United turn on the magic

Anderson Meats Wairarapa United opened their Capital Soccer premier division campaign for 2006 with a convincing 3-0 win over North Wellington at Howard Booth Park, Carterton on Saturday. All three goals came in a first half, which had coach Phil Keinzley trying to recall when a Wairarapa United team had produced a better brand of soccer. "Honestly, I can't remember a first half effort to top this one," he said. "Just about everything went according to plan??.It was magic to watch". Two of the Wairarapa United goals were scored by Solomon Islands international Stanley Waita, who only came into the team late in the peace when Lai Gataurua failed a fitness test. And Waita grabbed the opportunity to impress with both hands, constantly worrying the Norths defence with his speed on the ball and elusive running, let alone his ability to find the back of the net. His combination up front with Pita Rabo was outstanding, with Wairarapa United's third goal coming after Rabo had been dragged down in the penalty area.The resultant penalty was taken by captain Murray Burling and he made no mistake. Two other newcomers to the Wairarapa United side, midfielder James Oxtoby and Petero Dauniseka also had big games, with Oxtoby's extreme fitness allowing him to practically do the work of two players, and Dauniseka using his height and strength to good effect on defence. Coach Keinzley was not overly concerned by Wairarapa United's inability to add to their score in the second half, believing that was due more to a lack of match fitness than anything else. "We did start making mistakes through running out of steam, but at the same time they (Norths) didn't really threaten to score," Keinzley said. Interestingly enough the Wairarapa United success meant they have now gone 15 matches at home without defeat, a run which started late in the 2004 season. "Yes. Howard Booth Park is a bit of a fortress for us," Keinzley said. "Maybe we can start calling it the House of Pain now". The Wairarapa United seconds also opened their Capital Soccer programme with a win on Saturday, beating Norths seconds, 3-0 also at Howard Booth Park. Player of the match was 16-year-old Adam Fisher who was superb on defence while outside halves Matt Steeple and Nick Keinzley also had strong games. Goal scorers were Paolo Frisone, Lai Gataurua and Sakeo Valevou.