GUTTED: Surprise draw stuns United

Wairarapa United were "gutted" after the 3-3 draw with Olympic in their opening central league football match of the 2012 season in Wellington on Sunday.

On the face of it, sharing the points with the early competition favourites was good for a side without a number of their first-string players but the result could, and probably should, have been better.

Up 3-1 going into the closing stages of the game, Wairarapa United had two lapses of concentration in defence and Olympic capitalised on both of them.

"The players were gutted, there wasn't a lot being said in the changing sheds after the game," Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley said.

"They all felt they had let them [Olympic] off the hook, they were pretty frustrated about that."

Striker Seule Soromon put Wairarapa United ahead some 25 minutes into the game and then the two sides swapped penalties, Olympic's coming first to make it 1-1 and Soromon netting again after Pita Rabo had been illegally brought down in the box.

An upset Wairarapa United win seemed almost certain when they increased their lead to 3-1 when newcomer, Englishman Paul Ryder, made the most of an accurate through pass from midfielder Aaron Spierling.

However, then things turned to custard, Olympic hitting back with their two late goals for the draw.

The second of those was especially frustrating for United as it was the first they had conceded from a corner for three or four seasons and, what's more, it was about the shortest player in the Olympic team who got his head to the ball.

"It was just a simple case of not marking up, we didn't cover all options defensively," Keinzley said.

Player of the match for Wairarapa United was Spierling who probably owed his place at the centre of the midfield to other contenders being unavailable.

His distribution skills were outstanding, as was his solidness in the tackle.

Playing their first game together up front were Soromon and Ryder, and while there was obviously room for improvement in their combination, Keinzley saw enough for him to predict that they will become a lethal force as the season progresses.

And he was pleased too with the leadership skills shown by new skipper Nathan Cooksley and the dependability of fullback James Oxtoby. This coming Saturday will see Wairarapa United playing Napier City Rovers at Howard Booth Park in Carterton. The last time they met was in the Chatham Cup grand final at the end of last season, won by Wairarapa United in a thriller.