Finishing slated as 'garbage'

ON THE BALL: Nathan Cooksley stood out in midfield in the disappointing loss to Upper Hutt.

Wairarapa United seem destined to end their 2014 football campaign without a major trophy to show for their efforts.

Hopes of a second Chatham Cup title to go with the first they so memorably won in 2011 when they beat Napier City Rovers 2-1 in the final were dashed when they were upset 2-0 by Upper Hutt at Maidstone Park on Monday.

And while two days earlier they had beaten Tawa in a Central League fixture played at Redwood Park and lie fourth on the points table, the chances of them overhauling pacesetters Miramar Rangers are slim.

Currently, Miramar Rangers are 10 points -which equates to three wins and a draw - ahead of Wairarapa United and, what's more, they have a game in hand, having played seven times to Wairarapa United's eight.

On that basis, it would take a drastic form slump from Miramar Rangers and an unbeaten run over the next couple of months from Wairarapa United to see the latter challenging for the top spot and, from what we have seen so far this season, neither is likely to happen.

That is particularly so for Wairarapa United if the poor finishing which marred what was otherwise a strong performance against Upper Hutt in their Chatham Cup encounter becomes a trend.

In charge of them in the absence of their new coach, Bob Sova, was their former "boss", Phil Keinzley, and he was constantly frustrated at shots for goal going high and wide.

"We kept creating goal scoring opportunities but about the only thing in danger were low flying planes," he said. "Composure had a lot to do with it, we'd do everything right until we got into a scoring position and then blow it. The finishing was garbage, there's no other word for it."

Adding to the frustrations for the Wairarapa camp was that both of the Upper Hutt goals came from defensive errors; the first from a poor clearance and the second when they were "muscled" off the ball.

"We made a couple of mistakes in the last 10 minutes or so and they capitalised, after having missed so many chances ourselves it was all pretty gutting," Keinzley said.

As it was it was one of their defenders, central fullback Waisake Sabatu, who was one of Wairarapa United's better performers and Nathan Cooksley was also a standout in midfield.

While a major trophy now seems beyond them, Keinzley is confident that under Sova's guidance Wairarapa United won't be just going through the motions for the remainder of the 2014 season. "If we can't win the league second or third is always better than fourth, isn't it?" he said. "It will be a good test for the pride and character of the players, they need to knuckle down and do the business."