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01May21
Brisbane And Wellington Struggle In Slush
by Jeremy Ruane
Brisbane Roar and Wellington Phoenix fought out a scoreless A-League draw in slushy conditions at Moreton Daily Stadium on May 1, a result which did the Kiwi side few favours in their pursuit of a top six finish.
The conditions did neither side any favours. They made the game something of a lottery, with the playing of quality football decidedly challenging due to the difficulty both teams encountered in retaining possession.
Wellington's first half efforts were best summed up in the eighteenth minute, when Ben Waine and Ulises Davila got in each other's way as they looked to do justice to Louis Fenton's cross, the fullback having been released down the right by the Mexican, who had an outstanding second half.
Brisbane were certainly the better team before the break, or, more correctly, were the team which adapted better to the conditions during the first half. Oliver Sail grabbed Joey Champness' first shot in anger at the second attempt in the 25th minute, then looked on as a long-range effort from Scott Neville cleared his crossbar soon afterwards.
The defensive wall did its job to prevent Jay O'Shea from capitalising on Davila's clumsy foul on Champness in the 32nd minute, after which Sail was called on to keep out O'Shea's effort from the resulting corner.
Wellington's 'keeper was busy again nine minutes before half-time, keeping out a header from Champness after Riku Danzaki and Jack Hingert had combined to good effect, while a vital block by Cameron Devlin four minutes later prevented Champness from breaking the deadlock, after the winger had worked a one-two with Danzaki.
As half-time approached, Sail found himself right behind a twenty yard shot on the turn from Masato Kudo, who found himself on the end of a cross from Danzaki, his countryman, in first half stoppage time. Kudo headed the ball down towards the full-of-running figure of Hingert, off whom Clayton Lewis' clearance attempt ricocheted to safety as the first half drew to a close.
Wellington changed their tactics at half-time, introducing the pace of Jaushua Sotirio for the second spell, within seconds of the start of which Fenton was harshly booked by referee Tim Danaskos, who deemed that the fullback had dived when going down under the challenge of Macauley Gillesphey in Brisbane's penalty area. The reality was he lost his footing in the slushy conditions and fell down of his own accord.
The home team initially held sway in this half, with Jesse Daly's fine work on the left, including holding off the challenge of the combative figure of Devlin, culminating in a pass to Champness which invited him to bear down on goal, only for the covering figure of Sam Sutton to divert the winger's 53rd minute shot to safety.
Seconds later, a twenty-five yarder from Champness sizzled narrowly past Sail's right-hand post, after which the tide started to turn … although whether that's the appropriate phrase to use given the waterlogged conditions is highly debatable!
Jamie Young was right behind a long-range effort from Lewis in the 56th minute, and looked on three minutes later as Devlin and Davila combined to play in Sotirio, only for Scott Neville to intervene in
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timely fashion.
Lewis, Devlin and Tomer Hemed forged a path for Sotirio to chance his arm again in the 62nd minute - his twenty yarder flashed past the post on this occasion, while a first time drive from Fenton flew wide of the two minutes later after Lewis, Hemed - via a driving run - and Davila combined to set up the fullback as he joined the attack.
A by now rare Brisbane raid - Sail grabbed Champness' header from O'Shea's cross - was responded to instantly by Wellington half-way through the second spell. Fenton and Devlin combined with the increasingly influential figure of Davila, whose shot on the turn squeaked narrowly past the diving figure of Young and his left-hand post.
After a brief respite, Wellington mounted another wave of attacks, Davila a central figure in virtually all of them. He surged forward from halfway in the 73rd minute before threading a pass through for Sotirio, who rattled the side-netting.
Seconds later, Hemed and Davila combined to open up Brisbane's defence, only for David Ball to slip on crossing. Brisbane retorted instantly, substitutes Josh Brindell-South and Alex Parsons combining to pick out Dylan Wenzel-Halls, whose shot on the turn flew across the face of goal.
Davila's superb 77th minute pass sent Sotirio surging through once more, only for Kal Trewin to twice thwart the substitute by blocking his attempts to score. The Mexican was next to be frustrated by Brisbane's miserly rearguard, Young grabbing his twenty yarder after substitute Rene Piscopo had been unable to find a way through the massed ranks of Brisbane defenders.
A brief flurry from Brisbane - O'Shea's deflected shot landed on the roof of Sail's net, while from Corey Brown's resulting 84th minute corner, substitute Patrick Flottmann lobbed another attempt over the bar - was responded to with vigour by Wellington, who piled on the pressure in search of a late winner.
None was forthcoming, however. Young turned a Piscopo piledriver round the post, then parried a curling effort from Ball away from goal, where the flying figure of Fenton risked everything in an attempt to turn home the rebound. Champness blocked his bid to score, however, and despite the ball ricocheting off the winger-turned-defender for a corner, a goal kick was awarded.
The home team mounted one last threat on goal at the death, with Neville, Parsons and O'Shea all involved, before Champness - who else? - fired the game's final shot in anger into Sail's grateful gloves, thus confirming a 0-0 scoreline which, while Brisbane can live with it, could prove costly for Wellington given a number of the teams immediately above them on the table have games in hand on the Kiwi outfit.
Brisbane: Young; Neville (booked, 51), Trewin, Gillesphey (Flottmann, 79), Brown; Hingert (Brindell-South, 60), O'Shea, Daley (Parsons, 70), Champness; Danzaki (Akbari, 61), Kudo (Wenzel-Halls, 60)
Wellington: Sail; Fenton (booked, 46), Taylor, Payne, Sutton (McGarry, 78); Davila, Devlin (booked, 10) (Rufer, 90), Lewis, Ball; Hemed (Piscopo, 78), Waine (Sotirio, 46)
Referee: Tim Danaskos
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