'We're not home and hosed yet,' says coach

Wairarapa United soccer coach Phil Keinzley will be citing a couple of examples to his team to help ward off any danger of complacency for their return central league playoff match against Maycenvale United at Hastings this coming Saturday.
After their 4-0 defeat at the Pugh Sports Bowl on Sunday Maycenvale United have to at least win by the same margin to have any chance of stopping Wairarapa United from progressing to the last stage of the playoffs, a promotion-relegation home and away series with the 2008 central league cellar dwellers, Stop Out.
It's a huge ask but Keinzley knows it can be done.
Two years ago Petone were involved in the same central league playoffs against a Taranaki-based side and squandered a 4-1 home win by losing 4-0 seven days later.
And this season when Wairarapa United needed at least a win or a draw from their last Capital premier fixture with Marist to practically guarantee themselves that title they had to come from behind to draw 1-1, just a week after comfortably beating the same Marist side 4-2.
"A week in soccer can be a long time, things can change pretty drastically from one week to the next," Keinzley said.
"Yes, four goals is a good buffer but it doesn't mean we are homed and hosed & no way."
The Wairarapa United coach said his side would "very definitely" be taking the same attacking approach into the return game as they did on Sunday.
"I know there will be some people out there who will want us to pack the defence but that doesn't suit our style, we are better off looking to score more goals than worrying about how many they might get," he said.
Keinzley said a defensive-orientated game plan would also play into Maycenvale United's hands as they were clearly a team which performed best when allowed time to build their attacking movements.
"They showed on Sunday that they don't operate quite so well when you concentrate on closing them down in midfield and that's where our focus will be again," he said. "We forced them to shoot from a long way out then and hopefully nothing changes this time round."
Keinzley also sees their desperate need for goals influencing Maycenvale United's own game plan with former national league striker Leon Birnie, who didn't play in Masterton, likely to be joined by two others in the striking role.
"Unlike us they have do something different and the odds are they will strengthen their numbers up front," he said.
By doing that, however, Maycenvale United will risk leaving themselves open to the counter attack and Keinzley hopes his side can capitalise on any extra room allowed them.
"Every goal we get makes it doubly hard for them, that's the view we have to take, " he said.
"It we get four more they will have to get eight & then it becomes mission impossible, doesn't it?"
Reflecting on Sunday's match Keinzley was "absolutely rapt" at the way his side responded to the challenge of taking the game to their opposition and he feels a Maycenvale United side which had been in such dominating form recently might have been caught by surprise at their skill levels.
"Looking back, I think they didn't realise just how good we can be, they probably sold us short in that regard," he said.
"And by the time they woke up we had a couple of goals in the bag and they were on the back foot."
Not surprisingly, Keinzley was loathe to single out any players for special mention in what was an effort based around teamwork but, when pressed, he settled on one of the side's younger players in Aaron Spierling for how he coped in the unaccustomed role of what Keinzley described as "holding midfielder".
"We knew they (Maycenvale United) would often have a couple of players seagulling with the idea of catching us by surprise on the counter attack and Aaron's job was to hold his position to make it harder for them to get away," Keinzley said.
"The normal instinct for him is to press forward when we are on attack and it said a lot for him that he adjusted so well."
Pleasing too for Wairarapa United was that they came out of Sunday's match without any injury problems which means that no changes are expected in the starting line-up for the return match.
Bus transport will be available for Wairarapa United supporters intending to travel to Hastings and those intending to make use of that offer should advise Chris Cogdale.
Meanwhile, the Rathkeale College first XI were beaten 3-2 in their Wellington JPL 16-17th grade final against Lower Hutt at Rathkeale on Sunday.
Rathkeale led 1-0 for most of the match and it was only two late goals from Lower Hutt which tipped the scales in their favour, one of them coming from a questionable hand ball call which saw the visitors awarded a penalty. Nick Pearson's strength and speed down the right was always a threat for Rathkeale and Kota Maeno was inevitably on hand to slot the goals.
Earlier the Rathkeale team had placed a creditable fourth in their Trident Trophy secondary schoolboys tourney played in Wanganui last week.
They were beaten 2-0 by Awatapu College of Palmerston North in the semis and then lost 3-1 to Aotea College in the playoff for third and fourth.