More 1998 Highlights

Aug 1
A superb hat-trick by Christian Wetting. Bas Overdevest was unable to put away a one on one with the excellent Ngongotaha keeper. He made up for it shortly after with a beautifully judged lob that beat the keeper, only for a defender to prevent the goal with his hands. The defender was sent off and Wetting took the resultant penalty with confidence.  Edge 3 Ngongy 3.

Aug 8
Quarter-final of the Tasman cup. Edgecumbe sealed their win when Colin Lawrence curled a well hit free kick onto the bar and Christian Wetting acrobatically leapt up to hook in the rebound. Towards the end of the match, the home team's frustration became evident. This culminated in a defender being shown the red card for kicking Overdevest after being dispossessed. The Edgecumbe side will also be thinking of one of their recent ex-players Kerry Hawkes, as he lines up for the giant killing Ngaruawahia team in the Chatham Cup semi-final against the strong Dunedin Technical line-up in Dunedin on Sunday. Edge 3 Tauranga City 0.

Aug 29
Upset league leaders Rotorua City in the BOP 1st Division before a good crowd.Kerry Hawkes won the ball, made a little space in the midfield and drove a 35 metre screamer. It dipped and then swerved away from Rotorua's stunned keeper to find the net. Player-coach Wetting  earned himself  player of the day , clearing the ball off his goal-line three times as the Rotorua team strove desperately to get a share of the points.  Edge 2 Rot City 1.

Sept 5
Ended their campaign in the BOP 1st Division in good style. One of the Papamoa midfielders had had several warnings from referee Barry Spencer. He showed dissent after being booked and was sent off. His team then had to battle with ten players for the remainder of the game. Edgecumbe did well to ignore the provocative attitude of some of their opponents, who seemed intent on making their mark, one way or another. Edgecumbe were awarded a penalty after an attacker received an elbow during a corner kick. Christian Wetting took the chance with his usual aplomb. A nasty tackle had Lavender leave the field with an ankle injury, but by then the home team were in control. Edge 4 Papamoa 1. Edge well pleased with their fourth placing in the league, specially since it was their first season in Division One for several years. Player-coach Wetting has led the team well and has put together a balanced unit.

Sept 12
Tasman Cup Semi. Colin Lawrence put over a delightful in-swinger and powerful left back Sjoerd Overdevest dived to head the ball into the Otumoetai goal. Jubilant, Edgecumbe went back to halfway for the restart. They were then stunned to find the goal had been disallowed, the referee awarding the home team a free kick for an alleged push. For the final portion of the game Otumoetai threw everything at Edgecumbe, but never-say-die defence from the back four Overdevest, Carl Robertshaw, Ian Finch and Barrie Hawkes and keeper Rhys Berghuis kept them out. Otumoetai 0,  Edge 1.

Sept 19
Tasman Cup final. The Edgecumbe players never gave up, their tenacious running and tackling certainly earned a fair share of the second half. Wetting was in dynamic form, covering huge amounts of territory. Fellow centre half Colin Lawrence ran till both his legs cramped up and he was substituted off. Left half George Elliot was named player of the day after a typically gritty display, tackling and linking well with backs and strikers. Kawerau 4, Edge 0. Kawerau were deserved winners, but Edgecumbe were pleased to have made their second Tasman Cup final appearance, the last being in 1981. It was extremely pleasing to the players to have an excellent crowd lining both sides of the pitch and filling the temporary grandstand.

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