North Shore United v. Waikato United, 29/10/95

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Waikato Prevail On Penalties To End Era

by Jeremy Ruane

Coast to Coast Waikato United completed one of the more memorable recoveries in recent seasons on October 29, when they qualified for the Smokefree Superclub Championship Grand Final with a penalty shoot-out victory over Crown Worldwide North Shore United at Allen Hill Stadium.

Ironically, Waikato's recovery began on this very ground in mid-August. After a period of much ado behind the scenes, Roger Wilkinson was reappointed coach and given the task of retrieving something from The Bulls' season. His first game in charge was against Shore, and the point gained from that 1-1 draw went a long way towards securing a top-three finish in the regional round.

Ten weeks later, and that scoreline was repeated in dramatic circumstances. First half forays from both sides came to nought, with Jason Batty denying efforts from the two Darrens, Melville and Fellowes, while Grant Mawston was kept busy by Mark Elrick, Neil Harlock and the desperately unlucky Steve Nickson. A Kane Lynch pass had sent him scurrying clear of the defence, and his lob over the advancing Mawston drifted narrowly across the face of goal in the 34th minute.

Batty saved brilliantly from Declan Edge early in the second half, while Brian Ogg diverted a goalbound shot from the lively Fellowes to safety after seventy minutes.

In between times, Shore took a deserved lead, after weathering Waikato's early charges, and gradually assumed control of the game. A Harlock free-kick was floated to the far post for Nickson. He flicked the ball down for Matty Byers, who capped off a fine game by thighing the ball home from close range ten minutes into the second half.

With time up on the clock, Paul Caton's name found its way into referee Derek Rugg's notebook, the fifth of six such entries on the day, this after a melee which left Nickson as the most aggrieved North Shore player. Within a minute of seeing one yellow, Caton turned from villain to hero, smashing home from twenty-five yards one of the best volleyed goals seen this year, the ball flying through a crowded penalty box and beyond the despairing dive of the excellent Batty into the bottom corner of the net, with just thirty seconds left on the clock.

From being all but through, Shore now had to endure extra-time. They began it with a bang - a six-shot scramble, but forced only one other real opening, which only came to pass after a vicious bounce. Michael Legg - another to excel - floated one through which reared up over the startled Mawston, only to hit the crossbar. Harlock eventually fired the loose ball into the sidenetting.

Waikato, meanwhile, also went close to deciding it before the two-hour mark. Fellowes sent a shot flashing past the far upright when clean through, while Batty was beaten all ends up by a superb curling effort from Paul Nixon, which hit the crossbar.

There were plenty of other incidents, a couple of the more notable being the substitution of the well-performed Edge by Wilkinson after just 66 minutes, and the stretchering-off of Fellowes in the 108th minute, with ligament damage.

For the drama surrounding this, Shore deserve a rocket. In their last home game, against Waitakere, there was a five-minute break in play while a stretcher was located to carry off the injured Steve Cain. You'd think that lessons would have been learnt from that episode, but no. Sort your act out, Shore - this sort of thing just isn't good enough from a club of such standing in the game!!

So to penalties, of which the mandatory ten were taken. The first, from Nickson, was saved by Mawston, while the other nine hit nothing but net. Paul Gemmell led the celebrations for Waikato, his spot-kick giving them the edge on the scoreboard, 5-4, and a resulting place in the Grand Final against Waitakere City.

Spare a thought, though, for the defending Superclub champions, and their coaching team, Keith Garland and Alan Yates, particularly. After all the highs and lows they've experienced during their four-year association with North Shore, they didn't deserve to have that era ended in this manner.

At least they can leave the club happy in the knowledge that they have helped provide no little amount of on-field entertainment at Allen Hill Stadium and elsewhere since 1992. Thankyou both.

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