Hi William, 

There were several different types of 1.4-litre petrol engine in that year of the Golf, all potentially with their own issues. However, this sort of problem is very difficult to assess from afar. It might just need a good service, or there could be a temperature sensor issue preventing the engine management from using the correct injection pulsewidths, or there may be a problem with the fuel pump or lines. The best thing you could do is bring it to a good mechanic to look at, preferably to plug it into a diagnostic computer to see if there are any error codes showing up.