United hungry despite win

Trust House Wairarapa United have become the front runners in the central league football competition but player-coach Adam Cowan isn't about to predict they will stay at the top of the points table over the remainder of the 2011 season.
Rather Cowan believes the evenness of the 10 teams contesting this year's central league means nothing can be guaranteed results-wise from week to week with those currently languishing near the bottom of the table quite capable of knocking off those several places above them.
"You can't go into any match thinking you only have to turn up to win, every game is going to be a challenge," Cowan said.
"Obviously, we are rapt to be where we are right now but we'll be keeping the feet on the ground, there is still a hell of a lot to work to do before we can start feeling comfortable about anything."
Wairarapa United's 1-0 win over Napier City Rovers in the first of their Easter weekend matches was for Cowan a case in point of what can happen when teams fail to play to their best form.
There the game's solitary goal was scored almost on fulltime and came after Wairarapa United had squandered a number of prime scoring chances, including missing a penalty late in the second spell.
Napier City Rovers finished the game with 10 men but might consider themselves unlucky not to have at least shared the spoils after hitting the woodwork three times. "We played poorly" was Cowan's honest assessment of that Wairarapa United performance.
"It was like we expected the goals to come without really working hard for them, the attitude just wasn't right.
"We'll put that down as one we got away with."
It was a different story on Easter Monday when Wairarapa United blitzed Petone 5-1, with four of the goals coming in a brilliant second half effort which saw them dominate territory and possession
"That was a whole lot better, we were more patient and stuck to the game plan," Cowan said of Monday's game.
"We talked about the importance of stringing passes together and always providing options for the ball carrier and I thought we did that pretty well. It was a big step up from Friday and that's what we were looking for."
Despite that win, Cowan anticipates Wairarapa United will have to lift the ante another notch or two if they are to beat second-placed (on goal difference) Western Suburbs at their Endeavour Park headquarters on Saturday.
Up until last season, Wests had been something of a bogey team for Wairarapa United but a couple of wins buried that ghost.
However, results this season suggest Wests recruited well over the summer months and Cowan anticipates them coming out firing on all cylinders in front of their loyal fans.
"It should be a cracker of a game, a real toughie for us," he said.
"It's winnable for sure but we'll have to earn it, we need to play extra well."