TRICKY: Adam Cowan has speed and guile.
URGENCY will be a key word for Keinzley Agvet Wairarapa United going into their Chatham Cup fourth round match with Western Suburbs at Memorial Park, Masterton, tonight.
Any repeat of the hot and cold effort which gave them a 3-0 victory over Island Bay United in the most recent of their cup games would simply not be good enough against the calibre of opposition they will meet on this occasion.
Not that the Wairarapa United camp should need any reminding of that. After all, it was Western Suburbs who prevailed 5-3 in their only meeting thus far in the Central League series and the points table has Western Suburbs sitting second behind Napier City Rovers on 25 points and Wairarapa United - who have a game in hand - third on 24. There is also little between them on other stats; Western Suburbs having scored 33 goals and conceded 18 and Wairarapa United having scored 31 goals and conceded 21.
They both suffered upset losses in league games last weekend; Western Suburbs losing 2-1 to Wellington Olympic and Wairarapa United going down 4-3 to Petone. They now lie eight and nine points respectively behind Napier City Rovers so you'd have to think that if they are to pick up a trophy of any consequence in 2015 the Chatham Cup is now their best hope.
The loss to Petone was something of a double blow for Wairarapa United as, during the course of the game, they had three players sent from the field, Aaron Spierling for what, from all accounts, was a harshly judged red card offence and Fidell Richards and Nathan Cooksley, for being yellow carded twice. These three will now miss tonight's game and while the depth in the Wairarapa United squad is great enough to cope, it goes without saying they would be better off if they were available for selection.
Two players who were absent from the Petone match, Cory Chettleburgh and Adam Cowan, will be back in the United line-up tonight. Chettleburgh is a creative player who will add sting to the midfield, especially in attacking situations, while Cowan's experience, speed and guile should come in handy at the back.
The word from Wairarapa United coach Paul Ifill was that he and Hamish Watson would probably start tonight's game after coming off the bench last weekend, and that makes good sense in a knockout game where goals will be of paramount importance.
The two are very different players. Watson, who has not long returned to the Wairarapa United fold after a stint overseas, is aggressively confrontational and quite prepared to run at rather than around the opposition defences while Ifill is all flair and finesse.
It will be interesting to see whether Ifill also finds places for Magno Viera and Seule Soromon in his starting line-up tonight as they too have made quite an impact on attack this season. Viera has a happy knack of putting himself in the right place at the right time when scoring opportunities arise while Soromon is quick and elusive and always prepared to try the unorthodox.
Ifill will be aware though that placing too much emphasis on goal scoring could backfire because it could expose them on defence, especially against a Western Suburbs combination which is well equipped in the goal-scoring department as well. With two of their more hard-nosed defenders, Richards and Cooksley, missing the onus will be on the likes of Liam Hare, Adam Wallis, Sam O'Regan and Cowan to lift their games to ensure that whoever of Matt Borren and Scott Basalaj is between the sticks are given adequate protection.
-Kick off is at 7.30pm.