Patience the key for victory over Marist

GREAT CHANCE: Mark Hemi has been drafted into the Wairarapa United starting line-up after the suspension of Seule Soromon.PHOTO/FILE

Composure will be the key to victory for Kuripuni Tavern Wairarapa United in their Central League match with Palmerston North Marist at Palmerston North tomorrow.

That's the message from coach Phil Keinzley, who expects PNM to play their usual defensive-orientated style of game which is largely aimed at testing the patience of their opposition.

"They tend to pack their defence with the idea of forcing mistakes and launching counter-attacks. It's not always pretty but it seems to work for them," Keinzley said.

It's important then for Wairarapa United to not fall into the trap of over-emphasising their attacking play and risk providing the breakdowns from which PNM could capitalise.

"We have to be patient, that's the key," Keinzley said. "We have to be prepared to go long periods without goals being scored, to accept there could only be one or two goals in it."

To that end, Wairarapa United will need to be more disciplined in their play than they were in the 3-1 loss to defending champions Miramar Rangers last weekend.

Individually and collectively, there were times in that game when they lost their cool to the detriment of their performance resulting in the sending off of striker Seule Soromon 30 minutes into the first half. This left them in the invidious position of being a player short against opposition always likely to take full advantage of that. And they did, a 1-0 lead for Wairarapa United becoming a 3-1 defeat.

"Again it comes down to composure, we have to take the referee out of the game," Keinzley said.

The loss of Soromon through suspension means promising youngster Mark Hemi will play up front alongside Omar Guardiola and last weekend's goal scorer Max Lopez. In midfield will be Nathan Cooksley, Nick Roydhouse and Aaron Spierling and at the back Carl Shailer, Adam Cowan, Waisake Sabatu and Josh Margretts. In goal will be Matt Borren. A couple of talented youngsters, Thomas Hemi and Chris Cox, will be on the bench.

The Wairarapa United women's team will be looking to make it two from two in Capital third division play when they host Wellington United at Howard Booth Park, Carterton, on Sunday. It's been a busy few days for the side as, on Wednesday night, they confronted first division side Brooklyn Northern United in a national Knockout Cup match and, while BNU won 7-1, Wairarapa United gave a good account of themselves, especially in the second half when they conceded just two goals. Making that effort even more notable was that Wairarapa United do not have a specialist goalkeeper and coach Keinzley says they are "very desperate" to fill that important role.

The Wairarapa United men's seconds team and Douglas Villa will be involved in Capital second division matches this weekend: Wairarapa United against Lower Hutt at Howard Booth Park on Sunday and Douglas Villa against Island Bay United at Wakefield Park tomorrow. In Capital third division men's games, White Swan Greytown will play Waterside-Karori Magpies at Ben Burn Park tomorrow and Property Law Services Masterton will meet North Wellington Athletic, also tomorrow, at Alex Moore Park.