Horse and Hound Wairarapa United will take a clear lead in Capital Soccer's premier division competition if they can beat Island Bay United in Wellington next weekend.
That much was made certain after their convincing 3-0 win over Miramar Rangers at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton on Saturday.
Island Bay United
currently head the points table with Wairarapa United just one point in arrears and, importantly, with a game in hand.
Coach Phil Keinzley said it was the tightness of the Wairarapa United defence which was the catalyst to victory over a dangerous Miramar Rangers combination.
From goalkeeper Matt Borren through to player of the match James Oxtoby, Carl Shailer, Waisake Subatu and Andy Robertson the Wairarapa United defensive line-up had simply shut their opposition out of the game.
"Our defence was outstanding, absolutely outstanding," Keinzley said. "They never got flustered, they always seemed to have things under control."
Adding to the importance of a watchful defence was the condition of the Pugh Sports Bowl pitch with drainage problems around the cricket block area meaning that huge puddles of water had gathered there, making that area of the ground almost unplayable.
Keinzley said his players had been warned prior to kickoff that any balls landing in that region of the ground were likely to stop dead and that any attacking play down the middle of the park would be fraught with difficulties.
"It's disappointing to have conditions like that when the rest of the pitch is in such good order," Keinzley said. "All you can do try and cope the best you can but it's certainly not a good look for local soccer, is it?"
Wairarapa United led 2-0 at halftime through goals to Shailer and Pita Rabo and Seule Soromon scored the only goal of the second spell.
Keinzley said Wairarapa United probably should have had more than three goals to show for their efforts with several other prime scoring opportunities being created but counting for nothing. "We weren't quite as clinical up front as we would have liked to be," he said.
