Wairarapa United confident of measuring up

Football

Wairarapa United can expect fireworks from Wellington Olympic in their Central League football match at Wakefield Park, Wellington, on Saturday.

Whereas Wairarapa United are out of the race for the league title, second-placed Wellington Olympic, with 32 points and a game in hand, still have a mathematical chance of overhauling competition leaders Miramar Rangers who are on 38.

A loss to Wairarapa United, however, would virtually hand the title to Miramar Rangers so it will be a fired-up Olympic who take to the field this weekend.

"They'll come at us with everything they've got," Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley said.

"They desperately need the points so they'll be going flat out."

While they will be without influential Frenchman Alssney Cissoko and Charles Mallman, not only for this match for the rest of the season, and also the suspended Waisake Sabatu, Wairarapa United will still go into the game in a confident frame of mind.

They followed a 7-0 thumping of Napier City Rovers two weeks ago with a 1-1 draw with Miramar Rangers last weekend and Keinzley believes they are capable of measuring up to Olympic in all departments.

"We are struggling a bit numbers-wise but we've got enough talent and desire there to pull this one," he said.

A key component of the Wairarapa United effort against an Olympic side sure to place the emphasis on attack will be the solidness of the defence. Goalkeeper Matt Borren and skipper Adam Cowan will lead the way along with Nathan Cooksley, who is playing some of the best football of his career.

With Mallman out the odds are that Dale Higham will again play up front with Seule Soromon, providing the latter is recovered from the injury which saw him leave the field early against Miramar Rangers.