It might have been only a "friendly" but Wairarapa United football coach Phil Keinzley was not about to forgive his players a below par performance against fellow Central League side Wellington United in Wellington on Saturday.
"It wasn't good, it was probably one of our worst performances in years,"Keinzley said after the 3-2 defeat.
Down 3-0 at halftime, Wairarapa United did lift their effort in the second spell but not enough to give Keinzley any degree of confidence leading into their opening game of the 2013 league season, against Tawa in Carterton early next month.
"Yes, we weren't at full strength and, yes, the number of new faces was always going to mean communication hassles, but even allowing for that we were poor, very poor," Keinzley said. "We've got a hell of a lot of work to do to get up to speed, that's for sure."
Having their first game in Wairarapa United colours were Chileans Jorge de la Torre and Jonatan Almendra, and Spaniard George Jermy. Of them, only de la Torre came up to expectations.
Both Almendra and Jermy showed touches of class but looked to be lacking in fitness and none of the national league players who took the field managed to make much of an impact.
Meanwhile Keinzley confirmed Wairarapa United would be playing their Central League home games on Sundays throughout the 2013 season, in a bid to increase patronage.
