Wairarapa United set to shock

Wairarapa United are capable of upsetting Waitakere City in their Chatham Cup quarter-final in Carterton on Sunday.
That Waitakere City, with their proud record in major competitions in recent decades, will start warm favourites at Howard Booth Park is a matter of course but there is reason to anticipate United pushing them close or even claiming their scalp.
Those sentiments are based purely on form and personnel, two of the best possible indicators when looking to predict a result.
Form-wise, Wairarapa United have had ups and downs in 2011 but they are still well in contention to win the central league title.
They trail leaders Miramar Rangers by six points but have two games in hand and play Rangers in the final match of their league campaign, so their destiny is in their own hands.
Personnel-wise, United have to be rated a powerful unit by any club standards in this country. Several of their players have performed well at international level and most have had a taste of national league football.
In fact, if experience is to be the deciding factor on Sunday, Wairarapa United will win hands down because most of the Waitakere City squad are up-and-comers whose best days are still ahead.
In one vital area, though, United will need to show improvement if they are to become the first team from this province to advance to the cup semifinals.
From time to time they have struggled to maintain their discipline, individually and collectively, and you get the feeling any indiscretions in that department will be pounced on by the opposition.
Indeed Waitakere City player-coach Neil Emblem has probably developed a game plan aimed at testing the resolve and character of the locals.
In no specific part of the match will discipline be more important than defence, for in Denver McDonald, Sheldon Pillay and Keegan Linderboom the visitors have three front runners with pace to burn, and the hunger for goals to go with it.
The probability is that on a Howard Booth field likely to work against the short-passing game, Waitakere City will make regular use of the long ball to give their speedsters the chance to get in behind the Wairarapa United defenders, and pose major problems for keeper Matt Borren in the process.
Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley says the key to a strong defensive effort by his side will be their willingness to constantly get in the faces of their opponents and thereby restrict their space to move and time on the ball.
And he said they also needed to ensure their tackling was hard but fair ... the latter especially because having less than the full complement of 11 players on the field at any one time could be a recipe for disaster.
Keinzley is adamant Wairarapa United won't be going into Sunday's match with a defence-orientated approach. They have the luxury of having several players who are proven goal scorers in the best of company and, sensibly, he will be encouraging them to have a "decent crack" whenever the opportunity arises.
After all, there has to be a winner in cup games and seldom do goals come when the concentration of any side is totally on keeping the ball out of their own net.
Keinzley has also expressed the hope a big crowd will gather at Howard Booth Park no matter the weather conditions and that they will make enough noise to let Waitakere City know they are in enemy territory.
Considering this is the major sporting attraction to come to Wairarapa for a long time, that should be a given. Kick-off is 2pm.