United stung by own play against Miramar

A combination of poor finishing and slack defence cost Wairarapa United dearly in their 3-1 loss to central league football favourites Miramar Rangers at Dave Farrington Park, Miramar, on Easter Monday.
Unfortunately, it was same old story as their 2-0 defeat by Palmerston North Marist just three days previously and it left Wairarapa United sharing the bottom of the points table with Taranaki and Peton, and facing the daunting prospect of hosting unbeaten Olympic at Hullena Park, Masterton, this weekend.
Coach Phil Keinzley said the Miramar defeat mirrored that against Palmerston North Marist in that Wairarapa United had created three to four times as many scoring opportunities as their opposition but failed to capitalise.
And they had also been guilty of ''gifting'' Miramar all three of their goals by failing to provide adequate cover for crosses, with a lack of communication between defenders being the main hassle in that respect.
''It's always frustrating when you know the win was there for the taking and we didn't make it happen, there's a hell of a difference between two wins and two losses,'' Keinzley said.
Not helping the Wairarapa United cause, either, has been some ''interesting'' calls from match officials. Against Palmerston North Marist there were two occasions _ one in each half _ where the ball looked to be over the line only for the goals to be disallowed and against Miramar a second half penalty was awarded to Wairarapa United only for the decision to be changed to dropped ball after the referee had conferred with a linesman. That latter ruling came with Wairarapa United trailing 2-1 but dominating possession and desperately needing a goal to turn the knife on a shakey-looking Miramar defence.
''If we had drawn level then who knows what the final result might have been, it might have turned things our way,'' Keinzley said. ''It's one of those annoying what ifs, isn't it?''
The Miramar match also saw Wairarapa United lose two of their key players for this Saturday's encounter with Olympic which will be coming off the back of comprehensive 7-2 thumping off Petone.
Striker Seule Soromon did score the only Wairarapa goal, but was red-carded just five minutes from fulltime for what Keinzley labelled a ''clumsy'' tackle. He will sit out a one match suspension and defender James Oxtoby will be resting a hamstring strain. It hasn't been all bad news for Wairarapa United on the playing front, though.
Against Miramar, Keinzley was delighted with the efficiency of his midfield where Miriek Tvaroh had a ''blinder'' and George Barbarouses and Ian Sandbrook were also top value. There were some neat touches up front, too, from Andrew Abba and newcomers Graeme Craven and Pablo Moya both made a positive impact. Craven might well have done enough to earn himself a starting place against Olympic, a scenario made even more likely by Oxtoby's absence.
The Central League points table after the matches played over Easter weekend is: Olympic 6, Palmerston North Marist 6, Napier City Rovers 6, Lower Hutt City 3, Western Suburbs 3, Tawa 3, Wairarapa United 0, Taranaki 0, Petone 0.