Valevou gears up for 50th match

Wairarapa United will be hoping the emotion surrounding the 50th appearance for them of Sakeo Valevou will counter the possible loss of four of their regular players when they meet Lower Hutt City in a Capital Soccer premier division match at Lower Hutt tomorrow.
Valevou has been a popular member of the Wairarapa United squad since arriving in Masterton from Fiji four seasons ago with coach Phil Keinzley being fulsome in his praise of the "massive" contribution he has made, both on and off the field of play.
"Quite honestly, he's been a wonderful ambassador for Fiji," Keinzley said of Valevou. "He's been everything we hoped for, and more."
Playing-wise it has been Valevou's versatility which has made him such an integral part of the Wairarapa United squad. He was prolific goal scorer at striker for the first couple of seasons, slotted in splendidly at fullback last year and is now a vital ingredient in the midfield.
"He's got all the skills, you can basically slot him in anywhere and know he will do a good job for you," Keinzley said. "Nothing really fazes him, he just goes out there and does the business without any fuss or bother.
If everybody was like him it would be an easy game to coach!"
With Wairarapa United sitting fourth on the points table and Lower Hutt City ninth there is no debate over who will start favourite tomorrow, especially when you consider last weekend's results.
Then Wairarapa United came back to something like their best form with a commanding 3-0 victory over Western Suburbs while Lower Hutt City were on the end of a 7-1 thrashing by Kapiti Coast United.
However, there is enough doubt over the availability of Meriek Tuaroh, Anton Ross James Oxtoby and Andy Robertson to make Keinzley "very nervous" about this particular match.
Tuaroh, the hard man in the midfield, is battling a hip injury, Ross may have committments elsewhere, Oxtoby has his own engagement party to attend further north and Robertson is struggling with injury and 'flu.
"If all of them don't make it we are in trouble&&.we'll have emptied out the reserves bench, that's for certain," Keinzley said yesterday.. "Hopefully it won't be that bad but right now it's not looking good."
Also concerning Keinzley is the condition of the Lower Hutt pitch with Capital Soccer already confirming that most grounds in the Wellington area had chopped up badly last weekend, and the Lower Hutt surfrace was invariably one of the worst affected when that happened.
"Everybody knows what a great leveller a heavy pitch can be and it's certainly not what we want," Keinzley said. "It just makes getting any continuity into your attacking play that much more difficult and we can do without that.".
The Wairarapa United seconds also play Lower Hutt City in a Capital third division game at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton tomorrow.
Victory to the John Antcliff-coached locals would consolidate their second place on the points table but here too nothing will come easy as Lower Hutt have traditionally been a "bogey team" for Wairarapa Unjited at this level.
So impressive have the Wairarapa United seconds been this season though that a number of their players are now pressing hard for promotion to the premier division squad, players like midfielders Paul Gregory and Kota Maeno, fullback Alec Wardell and striker Blair Thompson, who already has two hat-tricks to his name.
Trevs Sports Masterton continues to make the pace in division one of the Wairarapa championship. Their 6-3 win over Featherston last weekend took them to 18pts, three clear of Carterton Wanderers on 15.T
hen follow Sports Arena Douglas Villa 14, Featherston and Wairarapa College 5 and McAuleys Masterton 1.
Tomorrow's draw sees a top-of-the-table clash between Carterton Wanderers and Trevs Sports Masterton at Howard Booth Park while Featherston meets Sports Arena Douglas Villa at Greytown and Wairarapa College plays McAuleys Masterton at Wairarapa College.
Out front in division two are Carterton Redbacks on 15pts, followed by Douglas Villa Magpies 13, Douglas Villa Offisders 10, Carterton Skulls and Evergreens 7, Masterton Presidents 5 and Carterton Casuals 3. Tomorrow's draw: Carterton Redbacks v Douglas Villa Offsiders at Howard Booth Park, Douglas Villa Magpies v Farmlands Masterton Presidents at Park Sportsground and Carterton Casuals v Evergreens at Howard Booth Park.