1997 Season - highlights
BOP Division Two

May17 Kawerau. A Bas Overdevest header found the crossbar, but this time the rebound was scrambled into the goal by Ogilvy. Edgecumbe defender Saul Hovi was doing an excellent job marking the dangerous Aaron Searle, however Searle got away down the left and although it looked like he was covered, he unleashed a tremendous shot to beat stand-in keeper Aaron Muggeridge at the near post.
The good sized crowd gave their teams plenty of encouragement, as Edgecumbe continued to have the majority of possession. Edge 1, Kaw 2

May 24 Rotorua City Continuous rain maintained a saturated pitch surface and both teams had to adjust their play considerably to suit. The ball stuck in the surface water most of the time, giving the defenders a fair chance of catching up with it. Chips over the defence, and even the much-maligned "toe-hacker", proved effective. However a lake across one side of the City penalty area frequently held up attacks. Against the run of play, City counter-attacked down the left, put through the inevitable long ball, and this time it didn't stick. Their striker ran onto it and hit a real screamer into the Edgecumbe goal.With fifteen minutes to play player-coach Christian Wetting brought himself out of goal and into the midfield. There was instant success. Good build-up play gave the ball to Simon Ruiter inside the area and he lifted an excellent shot into the City goal. Rot City 1 Edge 1

May 31 Whakatane. Another Edgecumbe corner and Bas Overdevest headed strongly into the Whakatane goal. Ogilvy took on the defence with a number of well controlled runs. He set up Edgecumbe's second, drawing the defence well then squaring the ball to George Dalgity, who finished well, no doubt pleased to get the chance against his brother's team. An excellent Overdevest through ball put Chris Withy away and he slid the ball past the keeper in good style. Edge 3 Whk 0

June 7 Taupo. Missing a number of regular players. Edgecumbe started with a real hiss and a roar. After three minutes, Kerry Hawkes took on the Taupo defenders and his left foot shot took a deflection and beat the keeper. A delightful ball from Hawkes put George Elliot away down the left. He finished with a beautifully judged shot... A highly competitive showing from Finnish exchange student Saul Hovi, kept Taupo's chances limited... the ball to Elliot on the left wing, he played it inside to Chris Withy, who rolled it on to Hawkes. The ball was then squared for the live-wire Joel Ogilvy to hit first time past the keeper. From there on Edgecumbe ran the home team ragged. Taupo 1, Edge 5

June 14 Otumoetai Tasman Cup. Chris Withy showed his skills by scoring with a delicate flick of the outside of his foot. Paul Evans capped a man of the match performance by hoisting a ball from 30 metres over the keeper into the goal. This was deserved reward for Evans, who had marked his dangerous looking opponent closely all game and had won almost all his challenges in general play. Edge 6 Otumoetai 1.

June 21 Otumoetai. Bas Overdevest outjumped the defence well and headed the ball into the goal. After half an hour, a pinpoint cross from Chris Withy was powered into the Otumoetai goal by Kerry Hawkes's head. Withy finished the scoring with a well taken header, to extend his record of a goal a game to four weeks. Edge 4 Otumoetai 0

June 28 Best Insulation Tournament. ...the tournament unbeaten and only narrowly missed out on a semifinal berth. Against Tauranga City ...George Dalgity floated a long cross in from the right and Kerry Hawkes did very well to get to the far post and head it back past the keeper. Edgecumbe then put a lot of pressure on the City team. Their keeper made things worse by getting sent off for foul language. Edgecumbe scored from the resulting indirect freekick, with a pass squared to George Elliot who made no mistake with his trusty left foot. Edgecumbe were pleased with their 2 - 1 win over first division opposition. Two draws in other pool games.

July 5 Tauranga Boys College... golden day for Overdevest. Overdevest had his hat-trick by half time. Using his pace to great effect, he and Ogilvy made it a nightmare for the home defenders, repeatedly winning the ball from them. The next goal was a real gem. A great early low cross from Ogilvy on the right was met at full speed by Overdevest and brilliantly put between keeper and defender. Edgecumbe player-coach Wetting could contain himself no longer. He put Ogilvy in goal and came out for a run. Within a minute Wetting too had scored, making it all look so easy. TBC 1, Edge 9

On to the rest of the 1997 Highlights

See the 1997 Div 2 League table and goal scorers list

Back to Edgecumbe AFC history