United under-19s chase two prime objectives

Wairarapa United are heading to the national under-19 men's inter-club soccer tournament at Napier over Labour weekend with two prime objectives.
They want to better the record of last year's Wairarapa side which did not manage to win a match and, secondly, they want to impress enough for some of their players to push for selection in both federation and national age group sides.
Coach Phil Keinzley believes both objectives are realistic and attainable although he admits his side, which averages just 17yrs, will be up against it in a competition where most teams will consist of players two years older than that.
"That two years can make a big difference when it comes to height, strength, speed and experience," Keinzley pointed out. Having said that, however, Keinzley is confident that when other attributes like mental strength, confidence and flair are taken into account Wairarapa United will compare favourably with their opposition.
"We've always worked on the principle that self belief can take you a long way and the boys seem to have plenty of that," he said ."They know that to achieve credibility they have to play to their potential in every single game and that's the challenge for them. Do that and they could surprise a few, that's for sure."
Pool play will see Wairarapa United involved in five games, each of them being played on the basis of 25 minutes each way.
Saturday will test their fitness with three of their matches being played then, against Papakura (starting at 11am), Dunedin City (2pm) and Auckland Metro (4pm). And on Sunday they will front up to Island Bay (9am) and Waterside-Karori (11am).
Finishing in the top two in their pool will take Wairarapa United into the quarter-finals but the strength of the opposition is such that Keinzley is not looking that far ahead.
"Getting a win, maybe even two, would be a big fillip," he said "And if we don't win we want to at least be competitive, that's the important thing credibility-wise".
Of their opponents in pool play last year's form suggests Dunedin City could be the toughest to bowl. They made it to the final then but did not play that match because the timing of it clashed with their flight home.
Papakura and Auckland Metro are two of the bigger clubs involved in the national tourney and, as such, will be expected to be amongst the stronger sides while both Island Bay and Waterside-Karori were in the A division of Capital Soccer's Ivan England Trophy under-19 competition, the series in which Wairarapa United were the B division champions.
Keinzley agrees that, on paper, Wairarapa United would have to rank as the underdogs in each of their pool matches but he sees that as being more of an advantage than a disadvantage.
"It's got to be good for us if the opposition see us as the easy beats, that way we can sneak up on them and maybe even surprise them," he said.
As to some of the Wairarapa United players having the skills necessary to attain selection at a higher level Keinzley is convinced at least "two or three" are already in that category, and that the national tournament could well see others reach that status as well.
"There's a huge of natural talent there but they need to work as a team for that to be properly exposed," he said. "The better the results the better the chance for our players to be noticed."
The full Wairarapa United squad is: Jackie Chan, Alec Wardell, Leighton Calkin, Hadley Henderson, Anaru Te Rangi, Keiran McGruddy, Yuseke Maneo, Niki Keinzley, Anton Ross, Aaron Spierling, Joel Vatselias, Ryan Athow, Kota Maneo, Thomas Hemi, Andrew Traill.