Dozen goals, could have been more

BATTLE ON: Annie Jones (left) muscles her way past a Wellington United defender.

THE unbeaten run of the Wairarapa United women's team in Capital Football competitions was stretched to 20 when they annihilated Wellington United 12-0 in a division one match played at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton on Sunday.

As the one-sided scoreline suggests, this was a game which Wairarapa United dominated. They did so by playing an attractive brand of attacking football with the emphasis on teamwork rather than individual brilliance.

The bulk of the Wairarapa United goals came from movements involving accurate interplay between their hard-working midfield and their front runners and while nobody could sneeze at a dozen goals there could probably have been at least four or five more had the finishing work matched the excellence of the build-up.

It was the creative attack which most pleased Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley, along with the manner in which his team maintained their structure even when victory had been well and truly sealed.

"It's easy to drop standards when the score starts to mount but that didn't happen. We kept pressing forward in an organised way," Keinzley said.

"There were a lot of passes being strung together and that's always a good sign."

Remarkably in a game where so many goals were scored, it was two defenders, Stephanie Andrews-Paul and Annie Jones, who would have been the leading contenders for any player of the match award. They did everything required in a defensive sense as well as adding spark to the attack with well-timed runs and clever linking with their supports.

Meisha Boone and Lizzie Kedwell scored a hat-trick for Wairarapa United and former Black Fern Michele Clarke was quick to make an impression when she came off the bench, scoring two goals and constantly posing problems with her speed and assertive approach. Other goal scorers were Stephanie Andrews-Paul, Jo Gorman, Chontelle Labon and Tessa Southey.

Wairarapa United have the maximum six points from their two matches, followed by Brooklyn Northern United four, Victoria University, Stop Out, Tawa, Island Bay and North Wellington on 3 and Wellington United 1. Petone and Seatoun have 0. Wairarapa play Tawa at Redwood Park on Sunday, 1pm.