Wairarapa United will be placing the emphasis on attack when they meet competition leaders Western Suburbs in a Central League football match at Whitby tomorrow.
The first-round clash between the two teams ended at 1-1, a result made to look even more notable by the fact Western Suburbs have yet to
lose a game this season, having had nine wins and three draws.
Tactically Wairarapa United's approach in that earlier clash was very much defence-orientated with the idea being to restrict the time and space given to the dangerous Western Suburbs forwards to weave their magic.
And that it did, Western Suburbs dominating the match in terms of territory and possession but sharing the spoils on the scoreboard.
Since then, however, the shape of the Wairarapa United side has changed and with noted attackers like Nick Roydhouse and Campbell Banks joining them they can afford to take on teams of Western Suburbs's calibre pretty much at their own game.
And that's the reason why Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley says tomorrow's tactics will be a far cry from those used in the first-round fixture.
"We will be going out there with an attacking mindset," he said. "We will be backing ourselves to score more goals than them, that's the plan."
Keinzley admits the attacking philosophy is likely to make Wairarapa United more vulnerable on defence, especially in counter-attacking situations, but he believes that to be a risk worth taking, more so because Wairarapa United can now hope to finish no better than mid-table and therefore a loss here would not be the end of the world.
Missing from the Wairarapa United line-up tomorrow will be goalkeeper Richard Gillespie, who is unavailable, and skipper Pita Rabo, who is serving a one-match suspension, and they will be replaced by Matt Steele and Kote Maeno respectively.
Interestingly, Keinzley intends to play the lightly-framed Maeno, from Rathkeale College, in the centre of the midfield and he is confident he has the skill levels to do the job required of him.
"He's very good on and off the ball and he distributes well, he shouldn't have a problem," Keinzley said of Maeno.
