U 23 stars join United

Two of the outstanding performers for overseas teams at the Oceania under-23 Olympic qualifying football tournament in Taupo last week will be wearing the Wairarapa United colours in 2012.

Esava Naqeleca had been signed up before he captained the Fijian team on a campaign which ended with them being beaten 1-0 by New Zealand in the grand final but the services of exciting Vanuatu fullback Brian Kaltack were only sought while the tourney was in progress.

Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley successfully negotiated with the 18-year-old Kaltack after watching him star for a Vanuatu squad which finished up in third.

Keinzley said he was "very impressed" by the athleticism and speed of the tall central fullback. "He's very quick over the ground and there's not very many players around with his sort of elevation when he is going for the ball in the air," Keinzley said of Kaltack, saying that he reminded him of Wairarapa United stalwart Pita Rabo in that latter aspect of his game. "You don't see Pita being outjumped very often but I reckon this fella would give him a good go."

Keinzley sees Kaltack, who last year won a scholarship which enabled him to train fulltime with the Wellington Phoenix for some weeks, adding an extra dimension to the Wairarapa United defence.

"He's got skills which others don't have, and that's going to make him very handy for us," he said. "But it's over to him if he's to get a starting role, he's going to have to earn it like everyone else."

Keinzley was also impressed by what he saw of Naqeleca at Taupo. Playing mostly in midfield he was Fiji's leading goal scorer and just as influential on defence as he was on attack. "He's a very well-rounded player, he seemed to tick all the boxes."

Unfortunately for Wairarapa United, however, both Naqeleca or Kaltack are likely to miss their opening central league match against Olympic in Wellington on April 14 and that against Napier City Rovers at Carterton the following weekend because of transfer time lags.

Also unavailable for those two games, and possibly more, will be three of their other newcomers - Miramar Rangers trio Phil Imray, Darren Cheriton and Tim Schaeffers - who are part of the Team Wellington line-up which has made it through to the semifinals of the national league.

Also playing in the national league are regulars in last year's Chatham Cup-winning combination in Adam Cowan, Dale Higham, Seule Soromon, Nathan Cooksley and Pablo Moya and while their teams haven't made it to the semis they won't be able to join Wairarapa United until after Easter weekend, a situation which Keinzley agrees is far from ideal. "We'll be lucky to have even a couple of training runs with anything like a full squad before our first game but there's no point in complaining, we just have to get on with it."