Coach keeps star on ice

Solomon Islands international Stanley Waita has been one of the success stories for Wairarapa United in their Capital Soccer premier division campaign this season, but he won't be part of the starting line-up for the match with Marist Wellington at Howard Booth Park, on Saturday.
Waita, pictured right, has missed the last couple of matches through returning to his homeland to be with his family, during the civil unrest there, and Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley has decided he will play for the club's second team this weekend.
And in a sign of his team's depth in 2006, Keinzley said it would take a strong performance from Waita there to make the Wairarapa United side for their Chatham Cup fixture against premier division leaders Petone at Howard Booth Park the following weekend.
"He (Waita) is no different from anyone else?..once you are out of the team there are no guarantees when you will get back," Keinzley said. "He's had a fortnight off and been troubled by a hamstring strain, so we need to see where he is at in terms of his fitness. The seconds game will give him the chance to dispel any doubts in that respect".
Playing in Waita's position of striker in Wairarapa United's impressive 3-0 win over Brooklyn Northern United last weekend was Fijian Sakeo Valevou, and he made every post a winner, showing good skills on attack and defence.
Keinzley said Valevou made a habit of placing pressure on the opposition fullbacks when they were in possession of the ball, and that was an area where Wairarapa United's forwards had been rather lax in previous games.
"In my book forwards are not just there to attack, they have to be prepared to try and win the ball back as well," he said. "Counter attacking is a lot easier when it is done from the attacking end of the field isn't it?"
Whereas Waita will have to come off the reserve bench if he is to take any part in the Marist Wellington encounter another of the newcomers to the Wairarapa United side this season, James Oxtoby, will start at right half on Saturday, the position held by Troy Burling last weekend.
Oxtoby is perhaps the fittest player in the Wairarapa United squad and Keinzley sees his speed and high work rate adding oomph to the team effort in both an attacking and defensive sense.
With Marist Wellington sitting third from bottom on the points table, and having registered just the two wins this season against Wairarapa United's five, statistics would suggest that anything other than a comfortable Wairarapa United success would be a major shock.
Keinzley, however, is very wary of the fact that traditionally games between the two teams have been closely-contested with Marist winning as often as not.
"They (Marist) always seem to bring their best game when they play us, so we certainly can't afford any complacency," he said. "If don't play well they'll beat us, no question of that."
The current standings on the premier division points table are: Petone 21, Tawa 17, Wairarapa United 15, Island Bay 11, Western Suburbs 9, Brooklyn Northern 9, Waterside-Karori 8, Marist 7, North Wellington 2 and Upper Hutt 0.
Interestingly enough Wairarapa United have scored the most goals of all premier division sides, 21, but they only have the sixth best defensive record, having conceded 12 goals in their seven games.
By comparison Marist Wellington have scored half as many goals as they have conceded, nine and 18 respectively.