United rally in second stanza

A strong second half effort took Wairarapa United to a 2-0 win over Petone at Howard Booth Park, Carterton, on Saturday and maintained their place at the top of the points table in the central league football competition.

Both the Wairarapa United goals came in the second half, the first from a header by Waisake Sabatu after Dale Higham had followed a powerful run down the flank with an accurate cross and the second - and his sixth of the season - by Seule Soromon from broken play.

Coach Phil Keinzley was pleased with the manner in which Wairarapa United lifted their performance after what he described as a "very average" first 45 minutes.

"We were very, very ordinary in the first half, they [Petone] were sluggish and we were just as bad," he said. "It was like everybody was suffering from a hard night out, there was no intensity there at all."

Even so Wairarapa United should have gone into halftime with a 1-0 lead as Soromon missed a penalty and a couple of other prime scoring chances also went by the board.

Keinzley said the halftime team talk was all about the need for the players to lift their workrates and start putting Petone under constant pressure and the message obviously got through.

They dominated possession and territory and there was an impressive sting about their attacking play.

Skipper Nathan Cooksley led by example for Wairarapa United, being one of the very few to earn praise from his coach for a total 90-minute effort. He was stoic on defence and linked up well with his supports on the counter attack.

Wairarapa United meet Tawa at Tawa next weekend and will have their new recruits from Miramar Rangers - Phil Imray, Tim Schaeffers and Darren Cheriton - on deck now that their national league commitments are completed.

Douglas Villa and Masterton were both on the losing end of their Capital Football matches, Douglas Villa by 2-1 to Upper Hutt in second division and Masterton by 3-0 to University Scarfies in division three.