Shailer, Robertson to make 100th appearance for United

Carl Shailer and Andy Robertson will be making their 100th appearance for the Wairarapa United firsts when they play Island Bay United in a crucial Capital Soccer premier division match at Wakefield Park, Island Bay tomorrow.
They will join a small and exclusive band in doing so with only Matt Harvey and Hayden Spierling having reached the "ton" before them.
Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley described Shailer and Robertson as "excellent team men who never fail to give 100 per cent to the cause."
He said both players were versatile enough to play well in a number of different positions and were as vital a part of the Wairarapa United line-up now as they had ever been. "They are the sort of guys you can give a job to do and know it will be done, they never shirk a challenge," he said.
A win to Wairarapa United tomorrow would see them leap frog Island Bay United to the top of the competition table, and with the extra cushion of having a game in hand.
It's a situation which might have tempted some coaches to opt for a risk-free tactical approach with the idea of squeezing out, say, a 1-0 victory but Keinzley has very different ideas.
He is adamant his team's best chance of victory revolves around them taking the game to their opposition by fully utilising the flair and elusiveness of proven goal scorers like Seule Soromon and Pita Rabo.
"When you have players of that calibre up front it makes sense to use them and that's what we are intending to do," Keinzley said.
"We have to make things happen ourselves, we don't want to depend on them making a mistake. We have to be positive, that's the key for us."
Keinzley says dominating the midfield battle will be a prime objective for Wairarapa United as by doing that they would not only be guaranteeing a good service for Soromon and Rabo they would also be reducing the chances of Island Bay United getting any consistency into their own attacking play.
And to that end he would like to see a repeat of last weekend when the Wairarapa United defence was the catalyst to a comfortable 3-0 win secured over a dangerous Miramar Rangers side at the Pugh Sports Bowl. "Our defence was outstanding, absolutely outstanding," Keinzley said of that defensive effort. "They never got flustered, they always seemed to have things under control."
Keinzley is not under-rating Island Bay United however in any way whatsoever. He notes they have not lost a game since Wairarapa United beat them 2-1 in the first round and that they have a particularly good record at Wakefield Park. "Honestly, we would have to be going into this game as the underdogs, the odds are with them more than they are with us," he said "Everything suggests it will be close, very close.".
The Wairarapa United seconds play Lower Hutt City in a Capital third division match at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton tomorrow and they will be hoping that ground conditions there are better than they were last weekend when large puddles of water lay over the cricket block area.
THE THIRD DIVISION POINTS TABLE IS:
University Gossies 26, Kapiti Coast United 21, University Dreamers 16, LHC Ancient Ones 16, North Wellington 15, Wairarapa United 14, Tawa 14, Petone 13, Eastbourne 11 and Lower Hutt City 9.
On the local front division one of the Wairarapa championship has developed into a three-team war with Carterton Wanderers on 25pts and both Trevs Sports Masterton and Sports Arena Douglas Villa on 24pts. Then come Wairarapa College 11, Featherston 5 and McAuleys Masterton 4.
TOMORROW'S DRAW:
Sports Arena Douglas Villa v McAuleys Masterton, Carterton Wanderers v Wairarapa College, Trevs Sports Masterton v Featherston.
DIVISION TWO is headed by Carterton Redbacks on 24pts, followed by Douglas Villa Magpies 22, Douglas Villa Offsiders 19, Evergreens 11, Carterton Skulls 10, Masterton Presidents 5 and Carterton Casuals 0.
TOMORROW'S DRAW: Douglas Villa Magpies v Carterton Redbacks, Carterton Casuals v Carterton Skulls, Evergreens v Douglas Villa Offsiders.