Old habits returned to haunt Wairarapa United in their 2-2 draw with Upper Hutt City in the Central League football match played before a large crowd in Masterton on Sunday.
Hopes had been expressed after the previous weekend's 3-1 victory over Western Suburbs that the fully-committed performance produced there was a sign Wairarapa United's frustrating tendency of allowing their opposition back into the game through dropping their standards was a thing of the past.
Well, not if Sunday's effort is anything to go by. Just as they had in the 2-2 draw with Petone a fortnight ago they squandered a 2-0 lead and, in the final analysis, could be considered lucky to even share the spoils so often did Upper Hutt City threaten to come up with a winner in the closing stanzas.
Which when you consider that Upper Hutt had not managed to pick up a solitary point from their previous four games has to be a worry for a Wairarapa United side whose prospects of a first Central League title were severely dented by their failure to take the maximum three points. They now sit in fourth place on the competition table with eight points, five behind front-runners Wellington Olympic and four in arrears of defending champion Miramar Rangers, who have a game in hand.
There was, though, one positive from the draw. It did mean Wairarapa United, as the home side, became the first holders of the Eva Francis Memorial Trophy, named in memory of the former mayoress of Masterton who died late last month.Her husband, Bob, was on hand for the after-match presentations.
