By Jack Sharp
Already champions, Cambridge are only one win short of completing the perfect season in the Lotto NRFL Men’s Southern Conference.
If they win their final game in the competition, the Waikato club will complete a 100% winning season, with 21 consecutive wins.
The record eclipses that of the club’s past best season in the top echelons of northern football.
In 1993, Cambridge won the Northern League second division title — then the third-tier competition, same as the Southern Conference — without losing any of their 22 fixtures.
However, the 1993 ‘Invincibles’ drew three games.
The 1993 side scored 58 goals and conceded 16, winning the league by a 19-point margin.
This year’s Cambridge team have scored 116 goals, conceding 19, and look likely to finish with a gap of more than 20 points to their closest rivals.
The only obstacle to Cambridge’s perfect season is Saturday’s match against the unpredictable Waikato Unicol, last year’s champions.
They’ll be hard-pressed to challenge the leaders who beat second-placed Claudelands Rovers 9-3 in midweek.
Unicol took the WaiBOP Federation Challenge Shield from Taupo last weekend, beating them 2-0.
The fixture list means Unicol have to defend the shield at home, and though this weekend’s game will be played at Cambridge’s John Kerkhof Park, the fixture is considered a home game for Unicol.
That means Cambridge can finish the season with the shield in their trophy cabinet over the summer.
Meanwhile, Taupo can finish their season with a flourish if they beat Ngongotaha Lakes this weekend, and then dispose of Papamoa in the season’s final fixture, scheduled for September 7.
Two wins and they can overhaul Claudelands Rovers for second place, regardless of Rovers’ result at bottom-placed Te Awamutu this weekend.
Promotion play-offs
Cambridge will play a two-legged promotion play-off series against the winners of the Lotto NRFL Men’s Northern Conference, with the winner joining next season’s Lotto NRFL Men’s Championship.
As the Northern Conference enters its final stages, the title could go to any of Waitemata, Northland or Waiheke United.
PREVIEW: High stakes finish looms for Lotto NRFL Men’s Northern Conference >>>>
Golden Boot
31 — Jack Connor (Cambridge)
24 — Krishaant Singh (Claudelands Rovers), Josh Clarkin (Cambridge)
17 — Bailey Webster (Cambridge)
16 — Joe O’Donoghue (Taupo)
13 — Jack Boland (Otumoetai)
11 — Rahim Nabizada (Cambridge)
10 — Henry Stephen (Claudelands Rovers),
9 — Andrew Cooper (Papamoa), Abdul Wahid Sulieman (Waikato Unicol), Ty Christensen (Taupo), Steffano Riley (Ngongotaha Lakes)
8 — Duale Mire (Waikato Unicol), Sean Barbour (Taupo)
7 — Kjay Morehu (Waikato Unicol), Dylan Foster (Taupo), Vincent Callister (Papamoa), Thomas Walters (Cambridge)
6— Blake Taylor (Cambridge)
5 — Dylan Montero (Otumoetai), Finlay Smith (Taupo), Joel Roil (Te Awamutu), Jordan Shaw (Cambridge)
Fixtures
Games to be played on Saturday August 24, 2024
Te Awamutu v Claudelands Rovers
The Stadium, Te Awamutu, 3pm
Otumoetai v Papamoa
Fergusson Park, Otumoetai, 3pm
Cambridge v Waikato Unicol
John Kerkhof Park, Cambridge, 3pm
Ngongotaha Lakes v Taupo
Tamarahi Reserve, Ngongotaha, 3pm
Jack Sharp
Jack Sharp is a long-time follower of club football in New Zealand and is a volunteer writer for Friends of Football. You can show your appreciation for his work by buying him a coffee.
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