United dedicate vital game to club stalwart

Wairarapa United will be dedicating their crucial Central League football fixture with Lower Hutt City at Howard Booth Park, Carterton, on Saturday to a loyal servant of the club, former Fijian international Sakeo Valevou.

The match is Wairarapa United's last home game for the 2012 season and, with Valevou about to return to Fiji, they are keen to pay public tribute to the enormous contribution he has made to their cause - on and off the field of play.

"It's hard to imagine not having Sakeo around, he's become pretty much part of the furniture," Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley said yesterday.

"He's one of those special people who are always willing to do that bit extra. I can't speak highly enough of him."

Valevou first joined Wairarapa United some eight years ago and it didn't take long for Keinzley to be impressed by his versatility, which meant he could be used in either an attacking or defensive role.

Initially, he shone at striker, the role in which he had won the Golden Boot award in Fiji's equivalent to our national league, but he was just as effective in midfield or at fullback.

"You could play him anywhere and know right from the outset what you were going to get, he always gave 100 per cent," Keinzley said of Valevou.

"The tougher the opposition, the better he seemed to play, he thrived on a challenge."

A broken leg two seasons ago may have signalled the end of Valevou's regular appearances with Wairarapa United's premier side but, once he returned to action, he became an integral part of their seconds team, helping them earn promotion from the Capital fourth division competition this season.

Now an emotional last appearance for Wairarapa United's Central League side is on the cards, with Keinzley persuading Valevou to be part of their reserve bench for the Lower Hutt City match and hoping to be able to give him some game time as well.

Victory over Lower Hutt City, who are through to the grand final of this season's Chatham Cup knockout competition, will mean another giant step forward for Wairarapa United as they aim to capture the Central League title for the first time.

It would leave them going into the last of their league matches against Napier City Rovers on Sunday, August 26, with a clear lead on the points table, their destiny very much in their own hands.

Interestingly, Wairarapa United have now gone 11 matches without defeat at Howard Booth Park and their seconds team didn't lose there this season either.

Plans for a new sporting complex at that venue taking in bowls, croquet and football are now well advanced and Saturday's game will be promoted as the first official fundraiser for that venture.