Soromon expected to play full game

Vanuatu international Seule Soromon is expected to play the full 90 minutes for Trust House Wairarapa United in their central league football match with Napier City Rovers at Park Island, Napier, on Sunday.
Soromon has been struggling over the past few weeks with a hamstring strain which saw him left out of the Wairarapa United squad which went down 4-1 to Olympic a fortnight back and make only a brief appearance late in the 1-1 draw with Western Suburbs last weekend.
He did, however, come through the latter game without any soreness and then guaranteed his place in the starting line-up for Sunday by completing a busy training session on Tuesday night, again without hassles.
Normally Soromon would be a "shoo in" to fill the lone striker's role against Napier City Rovers but so well did Sakeo Valevou do there against Western Suburbs coach Phil Keinzley might be persuaded to either stick with Valevou and use Soromon on the fringes of the midfield, or play both players up front.
Keinzley himself wasn't giving any secrets away when questioned yesterday as to where Soromon would slot in, other than to say his inclusion would mean talented youngster Kote Maeno starting on the bench.
Which is an unlucky break for the diminutive Maeno whose elusive running made him a star of the Wairarapa United attack in the second half of the Western Suburbs match.
Soromon for Maeno is expected to be the only change in Sunday's starting line-up for Wairarapa United but there is a strong possibility of a new face in the reserves.
Keinzley has been anxious to increase his squad by one to cover the possibility of one or more of his five players sitting on four yellow cards receiving a fifth on Sunday and with it a one-match suspension
He was optimistic yesterday of signing up a Manawatu-based player within the next 24 to 48 hours and if things go to plan, and all the required transfer papers are signed, the newbie will initially sit on the bench with Maeno and the versatile Aaron Spierling.
What makes the Napier City Rovers match important for Wairarapa United is their current position on the central league points table. They are sitting on five points and the only two teams behind them are Wellington United (3) and Palmerston North Marist (2).
This, of course, is dangerous territory as the bottom-placed team in the central league has to go through a promotion-relegation series at the end of the season and the sooner Wairarapa United can remove that threat the less the mental pressure they will have to cope with,
Keinzley, however, is quick to point to the fact there are still 12 rounds of central league action to be played and that any serious talk of relegation was way too premature as a consequence.
"Obviously it's in the back of the mind but it's far too early to be dwelling on it & yes, it would be nice to be further up the points table but right now we have to focus on the match directly ahead of us, not on what might happen away down the track," he said.
Keinzley does agree though that if Wairarapa United win on Sunday and remember they have never beaten Napier City Rovers and other results go as the form book would suggest they could very well jump two places on the competition ladder.
"It's certainly a royal chance for us to make progress up the points list and it's up to us to take it," he said.
Napier City Rovers, for their part, will also be targeting Sunday's match as a "must win" and an opportunity to improve on indifferent form which has seen them record two wins, one draw and three losses from their six matches.
In Solomon Islander Andrew Abba they have one of the most potent attackers in the central league and they also include most of this year's Hawkes Bay's national football championship squad, a team for which, incidentally, two of the Wairarapa United team, James Oxtoby and Soromon, also played.