Wairarapa United capped their second half of the season resurgence with a stunning 5-4 win over Miramar Rangers at Miramar on Saturday, securing their mid-table spot and robbing Miramar of a chance at the championship at the same time.
Miramar, until Saturday still contenders for the Central League title, were left shellshocked by the result, leaving them with no chance of overhauling league leaders Western Suburbs.
On paper, the Wellington lads should have had it all over Wairarapa. Rangers had only lost one game in the league until Saturday and they line up in the Chatham Cup semi-finals on August 30 with a good chance of making it through to the final of the country's premier knockout competition.
But they hadn't counted on a Wairarapa United team that has grown hugely in confidence, passion and fitness as the season has worn on and who were coming off a cracking win over Petone just the weekend before.
United stunned the home team with an opening two-goal burst by Seule Soromon within six minutes of the kick-off and the visitors continued to dominate proceedings for the rest of the half.
Coach Phil Keinzley said his charges were creating plenty of opportunities and Miramar was well and truly on the back foot until five minutes from the end of the spell when they picked up a penalty which brought the score back to 2-1.
It was as if that woke the Miramar players up, because for the first quarter of the second spell they turned the tables on Wairarapa.
"They were all over us in that period and knocked in three goals to lead 4-2. We just didn't seem to have an answer," Keinzley said.
But then Nick Roydhouse brought Wairarapa right back into it. With 20 minutes to go, he let go a screamer from the left-hand side just outside the penalty area which left the Miramar keeper with no chance and followed that up with another just a few minutes later.
At 4-4, Keinzley said his charges were trying their best just to close the game down at that stage, but Campbell Banks headed one home for Wairarapa to snatch the win.
The result, the first time United had ever knocked over Miramar's first team, carried on a winning streak for the side which has cemented their mid-table finish for the season, ahead of all the other Central League sides from outside the capital.
United still have a game to play in the league, against Olympic, but that's a month away and even if they win, they can't overtake Petone above them on the ladder.
"If you'd asked me where I wanted to be at the start of the season, I would have said mid-table, so it's a fantastic result for us," he said.
Keinzley said the reason for the team's second half of the season resurgence is fairly simple.
"We started the season not at full strength and we were caught not being fit enough, but with the strengthening of the squad in bringing in guys like Gillespie, Roydhouse, Banks we've been able to pick things up."
"We probably didn't play as well in this game as we did against Petone (last week) actually, and Miramar probably took us a bit lightly, which you can understand from their point of view, but they said afterwards that this was the wake-up call they needed with the Chatham Cup semi looming," Keinzley said.
To add some icing to the cake, Seule Soromon's double on Saturday made him the first Wairarapa player to reach 50 goals for the club.
"And he's done that in just two seasons - it's a phenomenal effort," he said.
And to cap it off, Wairarapa United's second team, in a battle to avoid relegation, won a crucial 3-2 victory on Saturday, making their situation a little less precarious.
Scorers:
Wairarapa 5 (Seule Soromon 2, Nick Roydhouse 2, Campbell Banks) b Miramar 4 (J Sutherland 3, A Barron).
