United take first blood

Will it be enough?
That was the question on the minds of Wairarapa United supporters after their team had beaten Stop Out 1-0 in the first of their two central league promotion-relegation soccer matches played at the Pugh Sports Bowl on Saturday.
To achieve their dream of Central League status in 2009 Wairarapa United-barring a penalty shootout- need to finish the two game series ahead on goal aggregate.
Their one-goal cushion going into the return fixture with Stop Out at Hutt Park, Petone, next weekend will obviously be an assist but two things are guaranteed; Stop Out will be a more disciplined team then and they will enjoy playing on their home ground in front of their home crowd.
Discipline was the key word in Saturday's result. In what was a physical encounter not always controlled with the expected authority by the match officials, Wairarapa United generally managed to keep their cool while Stop Out marred their performance through offences like jersey pulling, late tackling and openly bitching at the refereeing decisions.
It was hardly a surprise then that the visitors were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half with one of their defenders being sent from the field for dissent.
And, as so often happens in those situations, it was in those last 20 or so minutes that Stop Out played their best soccer, often taking the Wairarapa United defence to near breaking point with well-executed attacking raids.
Play like that for the full 90 minutes next weekend with 11 players on the paddock and they will be a handful for sure!
Wairarapa United applied all the early pressure in Saturday's match with Sakeo Valevou pouncing on a loose ball in the opening minutes but being wide with his shot.
Seule Soromon also came close to scoring when he weaved his way through the Stop Out defence and minutes later he and Miriek Tvaroh combined in a movement which ended with the Stop Out 'keeper making a good save.
Soromon was at it again when he accelerated on to a pass deep in Stop Out territory and rounded the 'keeper but his shot was saved off the line by a desperate lunge from a Stop Out defender.
Stop Out also mounted a couple of promising attacks with strong defence from James Oxtoby and Miriek Tvaroh keeping them at bay and Wairarapa United goalkeeper Matt Borren once had to race at least 20m out from his goal circle to clear the ball as the visitors threatened.
It was Wairarapa United who produced the last attack of any note in the first half with Soromon again prominent but the Stop Out defence held and it was 0-0 at the break.
Wairarapa United continued to call the tune in the opening stanzas of the second spell, with Soromon in particular being a huge handful for Stop Out and he finally broke the deadlock, rounding at least a couple of defenders before beating the 'keeper with a well-timed shot. Wairarapa United 1, Stop Out 0.
The Tvaroh-Soromon combination was causing regular panic in the Stop Out ranks with Tvaroh 's accurate passing giving Soromon the opportunity to demonstrate his pace and flair.
But somehow the Stop Out defence managed to keep them out and after the incident where one of their players was sent off the visitors actually lifted their effort a cog or two and started to mount some dangerous attacks of their own.
It was then that the sound defence of goalkeeper Borren and fullbacks Oxtoby and Waisake Sabutu came to the fore for Wairarapa United.
They remained calm under pressure with Sabutu once heading the ball off the line after Borren, in his only mistake of the game, had failed to catch cleanly and a Stop Out attacker had got his boot to it.
And so the final whistle blew with Wairarapa United clinging on to their 1-0 lead and, in doing so, preserving their remarkable record of having scored at least one goal in every game they have played this season.
Do that again next weekend, of course, and they will reap the benefits of the rule which says the first goal scored in an away game by the visiting team is actually worth two on the scoreboard. Which means, in effect, that if Wairarapa United score the first goal next weekend Stop Out will need to score three to level with them.
Soromon was justifiably named as Wairarapa United's player of the match after Saturday's game.The Vanuatu international was electrifying on attack and no matter how many defenders Stop Out put on him they couldn't lessen his impact.
It was noticeable at times though that the support for Soromon in and around the penalty area was not all it should be, a situation which highlighted what the absence of the injured Pita Rabo means to the local side.
The reliability of Miriek Tvaroh in midfield was another major plus for Wairarapa United.
He was a tower of strength on defence and attack and it was very noticeable that when he left the field late in the game with a leg problem the defence of the midfield, in particular, lacked anything like the intensity it had when he was there.
Sakeo Valevou was always a threat when given space in which to operate down his flank and the manner in which Waisake Sabutu used his height and bulk to telling effect on defence was also impressive.
Oxtoby and Borren were also top value in that area as well.