The Huntly Press
Wednesday 17th May 1978
NGARUAWAHIA SOCCER
NORTHERN LEAGUE
With the match against Taupo being postponed (Taupo playing A.T.G. Waiouru in an Adidas cup game), and Fraser being in a similar position, a friendly was arranged at Ngaruawahia between the two teams.
In their previous encounter in competition, Ngaruawahia United had come from behind in the last few minutes for a 3-2 win. No doubt both teams were using the occasion for experimentation with positions and players, and as nothing hinged on the result (with the exception of club pride) a more relaxed atmosphere was present.
Dave Hall, United’s coach, watched closely the two “new boys,” Barkley Magee and Doug Sturm, both past players of United. Both were run in the back-line alongside Tim Coyne and Graham Bowers, veteran defenders. Midfielder Geoff Tozer was moved forward to partner Tony Armstrong as twin strikers.
United showed a good bustling defense and intelligent build-up, centred around Jason Cargo and Steve Williams. Fraser were, in total, better ball players but could not overcome United’s pressure, despite having a large slice of mid-field possession.
Geoff Tozer netted United’s first, and Ken Murray curled a shot onto the bar for Tony Armstrong to head home the rebound for a 2-0 first half. Jason Cargo came close in the second when his header from Liddle’s cross was scrambled off the line, and Ken Murray’s snap-shot was beautifully saved. Tim Coyne kneed the ball into his own net when Sean Finn misread a crossed ball and the defense tried to clear the bouncing ball. Final score 2-1 to United.
1st DIVISION
United met Hamilton’s National. League Reserve team and held them to 1-0 at the turn before bravely going down 6-0. There was no argument that Hamilton would win, the only doubt being the winning margin. United had more control of the match than the scoreline suggests with Glen Solomon having a good foray in centre-field .
As better ball-players, Hamilton patiently opened up the weaknesses in United’s defense for scoring opportunities. Mel Riches, playing his second match for the squad was a steadying influence in the backs. Ian Innes had a courageous day in goal, facing two penalties and saving one, the other squeezing in under his arm.
The game was played at a fast clip and gradually United’s fitness was shown as suspect. New signing from Cameron, Dick Anderson, had a solid match in the backs and looks like being hard to remove in future games. David Bell showed up well as did George Paul. United were given more than a chance of building up good attacks, only to crumble against the Hamilton back line.
3rd DIVISION
Against Te Awamutu, United made almost no showing on Saturday with a 4-1 loss. It was a team of disjointed puppets playing a young fit squad who used the wind to advantage. A 1-1 halftime result was quickly taken to 2-1 and held until the last few minutes when two more were added by Te Awamutu. Trevor Mc Laughlan kept United’s score-sheet from coming away blank.
Andrew Williamson played a good game with Kevin Dooley a solid defender. Ricky Duffull had a good first half but faded out in the second. Big scorer Staf Magee was marked out of the game by a wider and taller defender who occasionally took pity on his efforts to score by patting him on the head every so often in sympathy, with “that’s all right, old son.”