7 SEP 1998 , Edition 2, Page 18.
Cambridge move to safety
By: ANDERSON Ian
Cambridge’s tremendous form revival in the Northern league division two soccer competition seems set to lift them to safety.
A 3-1 away win over Three Kings on Saturday has helped coach Mark Youngjohns’ side up to 11th place in the 14-team league and boosted Cambridge’s ambition of staying in division two.
At the end of the first round of matches, Cambridge looked destined for the drop but Youngjohns has continued to mould his side and his players have responded with a stunning run of 10 matches with just one defeat.
Tony McIsaac netted twice for the winners and Tony Dikmans grabbed the other to give Youngjohns the belief that his team could possibly win their last three matches and finish mid-table.
However, Claudelands Rovers blew a good chance to also move up in division two when they fell apart against Eastern Suburbs. Pat Conchie’s penalty for a 1-0 lead was scant reward for Claudelands’ superiority in the opening 45 minutes against already-promoted Suburbs at Galloway Park but Rovers lost the opportunity to climb to third in the table when Suburbs netted four times in the second half.
Both Waikato teams in division one scored victories, with Ngaruawahia United’s 2-1 away win over championship chasing Tauranga City being most meritorious.
Ngaruawahia, minus a handful of their squad, had two penalties from captain Matty Williams to secure a 2-1 win. The second came 10 minutes from the end when the Tauranga goalkeeper was sent off for elbowing Marcus Traill and helped the side stay on track for a third-place finish. Melville got their winner in a 3-2 home win over South Auckland Rangers from Stu Timings after the visitors had twice drawn level to earlier strikes from Timings and Daniel D’Souza.
Matamata Swifts, 5-1 home winners over Hibiscus Coast, had their hopes of promotion lifted when Waikato Unicol upset second-placed Navy 3-2 away. Swifts are three points behind Navy with two matches remaining.