Huge mountain looms for United

It should be a case of all roads leading to Hullena Park in Masterton for the Wairarapa football fraternity on Sunday.
There Wairarapa United will complete what has turned out to be an impressive debut season at Central League level with a match against the powerful Olympic outfit, who have two good reasons to produce a top-notch performance.
Not only will victory for the visitors mean they are still in with a chance of taking out the Central League title it will also put them in fine stead for their Chatham Cup semi-final fixture with Manurewa in Wellington the following weekend.
It speaks volumes for Olympic that even though Wairarapa United have chalked up wins in their last five competition matches and their victims have included other serious title contenders in Miramar Rangers and Petone they will still be the rank underdogs on Sunday.
The form book says it all. In 16 Central League matches this season Olympic have yet to taste defeat, having registered nine wins and seven draws. They have scored 40 goals and conceded 19. Wairarapa United, by comparison, have had seven wins, two draws and eight losses from their 17 matches. Their goal tally is 38 and they have conceded 46.
And when the two teams met in the first round it was very much one-way traffic with Olympic outgunning Wairarapa United by four goals to nil.
It's not only statistics which illustrate the height of the mountain Wairarapa United has to climb either. Also to their detriment is the news two of their star players, Seule Soromon and Nick Roydhouse, are virtually certain to miss Sunday's action because of overseas travel, Soromon to Vanuatu and Roydhouse to the United States
Soromon's value on attack is exemplified by his 14 goals which make him the second-highest goal scorer in the league and several of those have come because of Roydhouse's uncanny ability to open up opposition defences with his clever ball skills and rapid acceleration.
Losing players of the calibre of Soromon and Roydhouse would weaken any club side and it will place huge pressure on Wairarapa United to formulate a game plan which allows the talents of other proven attackers like Campbell Banks, Adam Cowan and Pita Rabo to come to the fore. For former All White Banks, in particular, the responsibility will be huge for without Soromon alongside him in the striker's role the onus will be on him to place the greatest pressure on an Olympic defence which has been rock solid all season. Banks is a very different player from Soromon in that he relies on astute positioning to get himself on the scoresheet while Soromon is all flair and adventurism. Whether Banks will be a lone ranger for Wairarapa United up front on Sunday remains to be seen.

Coach Phil Keinzley was still tossing up what format he would use at the time these notes were penned but if the two striker concept is to be applied then the most likely to join Banks would probably be Adam Cowan, Sako Valevou or Kote Maeno.
Whatever the composition of their attack, however, Wairarapa United will also require a staunch defence if they are to keep Olympic on their toes. Goalkeeper Richard Gillespie has been an outstanding acquisition since joining them and he will need to lead the way again, aided and abetted by the likes of Miriek Tvaroh, Waisake Sabatu, James Oxtoby and Carl Shailer.
Win, lose or draw Wairarapa United will complete their debut season in the Central League as the top-placed, non-Wellington side and in sixth position on the competition table.
Impressive as that is, victory over Olympic would the icing on the cake and the absolutely perfect way to set up what already seems certain for a bumper season in 2010. Bring it on!!!!!!