of trouble. He once took the Waikato women’s side to Christchurch with less money than his current club has.
“We took trains and a minibus. We were buggered when we got there, but we finished in the top four,” he said.
“If we have to walk this time, we will.”
Coulshed is looking on the bright side. He says the draw will guarantee even more publicity for Ngaruawahia and his unpaid squad — a cross-section of Hamilton youngsters, schoolboys and town soccer stalwarts.
“Everyone knows everyone in Ngaruawahia — the league and rugby guys have all been round — I’m sure the community will get together.”
The reward for the winner will be a final against Central or Metro — Ngaruawahia can rest assured the venue will be no further south than Wellington.
* Waikato Unicol has drawn Auckland’s Three Kings United in the women’s cup semifinal.