Wednesday, 22nd July 1998
Timely Goal Secures Semis
IN BY THE SKIN OF THEIR TEETH: Scenes from the Ngaruawahia United soccer quarter-final game for the Chatham Cup on Saturday.
All the noise last Saturday afternoon in Ngaruawahia was coming from Centennial Park.
Especially when Ngaruawahia United put in their second goal in extra time to come out winners in the quarter-finals of the Chatham Cup against Premier League side Bay Olympic, 2-1.
The 250-strong crowd were frustrated by the chances both teams wasted until Ngaruawahia United’s striker Gary Kingi stepped up in the 115th minute to push his side towards the challenge for New Zealand soccer’s oldest trophy.
The club have never made the semi-finals before in their 30-year history.
The semi-finals are not until next month, so they have a while to savour their present position.They also have less than a month to raise $15,000 to get there – for the draw on Monday afternoon placed them in Dunedin against Dunedin Technical.
Ngaruawahia have already beaten premier league side Hamilton Wanderers and if they win through to the final it will be against Central or Metro and will be no further south than Wellington.
Meanwhile Ngaruawahia township is buzzing with talk about their soccer team who beat the odds and has come this far in the Chatham Cup with the squad of a cross-section of Hamilton youngsters, schoolboys and town soccer esolutes coached by Jeff Coulshed.
And club president Maxine Williams says the club has really appreciated the support of the locals, and the Huntly Thistle club who wrote a letter of support to them for their quarter-final game, and turned up on the day to get behind their fellow North Waikato club.