United loss to Olympic continues frustration

A missed penalty just four minutes from fulltime summed up Wairarapa United's misfortunes in their 2-1 loss to Olympic in the Central League football match played in Wellington on Sunday.
The least Wairarapa United deserved from a game in which they created the bulk of the prime scoring opportunities was a draw but Seule Soromon's miss meant they came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
As a frustrated Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley said, it was simply another case of the ''one that got away'', following on as it did from the luckless 3-2 defeat in extra time by Miramar Rangers in a Chatham Cup third round elimination match on Queen's Birthday Monday.
There too Wairarapa United had most of the play but failed to convert their territorial dominance into a winning performance.
Against Olympic _ who sit a clear second behind Miramar Rangers _ a ''soft'' goal gave the home team an early 1-0 lead, which they held until about 15 minutes into the second half when Wairarapa United equalised through Andrew Abba.
At that point Wairarapa United looked so much in control that victory seemed natural but Olympic, as much through good luck as good management, held on for the win, which kept them in the hunt for the Central League title.
The win completely demolished any title hopes third-placed Wairarapa United might have had in the process.
As a spectacle, Sunday's encounter was something of a disjointed affair with numerous refereeing calls being disputed by players obviously confused by the rulings.
Keinzley labelled the refereeing as ''about as bad as I have ever seen'' but was quick to add both teams suffered as a consequence.
''It wasn't that one team got favoured more the other, it was just that so many decisions were virtually impossible to understand,'' he said. ''There was no consistency and you could understand why so many of the players were upset. They didn't know what to expect.''
Individually there were strong performances from within the Wairarapa United camp, none more so than that from the hard-working George Barbarouses, who shone on both attack and defence. Waisake Subutu, Carl Shailer and Adam Cowan also impressed.
In other Central League matches played over the weekend, Petone beat Tawa 2-1, Napier City Rovers beat Lower Hutt City 2-0, Miramar Rangers thrashed Palmerston North Marist 5-1, and Taranaki and Western Suburbs drew 1-1.
Sunday's result leaves Wairarapa United sharing third place on the competition table with Napier City Rovers and Palmerston North Marist but whereas the latter two have played 11 matches Wairarapa United have played 10, an earlier game against Western Suburbs having been deferred.
The points situation is: Miramar Rangers 27, Olympic 25, Wairarapa United 15, Napier City Rovers 15, Palmerston North Mari