SOCCER - Wheatley has point to prove

NORTH Force's season opener this week may have been overshadowed by the political battle being waged in Auckland but coach Dean Wheatley has a point to prove on the field against Glenfield tomorrow.
Glenfield Rovers are one of the clubs who are in the new United Soccer 1 premier division against their will this season. The club has questioned the standard of soccer in the new competition and travel up to Whangarei with nothing less than a public thrashing of North Force in mind to illustrate their point.
They believe the fifth-placed team in the now defunct Northern Premier League in 2007 should easily beat the sixth-placed team in Northern first division. But Wheatley's side are keen to prove them wrong.
"The saga about the league structure hasn't been the best background to the start of the season but it hasn't affected our build-up.
"It's going to be a tough match but we're looking forward to it," he said.
A good pre-season defensive record, which sees the side yet to concede a goal after three warm-up matches, will help their confidence.
Regular goalscorer Scott Burgess has slipped back into the centre of defence, and his speed and experience will complement the defensive skills of Bruce Plunkett.
The side will lack the proven goal-scoring ability of Sammy Oso, who will miss the start of the season through work commitments, but that does give other players opportunities to impress.
Isaac Jerez will probably partner Aaron Taylor up front. Jerez is one of an influx of FC players who have strengthened the squad. The availability of players such as Jerez, Adam Sharp, Kyle Mack, Jamie Burgess and the Crowley brothers Wayne, Steve and Michael have gone a long way to making up for the loss of talented midfielder Steve Schimmel.
Schimmel has failed in his bid to shrug off injury to be ready for the start of the season.
Alex Luiten, Matthew Ward and Jeremy Perkins are other losses from last year's squad but there have been a few new faces, most notably former Central United midfielder Jeremy Rintoul.
The first team will again expect to draw in-form players from the reserve team to bolster its ranks and the young side have also had a good pre-season build-up.
Reserve team coach Paul Herbert is putting plenty of faith in the young team's fitness and enthusiasm. Experience could also be a factor, with many of the team's younger players returning for their second year of competition at this level.
"If we stick to the same pattern of play as we've achieved in two of our three pre-season games then we're going to be pretty difficult to beat, I think," Herbert said.
The team has played some pleasing football in their pre-season fixtures.
A 3-1 victory over Tikipunga and a 2-2 draw with Hora Hora was followed by a satisfying nil-all draw with a talented Mt Albert-Ponsonby reserve side last Friday.
Goals weren't problematic for the side last season and, with Murray Wooten and Ben Edwards up front, the side won't lack for them.
The team's weakness last year was squandering points with poor defence but Herbert thinks they may be on to something this season.
Pahia's Wade Thomas has been recruited to play in the heart of the team's defence and, after early success, it looks as though he will anchor the defence in the central role, along with Ben Mortimer.
Conor von Keisenberg, Joseph Luiten and Tom Taylor have all had the benefit of a year playing at this level, with another Pahia import, utility player Mitchell Pomfrett, fitting well into the side.
The Reserves kick off against Glenfield Rovers at 1pm tomorrow at Tikipunga Park, with the senior side's match starting at 3.15pm.