Wairarapa United draw a wake-up call

Marquis Wairarapa United football coach Phil Keinzley has a well-earned reputation for saying it as he sees it.

So his rather low-key criticism of his table-topping team's failure to do better than a 0-0 draw in their Central League fixture with cellar-dwellers Maycenvale United at Hastings on Sunday came as a surprise.

Yes, Keinzley was frustrated at the huge number of prime scoring opportunities which came to nothing and, yes, he was disappointed at the lack of intensity shown by a handful of the more senior players.

But in retrospect, he was more interested in what the below-par effort might mean leading into important fixtures this coming weekend.

A Central League match against defending champions Miramar Rangers on Saturday, followed by a Chatham Cup knockout match against New Plymouth Rangers in New Plymouth on Monday, makes for a testing Queen's Birthday Weekend, and Keinzley is hopeful the Hastings result will ensure complacency is no longer an issue.

"It was a big wake-up call, probably just what we needed after such a good run of success," Keinzley said of the scoreless draw. "It wasn't that they [Maycenvale] played above themselves, it was just that we had too many guys whose minds didn't seem to be on the job. We didn't deserve to lose but we didn't deserve to win either, it was pretty average stuff."

Not that all the Wairarapa United players had off days. Central fullback Tim Schaeffers gave a player of the match performance with the surety of his defence and accurate distribution skills, goalkeeper Phil Imray pulled off a couple of spectacular saves and Waisake Sabatu was strong in the air and on the tackle.

Fortunately for Wairarapa United, however, the draw was good enough for them to retain their four-point advantage on the points table. They have 17 points, followed by Wellington Olympic 13, Napier City Rovers, Petone, Lower Hutt City and Wellington United, all 12, Miramar Rangers 10, Western Suburbs 7, Tawa 3 and Maycenvale United 1. Important to note is that whereas Miramar Rangers and Maycenvale United have played six games, all of the others have had seven.

Results from the weekend were: Wellington United 2, Tawa 0; Wellington Olympic 4, Western Suburbs 1; Lower Hutt City 1, Petone 0; Miramar Rangers 3, Napier City Rovers 2; Maycenvale United 0, Wairarapa United 0.