Wairarapa United create history

Gary Caffell
Wairarapa United made a mockery of pre-match expectations which hinted at a close contest when they hammered Stop Out 7-1 in the second leg of their central league promotion-relegation matches at Hutt Park, Petone on Saturday.
Scoring two goals in the first six minutes and seeing the Stop Out goalkeeper sent off in the process gave Wairarapa United a flying start and they never looked back.
Strikers Seule Soromon and Paul Gregory both scored hat-tricks and to make Stop Out's misery even worse they also had the mortification of conceding an own goal.
It was a result which meant Wairarapa United won the home and away series by a crushing 8-1 on goal aggregate and that their objective of achieving central league status set 14 long years ago when the club was first established had at last been realised.
Coach Phil Keinzley admitted yesterday he was still coming to terms with the magnitude of Saturday's win.
He said even in the wildest of dreams no one could have foreseen a Stop Out side which actually played better than they had in the first of the promotion-relegation games at the Pugh Sports Bowl being demolished in such a manner.
"Deep down I thought that if we had a real cracker of a game we could possibly win by three but by six & absolutely no way," Keinzley said.
The pre-match message to the Wairarapa United players from their coach was that with them holding a one goal advantage on aggregate going into the game they would be up against a desperate opponent, and how they reacted to the pressure of the occasion would decide the result of the game.
"There was no room for excuses if we failed to pull this one off," Keinzley said. "Everybody had to get out of their comfort zones and produce something special."
Even Keinzley, however, couldn't have anticipated just how dominant Wairarapa United were right from the word go.
Vanuatu international Soromon Seule made two likely breaks in the first couple of minutes and Anton Ross starred in a third before the first goal was registered in quite remarkable circumstances.
Two Stop Out defenders tried to illegally halt the progress of Soromon as he made another lightning raid but he somehow shrugged off their attentions before being deliberately tripped by the goalkeeper who he had already evaded.
Little alternative was given the referee to not only award the penalty to Wairarapa United but to send the offending goalkeeper from the field, meaning Stop Out would have to play the rest of the game with just 10 men.
Some minutes then elapsed before Stop Out rearranged their side so their second string keeper could join the action and his first task was to face Soromon's penalty attempt. He never looked like making the save and Wairarapa United was 1-0 up.
From the kickoff Wairarapa United were in again. Stop Out was robbed off the ball and the visitors were quick to counter attack with Paul Gregory finding the net. Six minutes of actual play and amazingly, Wairarapa United were ahead 2-0.
The remainder of the first spell saw Wairarapa United continue to call the tune although a strong wind, which was at their backs, and a rough surface did make accurate passing a difficult art. However, they coped magnificently and after Sakeo Valevou had made a strong run down his flank and put in a good cross Gregory scored his second goal to make it 3-0 and then the ever dangerous Soromon added a fourth just before the break.
That the second half saw Wairarapa United place less emphasis on taking the game to Stop Out was a deliberate ploy on Keinzley's part. With four goals already in the bag he elected to have them take any risk factors out of their play and so Stop Out probably had a territorial advantage.
But whereas they only managed the one goal due to some outstanding defence by the likes of Andy Robertson, Waisake Sabutu, James Oxtoby and Cail Shailer, Wairarapa United still managed to increase their tally by three, one each to Gregory and Soromon with the other coming off a Stop Out defender.
Coach Keinzley was loathe to single out any players for special mention from what he described as a "brilliant all round effort".
"Honestly, it would be unfair to mention anybody in particular, they all did exactly what we wanted them to do," he said. "They (Stop Out) didn't play badly but we could have won by 10, that's how well we played. It was unbelievable really."
Keinzley also paid a tribute to the assistance given his side by a large crowd of vocal Wairarapa United supporters, possibly numbering as many as 200. "It was just like playing at home, they really got in behind us and the players loved it," he said, adding that his team had also received a number of "good luck" messages before the game started, including one from former Masterton Mayor Bob Francis and another from Scotsman Kevin Murray.
The latter held the record for the most goals scored in any one season by a Wairarapa United player, 25, until Soromon blitzed it this season. His hat-trick on Saturday took his tally for 2008 to 35
Soromon is one of seven Wairarapa United players who could play in the national summer league this season. He is the Wellington squad along with Pita Rabo, the inspirational skipper who missed Saturday's game through injury, Mierik Tvaroh and Carl Shailer while James Oxtoby and Waisake Sabutu are in the Hawke's Bay squad and goalkeeper Matt Borren in the Manawatu squad.