14.07.2008
By Gary Caffell
Wairarapa United took a clear lead in Capital Soccer's premier division competition with their 5-2 victory over Waterside-Karori at Adventure Park, Whitby on Saturday.
They now sit on 28pts, two more than second-placed Island Bay United whose latest game resulted in a surprise 2-0 defeat by Miramar Rangers.
Also in Wairarapa United's favour is that they have played 13 matches to Island Bay United's 14 due to an early-season fixture against Marist, which is seventh on the points table, being postponed.
It would be wrong, however, to give the impression that Wairarapa United are home and hosed as far as the premier division title is concerned.
With five series of games still to be played third-placed Tawa, in particular, are a big danger.
Their game with Lower Hutt City on Saturday was postponed so they have currently played one less match than Wairarapa United and are on 25pts, just three points (or one win) behind.
Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley is also wary of teams sitting at or near the bottom of the table as they are now at the stage where relegation is staring them in the face.
"These teams are desperate for points and that always make them dangerous," he said.
"You can't take anything for granted."
Keinzley was delighted with Saturday's comfortable win over Waterside-Karori although the three-goal winning margin hid the tensions which came through Waterside-Karori levelling things up at 2-2 early in the second half after Wairarapa United had gone to the break with a 2-0 advantage.
"We talked at halftime about not letting them back into the game but obviously the message didn't sink in," Keinzley said.
"There was a bit of panic when they got their second goal but, fortunately, we managed to get back on track and win quite easily in the end."
Keinzley admits that if anyone had told him Wairarapa United would score five goals before the match he would have questioned their sanity as the boggy state of the Adventure Park pitch, especially down the middle, suggested goals would be at a premium.
"It was virtually unplayable in places, the ball just got stuck in the mud," Keinzley said. "You had to attack down the flanks, conditions weren't too bad there."
Wairarapa United opened the scoring when Seule Soromon capitalised on a good pass from Waisake Sabutu and they went 2-0 up after Miriek Tvaroh latched onto the ball about 30 metres out and rocketed it into the net.
Two goals within a five minute period early in the second half had Waterside-Karori back on level terms but some impressive lead-up work by Aaron Spierling resulted in a Paul Gregory goal to put Wairarapa United 3-2 ahead.
Soromon then scored his second goal after a melee in the penalty box and victory for Wairarapa United was sealed when Sabutu outflanked the cover defence and fired home a powerful shot from a wide angle.
The two main contenders for any player of the match award for Wairarapa United were Tvaroh and Sabutu. Tvaroh was an imposing figure in midfield where his assertive approach was valuable on attack and defence while Sabutu was equally effective at right fullback. Given the task of marking Waterside-Karori's most dangerous forward was a challenge which Andy Robertson relished while Guiseppe Cagliari and James Oxtoby both marked their 50th appearances for Wairarapa United with outstanding games.
The speed of Soromon up front always made him a threat to the opposition defences and Carl Shailer and Pita Rabo were typically industrious.
Wairarapa United plays Upper Hutt at the Pugh Sports Bowl next Sunday with Upper Hutt actually having beaten them in their last two meetings. At the time of the second of those defeats Wairarapa United was relegated to eighth on the premier division points table, a classic illustration of the improvement they have made since then.
Oh and plus we have a council that mows the pitches so your not playing on a surface that is more suited to rugby.