Soccer: Wairarapa one win away from going all the way

Wairarapa United have defied the odds again to advance to their first Chatham Cup soccer final. Photo / Supplied

Wairarapa United have defied the odds again to advance to their first Chatham Cup soccer final.

Their fairytale run to the final against Napier City Rovers on August 27 or 28 continued when they beat last year's losing finallists Bay Olympic 1-0 in their semifinal today at Auckland.

Wairarapa, who eliminated Waitakere City 4-1 in the quarterfinals, will be up against a Napier club appearing in its sixth Cup final after Rovers today overcame a one-goal deficit to beat Dunedin's Caversham 2-1 at Napier.

Wairarapa's winner came two minutes into the second half when captain Adam Cowen picked out the run of Vanuatu international Seule Soromon with an accurate through ball before the striker lobbed over oncoming goalkeeper Danny Robinson.

Wairarapa's Matt Boren was the busier of the two goalkeepers and his fingertip save to push a looping Ross McKenzie header on to the bar in the 89th minute was the pick of his interventions.

McKenzie would have been cursing his luck having hit the crossbar just minutes earlier direct from a corner that caught the very strong wind favouring Bay Olympic in the second half.

Bay Olympic piled on the pressure in the final 20 minutes with a series of corners and dangerous long throws from Nathan Strom but not even the sending off of Pita Rabo for a second yellow card in the 87th minute could dent Wairarapa's determination to hang on to their lead.

"I just can't believe it. It's such a great feeling to be in the final," said Wairarapa coach Phil Keinzley said.

"The first half our worst first half of the season. We were horrible and got away with it.

"We weren't playing our game, we were giving away the ball. So the focus for the second half was getting our composure back, keeping the ball and getting it on the ground.

"Scoring so early in the half was a real boost. It gave everyone that extra enthusiasm that wasn't there in the first half."

Wairarapa's victory ensured the final will be played outside of Auckland for the first time since 2002. A decision on the venue for the match will be made this week.

Caversham nudged in front at Napier in just the fourth minute through Evan Jones but Napier levelled from the penalty spot through Stu Wilson four minutes into the second half after Andy Pickering was felled in the box.

Ten minutes later Josh Stevenson went through one on one with the Caversham goalkeeper and made no mistake to book Napier's place in the final.

- NZPA