Wairarapa United became the first holders of the Bob Hullena Shield when they came from behind to beat Napier City Rovers 2-1 in their central league football match at Hullena Park, Masterton on Saturday.
It was Wairarapa United's second successive competition win and raised hopes that after a slow start to
the season they will still become a serious contender for the central league title.
The home team fell one goal behind Napier City Rovers early in the first half when a defensive blunder saw the ball dribble over the line untouched.
A brilliant solo effort by Adam Cowan brought the scores level at 1-1. Cowan received the ball from a short corner, ran across in front of the goal and boomed a shot into the top corner of the net.
The only scoring action in the second half came after about 10 minutes with Campbell Banks scoring for Wairarapa United after excellent build-up work by Andrew Abba, Seule Soromon and George Barbarouses.
Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley labelled his team's performance as ''improved'' but said they had again struggled to make the most of their scoring chances.
''The finishing wasn't nearly as good as it could have been, we kept putting ourselves in a position to score and then failed to do so,'' he said. ''We weren't clinical enough and that meant that instead of putting them [Napier City Rovers] away we actually kept them in the game''
And Napier City Rovers did their best to take advantage of that situation, attacking with gusto over the last 10 minutes but being held out by a determined Wairarapa United defence.
Cowan was player of the match for Wairarapa United, making an impact on both attack and defence. Miriek Tvahoh and Andrew Abba were good value in midfield and Pablo Moya was a tower of strength at the back.
Wairarapa United play Taranaki in New Plymouth next Saturday.
The Douglas Villa Capital third division squad put up a brave fight against Capital premier division side Naenae in their Chatham Cup fixture on Saturday, Naenae winning 2-0.
In a Capital fourth division match,w the Wairarapa United seconds beat Eastbourne 1-0, Paul Gregory being the goal scorer.
