Wairarapa have slim title shot

Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley is still harbouring hopes of his team winning or at least sharing the 2011 central league football title.
A remarkable comeback against Western Suburbs at the Pugh Sports Bowl on Sunday - Wairarapa scored three goals to level the score 3-3 at the end of the match - sealed a point for Wairarapa.
The draw puts them nine points behind competition leaders Miramar.
With the season fast drawing to a close you would expect Miramar to to clinch the title - but there are two factors in Wairarapa's favour.
Wairarapa have played 13 of their 18 scheduled league matches, Miramar have played 15.
Miramar and Wairarapa are drawn to play in the last round.
If Wairarapa win all five of their remaining games they are guaranteed a share of the spoils.
If Miramar slip up against Palmerston North Marist or Tawa in their next two games Wairarapa could finish on their own at the top of the points table.
Keinzley doesn't need to be told that it's a big ask to expect any side to win five matches on the trot, especially in a competition so intensely contested as the central league.
Wairarapa have two home games which has them play Tawa and Maycenvale United in Masterton and then three consecutive away matches against Petone, Olympic and Miramar.
"Yes, the odds are very definitely against us but while there is even a slight chance we have to keep backing ourselves," Keinzley said.
"Basically every league game is a test match for us from here to the end of the season and it's up to us to handle the pressure that brings. That's the challenge now."
Keinzley said he had a few harsh words for his players after they trooped off the field at halftime against Western Suburbs.
"It was probably the biggest tune-up I have given them all season," he said.
"I couldn't believe they were playing so badly. There was no intensity there at all.
"It was like most of them were suffering from jetlag and were just going through the motions. It wasn't a good look."
To say Wairarapa lifted the ante in the second spell would be a gross understatement.
With the sense of urgency came several prime-scoring opportunities, three of which they converted into goals.
"We needed to do things quicker and show them absolutely no respect - and that's what we did," Keinzley said.
The yellow cards picked up by two of Wairarapa's key players Scott Robson and Adam Cowan in Sunday's game were their fifth for each of them.
They will both be sidelined for the Tawa match because of an automatic one-match suspension.
But there is a silver lining - Robson and Cowan will be back in action seven days later when Wairarapa hosts Waitakere City in a Chatham Cup quarter-final in Masterton.