Borren gets hands on two awards

Goalkeeper Matt Borren was the big winner at the Chatham Cup-winning Wairarapa United football team's end-of-season awards function.

Borren took out the Coaches' Player of the Year and Supporters' Player of the Year trophies to cap a wonderful 2011 season between the sticks.

Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley said consistency was the hallmark of Borren's play.

"Honestly, I can recall him having only one average game all season, he was so dependable match after match," Keinzley said. "It's a real luxury not to have to worry about the guy at the back, we always knew what we were going to get from Matt.".

Keinzley recalled Borren's display in their Chatham Cup semifinal against hot favourites Bay Olympic in Auckland as being "something really special" with numerous excellent saves made.

"I think it's fair to say he kept us in the Cup, he was just brilliant that day," Keinzley said.

Named Players' Player of the Year was Nathan Cooksley, whose aggressive defence at fullback or in the midfield constantly made him a standout player as well.

"Nathan loved a challenge, the greater the pressure the better he seemed to play," Keinzley said.

"He wasn't all that fancy but he was hard, bloody hard."

The Most Improved Player of the Year award went to Carl Shailer, whose move from fullback to midfield was an outstanding success, while the swift Dale Higham - a star of the Chatham Cup grand final win over Napier City Rovers - was named Youth Player of the Year.

The Golden Boot award for most goals went to striker Seule Soromon, who made a relatively quiet start to the 2011 campaign before finishing strongly.

Major award winners for the Wairarapa United seconds team who finished third in the Capital fourth division series were:

Players' Player of the Year: Aaron Spierling.

Coaches' Player of the Year: Sean Dunbar.

Most Improved Player: Ollie Donald.

Youth Player of the Year: Ben Ravenwood.

Golden Boot: Niki Keinzley.