A GOAL in the second minute of extra time by 17-year-old Aaron Spierling gave Wairarapa United a thrilling 1-0 win over Palmerston North End in their Chatham Cup fourth round soccer match at Palmerston North yesterday.
Spierling was left with just the goalkeeper to beat after a strong Wairarapa United attack
and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
"It was the sort of goal you should get but often don't," Wairarapa United manager Phil Keinzley said. "But he (Spierling) did everything right, he kept his cool and gave the keeper no chance."
Keinzley said the closeness of the scoreline reflected the tenseness of the exchanges with Wairarapa United creating more scoring opportunities in 90 minutes of ordinary time than their opponents but failing to make the most of them.
"We wasted so many chances in the first half we actually started to get frustrated and lose our composure but we were a lot more settled in the second half," Keinzley said. "We had good width in our attacks and often opened them up but we couldn't quite finish things off."
Extra time comprised of two halves of 15 minutes and after the Spierling goal the onus was on Palmerston North End to come up with the equaliser.
"They threw everything they could at us but really didn't look like scoring, "Keinzley said. "We were tight in defence and they couldn't get through."
Midfielder Merick Tvaroh was player of the match for Wairarapa United. He was uncompromising on the tackle and linked well with his forwards in attacking situations.
Youngster Anton Ross also had a busy game in the midfield and Carl Shailer, Petero Dauniseka, James Oxtoby and Sakeo Valevou were grand value on defence.
Yesterday's win puts Wairarapa United into the fifth round of the Cup competition, two rounds further than they have every progressed before, and their opponent in what is the last 16 will probably be known tomorrow, as well as the venue at which that match will be played.
