United look for solidity in midfield for success

Wairarapa United will field the same starting line-up for their Capital Soccer premier division match with Western Suburbs in Wellington on Sunday as they did in their 2-0 victory over Upper Hutt City last weekend.
But impressive as they were on that occasion coach Phil Keinzley is adamant the competition leaders will need to produce an even better effort to secure victory against opposition fighting to retain their current status.
"We have to go another notch up, it could be the most difficult match we have had all season," Keinzley predicted. "They (Western Suburbs) are desperate to win and they have home advantage, it all points to a real toughie."
Keinzley is also anticipating Western Suburbs having a good muster of their higher-graded central league side as part of their starting XI now they have no chance of winning the central league title.
Which means in turn that little should be read into the first round clash between the two sides which resulted in a comfortable Wairarapa United win.
"We're not even talking about what happened last time, I can't see it having any relevance at all on Sunday," Keinzley said.
Tactically, Wairarapa United are anticipating Western Suburbs adopting an attacking approach even allowing for the fact that ground conditions are sure to be heavy so their own emphasis will be very much on staying patient and composed.
"It's the sort of the game where we have to prepared to knock the ball around for long periods without really going anywhere, "Keinzley said. "The big thing is to retain possession so they can't feed off our mistakes."
The solidness of their midfield will dictate to a large degree just how successful Wairarapa United are in that respect with Miriek Tvaroh, Paul Gregory, Sakeo Valevou and Anton Ross needing to repeat the excellent form they showed last weekend when they all played with what could be best described as controlled aggression.
It will also be vital to the Wairarapa United cause that the service provided the likes of Pita Rabo and Seule Soromon in an attacking sense is good enough for them to exploit any weaknesses in a Western Suburbs defence which might at times be caught short on numbers because of their attacking philosophy.
The Wairarapa United seconds will be looking to bounce back from their 6-2 loss to Kapiti Coast United last weekend when they play Petone in a Capital third division match at the Pugh Sports Bowl tomorrow. Wairarapa United are currently seventh on the competition table with 14pts with Petone one place behind them on 13pts.
The knockout round continues in the Wairarapa championship tomorrow with the semi-finals seeing McAuleys Masterton up against Featherston at Hullena Park and Sports Arena Doug Villa playing Trevs Sports Masterton at the Park Sportsground.
Both games should be close affairs judging by their current standings in division one of the local league. Trevs Sports Masterton lead there with 33pts while Sports Arena Douglas is third with 30ts. At the other end of the scale are Featherston who are fifth with 6pts and McAuleys Masterton who are sixth with 5pts.