Soccer: No demons, just Green Monster

Not bothered?

Everything suggests they should be. For what it's worth, England soccer coach Roy Hodgson is.

Hodgson put his internationals through the penalty-kick spin-dry cycle well before they even got to the European Championship quarterfinals, which was scheduled to kick off this morning in Warsaw, Poland.

Nah, none of that carry on for Bluewater Napier City Rovers coach Grant Hastings and his Wairarapa counterpart, Phil Keinzley.

So what if Rovers strikers Stephen Hoyle and Jarrod Smith have choked in front of the goalmouth from the 11m spot kick in Central League games in the space of three weeks?

English import Hoyle duffed his kick in the 4-1 victory over Western Suburbs at Park Island, Napier, on June 3 and former All White Smith butchered his in the Rovers' 1-0 loss to Olympic, in Wellington, last Sunday.

Penalty kicks are paramount at knockout cup or play-off matches and Sunday's third-round Chatham Cup match between last year's finalists in the national knockout soccer competition begs the question: "How well are the boys prepared?"

The coaches are not totally at odds with Hodgson, though, who feels the English have a soft underbelly when it comes to penalty kicks. They echo the sentiments of the former English Premier League coach that the exercise is primarily a test of mental fortitude.

"I've seen world-class players miss penalties in a crunch situation," Hastings says before the 2pm kick-off at the Bluewater Stadium, Park Island, between his 2011 runners-up and the visiting champions.

"There aren't too many league players here who can't kick a ball into the net from [11 metres]," he says after the Blues' gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat in regulation time at Memorial Park, Palmerston North, last winter that left some players shedding tears.

Hastings' reasoning stems from the premeditated mindset of goalkeepers who pick one corner or other based on previous knowledge or, more often than not, on a hunch.

"If the keeper's gone the other way then he's hit the target."

Hastings feels Hoyle is a "class penalty taker" and he has spoken with Smith, who revealed the last time he missed a penalty was when he was 17.

He believes Bayern Munich should never have allowed Arjen Robben to kick one in the Champions League final last month against Chelsea in extra time. Chelsea keeper Petr Cech blocked the Dutchman's feeble attempt in the 1-1 draw before Chelsea won the title 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

Keinzley, who is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday to remove bone fragments in his spine after a car crash last month, says their game on Sunday will be "closer than normal" although he isn't prepared to entertain any thoughts of extra time and penalty kicks.

"Hopefully it won't go that far but I never bother with penalty kicks.

"It's a confidence thing. You can practise all you want but you can't replicate that pressure situation so I'm hoping it's decided on the field," Keinzley says.

In the past three years only a goal has separated the archrivals with Wairarapa having the wood on Rovers.

The coaches agree both teams' composition has changed since last year's final.

Needless to say the Rovers, under stand-in skipper Regan Cameron who was captain in the cup final, will a have a few demons to exorcise although Hastings prefers to play down the significance of that.

There's only one demon to contend with as far as he's concerned - the Green Monster: "I never look at a football game in the rear-vision mirror because you can't change yesterday but you can change today or tomorrow."

Fundamentally Hastings likes to believe it's about his men playing a clinical game on the foundation of a healthy dose of luck that has proved to be elusive.

"We haven't beaten them in three seasons. Are we capable?

"Yes. We need an element of luck and it could be this Sunday."

With regular captain/centreback Bill Robertson away in England after an injury, the hosts' defence will be tested by the Central League leaders who have a penchant for lifting their game against the Rovers.

Hastings revisits Napier's first-round thrashing of 2010 cup defending champions Miramar Rangers here last winter.

"No one thought we'd win. They said our cup had runneth over but we put five past them so who knows what'll happen on cup day," Hastings says, adding every player is on deck with flawless training sessions this week.

Wairarapa will also be without their captain, Adam Cowan, a professional photographer who is on a wedding assignment in Fiji. They will also miss Hawke's Bay United winger Dale Higham who is seriously ill.

Ex-Bay United player James Oxtoby and Pablo Moya will occupy the left and right flanks, respectively, with Fijian Pita Rabo stoking the engine room.

Keinzley knows the Rovers have signed ex-All White midfielder Cole Peverley, too. He put down the 3-1 Central League loss to Lower Hutt City last Sunday in Wellington to atrocious conditions at Bell Park, Wellington.

"They played a game on a field that we should never have a played a game on," Keinzley laments.

"They like to bring other teams down to their level."

Keinzley has signed two Oceania internationals, Vanuatu centreback Brian Kaltack and versatile Fiji captain Esava Naqueleka, who is a centreback/centre-mid but neither can play cup matches after missing two games.

On hearing about the Bell Park saga, a jovial Hastings said: "No worries. Gary, the groundsman, won't be continuously watering the pitch here to turn Park Island into Bell Park for Sunday's game."