More local glory as Villa win promotion

It was Douglas Villa's turn to grab the attention in local football circles on Saturday with a 4-2 win over competition leaders Paekakariki in the last of their Capital third division matches this season.

The victory earned them promotion to division two in 2011.

It was a gusty effort with Paekakariki going to the halftime break with a 1-0 advantage but Douglas Villa dominating the second half, scoring four goals to Paekakariki's one.

Douglas Villa coach Ricky Riddell said his team had travelled over the hill determined to make the most of the flow-on effect from Wairarapa United's memorable Chatham Cup success the previous weekend.

"Everybody was still on a high from that win and we wanted to do our bit too, we're absolutely rapt with the result," he said.

Troy Burling was named player of the match for Douglas Villa while other standouts were Mike Kempson and Paul Gregory.

To earn promotion to division two Douglas Villa had to finish in the top two on the points table and Saturday's win took them to 35 points, behind Paekakariki on 42. Then came Petone Armanis 32, Marist 27, Lower Hutt City 27, Island Bay United 26, Karori Barcodes 23, North Wellington 21, Petone 15 and Kapiti Coast United 8.

Saturday also saw Wairarapa United complete their central league campaign with a 1-1 draw against Petone at Petone. A Seule Soromon goal had Wairarapa United ahead 1-0 at halftime but Petone scored a goal from a melee in the penalty box in the second half to equalise.

To say Wairarapa United were battling the odds would be a gross understatement. First they had the frustration of finding that many of their normal playing shirts had gone missing for reasons still to be explained. So rather than wearing their normal green shirts they wore yellow shirts borrowed from their opposition.

And Wairarapa United were down to 10 men for all the second half after Adam Milne was sent from the field just before halftime after receiving his second yellow card for tackling offences.

And if that wasn't trouble enough, Campbell Banks was completely out of action with an elbow injury and both Carl Shailer and Nathan Cooksley had to leave the field with injuries suffered during the match. Throw in some "interesting" refereeing decisions and the 1-1 draw wasn't a bad result.

The result means Wairarapa United finished third in the central league for the second successive year. Points were: Miramar Rangers 36, Napier City Rovers 32, Wairarapa United 31, Western Suburbs 27, Olympic 26, Lower Hutt City 22, Petone 22, Tawa 21, Maycenvale United 21 and Palmerston North Marist 11.

The Wairarapa United squad - players and management - were the guests at an impressive civic reception held in the Masterton Town Hall on Friday night. It was hosted by the mayors of Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa as a means of honouring their Chatham Cup victory, a success hailed by all speakers as "something huge" not only for Wairarapa football but for the region as a whole.

Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley noted the determination within the Wairarapa United camp to successfully defend the Chatham Cup in 2012.