Horse and Hound Wairarapa United won't be deviating from their stated policy of using the Hilton Petone pre-season men's soccer tournament as a chance to experiment with combinations despite them qualifying to play central league side Wellington United in Sunday's grand final.
Coach Phil Keinzley said yesterday his squad had bought
into the idea of experimentation with a view to having the best combinations sorted by the time their Capital premier division programme gets under way early next month and nothing had changed in that respect.
"Obviously winning the Hilton Petone would be a great start but it's not something which we are placing too much emphasis on's promotion to central league we want and we have to win the premier division for that to happen," Keinzley said.
Fijian international Waisake Subatu will be at the centre of the experimental process on Sunday with Keinzley playing him in the centre of the midfield, a move which will have the in-form Guiseppe Cagliari on the bench.
"He (Cagliari) certainly doesn't deserve to be a reserve but we need to get a line on Waisake's ability in midfield and this is basically the last chance to do so," Keinzley said .
In previous Hilton Petone matches Wairarapa United. has mainly utilised a formation which has had Soromon Seule as the lone striker and Pita Rabo in more of a supporting role but Keinzley intends to have both of them consistently push forward on this occasion.
"It may make us a little more open to the counter attack but it's a risk worth taking", Keinzley said.
The last time Wairarapa United met Wellington United was in a Chatham Cup elimination match last season and Wairarapa United upset their higher graded opponents on that occasion.
Keinzley says the result of that match won't be playing any part in his team's preparation for Sunday as from what we had seen Wellington United looked to be a somewhat stronger side in 2008 than they were last year. "They have a very talented central midfielder and striker and when you have players of that calibre in those key positions you are always hard to beat' he said.
