Selection headache for coach Keinzley

The two-match suspension given to goalkeeper Sacha Nathu for being sent off for retaliation in their central league football match with Napier City Rovers in Napier on Sunday is already proving a selectorial headache for Trust Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley.
It's not this coming Saturday's Chatham Cup knockout game with Waterside-Karori in Masterton which is most on his mind but the central league fixture with Palmerston North Marist also at home which follows on Sunday week.
Wairarapa United will go into that game on five points, which is currently two more than the only two teams behind them on the competition ladder, one of whom is Palmerston North Marist and the other Wellington United.
So it virtually goes without saying that Wairarapa United will be desperate for a win over Palmerston North Marist to move themselves out of the promotion-relegation zone, and that not having an experienced second string 'keeper to call on is a huge worry for Keinzley and his management team.
"Honestly, I'm not sure which way we will go," Keinzley admitted yesterday when reflecting on the latter issue.
"There are a couple of options and right now we are in the process of thinking them through."
Option one would probably be to promote promising 'keeper Matthew Steele from the Wairarapa United seconds team or continue with Aaron Spierling who took Nathu's placed against Napier City Rovers and performed so ably he was later named man of the match.
Option two would be to bring in a more experienced 'keeper from outside the local region.
Keinzley anticipates playing Steele against Waterside-Karori but he wonders about the fairness of throwing him or Spierling into the deep end against a Palmerston North Marist team who, incidentally, will have last year's Wairarapa United goalkeeper, Matt Borren, between their sticks.
"It would be a huge ask for either Matt or Aaron.
"I know they would give it 100 per cent but whether it's fair to pick them for such an important game is another thing," Keinzley said.
As to "importing" a player from outside the region to fill in for Nathu the problem for Keinzley there is the short time frame he has to come up with a suitable replacement.
"Obviously we are busy looking around but finding someone so quickly isn't going to be easy," he said.
The red-carding of Nathu was not the only worry to come out of the Napier match for Wairarapa United either.
Doughty defender Carl Shailer left the field in the second half with what appeared to be a serious hip injury and while Keinzley is optimistic of it being better than it first looked he is not counting on Shailer being available for a couple of weeks at least.
Then there was the yellow card given Manawatu NFC skipper Adam Cowan which, contrary to earlier reports, was his fourth for the season, meaning he now joins three other Wairarapa United players on that number, just one away from an automatic one match suspension.
Cowan has been one of the big success stories of 2009 for Wairarapa United through his consistency and versatility and Keinzley was so pleased with the partnership he forged with James Oxtoby as central fullbacks in Napier they will probably become regulars in that role over the remainder of the season.
Also delighting Keinzley in Napier was the manner in which Waisake Sabutu responded to playing in the central midfield and that experiment is also likely to be continued in the weeks ahead.