United give good value in 2-0 win

Wairarapa United turned on an outstanding exhibition of wet-weather soccer in beating Upper Hutt City 2-0 at the Pugh Sports Bowl, Masterton yesterday, and thereby extending their lead in the Capital premier division competition.
Their 10 wins and one draw from 14 matches gives them a total of 31pts while second placed Island Bay United have 27pts from 15 matches and third placed Tawa 26pts from 13 matches.
Island Bay United and Tawa actually played their second round fixture on Saturday with the 2-2 draw being the perfect result for Wairarapa United, providing, of course, that they beat Upper Hutt City the following day.
The result of that match was no foregone conclusion with Upper Hutt City having won their previous two clashes but on this occasion Wairarapa United were clearly the better side and were good value for their two goal victory.
The persistent rain which fell throughout the match and the boggy ground conditions, particularly in the cricket pitch area, might well have been expected to provide a boring spectacle of kick and chase but that was anything but the case with both sides still managing to get a fair measure of fluency into their attacking play.
Wairarapa United always looked the more likely of the two to score in the first half because of the speed and flair of players like Seule Soromon, Pita Rabo and Paul Gregory and it was the latter who opened the scoring with a well-taken header early in proceedings.
That was to be the only goal of that spell but it was by no means the only time the defensive units of both teams were tested with two or three near misses coming at both ends of the field.
Goalkeeper Matt Borren pulled off a couple of fine saves for Wairarapa United who also benefited from the solidity under pressure of James Oxtoby, Carl Shailer, Waisake Sabutu and Andy Robertson. The second half was very much a repeat of the first with Wairarapa United looking the more potent attacking force but Upper Hutt City quick enough on the counter attack to ensure the home team could never take victory for granted.
The disallowing of a Pita Rabo goal when he was somewhat dubiously one might say ruled to be in an offside position was a frustration for Wairarapa United but that disappointment was quickly forgotten just minutes later when Anton Ross broke clear and provided the space and time for Rabo to place the ball in the back of the net. Wairarapa United 2, Upper Hutt City 0.
That goal put the onus fairly and squarely on Upper Hutt City to up the tempo but they battled to make progress through the midfield due to the assertive defence of Wairarapa United's Miriek Tvaroh and Sakeo Valevou, both of whom adopted a "take no prisoners"" approach in both their tackling and their determination to win 50-50 ball.
Other premier division games saw Western Suburbs upset Kapiti Coast United 3-2 and Miramar Rangers beat Waterside-Karori 3-2.
Competition points are:
Wairarapa United 31, Island Bay United 27, Tawa 26, Kapiti Coast United 21,
Miramar Rangers 20, Upper Hutt City 18. Waterside Karori 16, Marist 13, Western Suburbs 13 and Lower Hutt City 10.