Ryder a two-goal hero off the bench

Wairarapa United went to the top of the Central League points table when they came from behind to beat Wellington United 3-2 in Wellington on Saturday.

They now sit on 31 points, one point ahead of Wellington Olympic who suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of defending champions Miramar Rangers at the weekend.

Making Wairarapa United's position even better is that whereas they have four matches to play, Olympic have three but with Napier City Rovers and Miramar Rangers still well within striking distance nothing is guaranteed in the title race.

A couple of losses for Wairarapa United between now and the end of the season and they could find themselves finishing no better than third or fourth.

Saturday's victory was similar in type to the 3-0 win they had secured over Tawa seven days earlier.

Just as they did then, Wairarapa United produced a below par effort in the first half, which ended with the scores level at 1-1, but improved in the second spell, particularly the last 20 minutes when they dominated possession and territory.

It was in that period striker Paul Ryder, who came off the bench midway through the second half, scored the two goals which took Wairarapa United from 2-1 down to a 3-2 victory.

Coach Phil Keinzley conceded in his after-match comments that Wairarapa United were fortunate not to be two or three goals behind going into halftime.

"We really struggled to get anything going and they created a lot more scoring chances than we did," he said. "I suppose you could say we did well to hang in but it wasn't pretty, nothing was happening for us."

The second half effort was much more to Keinzley's liking although he admits when his side went 2-1 down there were concerns they might implode.

"We showed a lot of character to dig deep and fight back ... we played our best football when the chips were down."

Player of the match for Wairarapa United was Miroslav Tvaroh for his stout defence and accurate ball distribution and James Oxtoby made a difference when he moved into the midfield in the second half.

Apart from Ryder's two goals - Pita Rabo got the other - he did enough to suggest he will be pushing for a starting spot next weekend.