Keinzley optimistic for United’s future

Ask Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley to rank his team's performance in their debut season in the Central League football competition and you get a two-pronged answer.
Marking them out of a possible 100 Keinzley gives them a lowly 20 percent for the first half of their season and a much more acceptable 80 percent in the second.
Which is hardly surprising when you consider they ended up sixth in the 10-team competition after staring possible relegation in the face for at least the first couple of months.
A situation which changed dramatically when they went on a five-match winning streak, ended only by their controversial, 2-1 defeat to Olympic, at Hullena Park on Sunday.
Frustrated as he was with losing that match after having two players sent off in the second spell by a referee whose officiating came in for harsh criticism, Keinzley believes the performance provided a classic example of why Wairarapa United could look forward to the 2010 season with considerable optimism.
To hold a team as powerful as Olympic - who meet Manurewa in the semi-finals of the Chatham Cup national knockout series this coming weekend - to just one goal when playing the last 20 minutes with nine men was a graphic illustration of their potential.
Especially when you consider they were also without two of their star players, prolific goal scorer Seule Soromon and Nick Roydhouse, both of whom are overseas.
"I never like blaming the referee for losing but in this case ... well, I think anybody who was there would agree things didn't exactly go our way in that respect," Keinzley said of Sunday's game. "Put it this way, if we had 11 players on the field the whole game I'm sure we would have won."
Keinzley considers a mixture of improved fitness, greater self belief and the strengthening of the squad through important acquisitions like Campbell Banks, Nick Roydhouse and Richard Gillespie led to Wairarapa United recovering well from their indifferent start, and ending up as the top-placed non-Wellington side in the Central League.
"We did struggle to cope with the extra pace of the game at this level early on and when you take a few beatings confidence goes down," he said.
"And the players who came in as the season went on all contributed positively to the team cause, individually and collectively."
Keinzley rates the first-round draw with Taranaki and the first-round loss to Napier City Rovers - two teams they eventually finished above on the points table - as the worst results for Wairarapa United in 2009 while the best were the first-round draw with leaders Western Suburbs and the second-round defeats of then-title contenders Petone and Miramar Rangers.
"We got to a point where we could go out there and expect a good result against any side and it's pleasing to be able to say that," he said. "If we had started like we finished who knows what might have happened."
Striker Seule Soromon, whose 14 goals made him the second-highest scorer in the Central League, was undoubtedly the most dangerous attacking player for Wairarapa United although Campbell Banks was always a threat to the opposition defences as well.
Goalkeeper Richard Gillespie was a huge motivating force on defence, both for his general play and communication skills, while Waisake Sabatu would be an obvious front-runner for any "most consistent" award. As would Carl Shailer be in the "most improved" and Kote Maeno in the "most promising" categories.
Maeno, a pupil at Rathkeale College, is actually seen by Keinzley as having the potential to attain national honours but he will not be available next season due to his family returning to Japan.
He is, however, the only one of the Wairarapa United squad not on deck again.
Just where Wairarapa United will play their home games in 2010 has, of course, been a matter of great speculation in recent weeks and a meeting of Masterton AFC members tomorrow night could have a big say in that matter.
If they agree, Hullena Park will be the regular venue - a decision which would prove very popular with players and supporters.