Their defensive frailties were exposed as Heartland Wairarapa slumped to a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of YoungHeart Manawatu in their southern conference national youth league football match played at Memorial Park, Masterton on Waitangi Day.
The home team were level pegging at 0-0 at the end of a first half which had seen Manawatu have a decided advantage in territory and possession but fail to turn a host of prime scoring opportunities into goals.
It was a different story in the second half, however, with Manawatu consistently using the width of the field, and the superior pace of their frontrunners, to get behind the Wairarapa defence and with Jordan Martens scoring a hat-trick and Wairarapa United Central League player Nathan Cooksley a fourth, they quickly put the result beyond doubt. Heartland Wairarapa did get a consolation goal close to fulltime through Kurtis Paine but by then the bird had well and truly flown the coop.
For Heartland Wairarapa their performance lacked the determination they displayed in beating Southern United in their previous game. Along with looking all too pedestrian on defence, many of their attacks came to an abrupt end through a mix of rushed and inaccurate passing.
Individually, the youngest player in the Wairarapa squad in Liam Hare did some show clever distribution skills and the ability to retain possession in cramped spaces and Arnon Tapp also displayed some neat touches at times.
