14 September 5pm
Cambridge won the first leg of the Northern League playoff 1-0 against Waiheke United today at John Kerkhof Park in Cambridge.
Goal mouth action midway through the first half of the Cambridge FC v Waiheke United match in Cambridge won 1-0 by the home team. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Jack Connor, the southern conference’s golden boot with 32 goals, added to his season tally with a header into the visitors’ goal after five minutes.
Waiheke looked to have added an equaliser just before the break but the assistant referee’s flag was up for off side. Celebrations were quickly cut short.
The walk up crowd was affected by heavy rain leading up to the start of the match and persistent rain throughout saw several spectators head home.
Estimates were there were about 550 people at the game.
The two teams won the northern and southern conferences respectively. Cambridge was unbeaten winning 21 games, scoring 122 goals and conceding only 21.
The second leg will be played at Onetangi Sports Complex on Waiheke Island at 2pm next Saturday (21 September).
See earlier story below.
Waiheke United tempers frayed at the end of the first half with referee Andy Holdsworth intervening to calm things down. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Josh Clarkin streaks ahead of Waiheke players to claim the ball. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
12 September 6am
Latin American football support in all its volume will invade Cambridge on Saturday as the town’s premier football club launches a two-game assault aimed at winning a place in the Northern League.
Cambridge News 12 September 2024
Cambridge FC Division 4 team captured their league title with a convincing 10-0 win over Matamata.
Cambridge, Southern Conference champions, face a home and away battle with Northern Conference winners Waiheke United – a club which fields a team dominated by South American imports.
Cambridge attracted a crowd of close to 1000 when it hosted Auckland City in the Chatham Cup earlier this season – its only loss of the campaign – and it’s a good bet that could be eclipsed.
For the record, City, lost the cup final on penalties last weekend and is now preparing for the Club World Cup.
Waiheke won the Northern Conference with a 5-2 victory over previous leaders Waitakere last Saturday – six of its players were booked and one was sent off after collecting two yellows.
Cambridge, coached by Jordan Shaw, hasn’t played since August 31 when it completed 21 wins from 21 games in the Southern Conference – not bad for a team which lost four players, including Shaw, to knee injuries throughout the campaign.
Waiheke was last in Cambridge in May 2018 when it won a Chatham Cup tie at John Kerkhof Park 3-2.
Shaw says he’s looking forward to hearing the “Cambridge Ultras” make some noise on Saturday to help his team get a different result this time.
They’re Southern Conference champions – can Cambridge step up to the Northern League?
