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04Jan20
Wellington Extend Unbeaten Run To Eight Games
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix extended their unbeaten run in the Hyundai A-League to eight games on January 4, a result of overcoming Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at the newly christened Sky Stadium.
The scoreline doesn't truly reflect the visitors' contribution to the contest, however. Central Coast began brightly, Jair Britto forcing Stefan Marinovic to fly to his right to keep out a curling effort just twenty-five seconds into the contest, while Giancarlo Gallifuoco rattled the bar with a thunderbolt from similar distance in the third minute.
But it wasn't long before the 8201 locals present had reason to cheer, with Kye Rowles' vital challenge thwarting Gary Hooper in the act of shooting after David Ball made in-roads down the left before picking out his front-running partner with a low cross in the sixth minute.
Seven minutes later, Wellington opened the scoring with a sumptuous sixteen-pass move which involved all ten outfield players. The catalyst to progress was Ball, who received the ball on half-way, turned his marker and surged into space for threading a pass into the stride of the overlapping figure of Tim Payne.
Without so much as blinking, the fullback swept the ball first time into the path of Hooper, who lashed home unerringly into the far corner of the net - 1-0.
And very nearly two eight minutes later. Although Ulises Davila was taken out of play in the build-up, the move lost no momentum, with Payne again playing a pivotal role via his pinpoint cross.
Callum McCowatt guided his close-range header straight at Mark Birighitti, who wasn't so fortunate when Wellington cobbled together another plethora of passes in the 29th minute, a move which culminated in Payne - that man again! - picking out Ball, who jinked inside two defenders before curling a shot beyond the 'keeper and into the net's far corner - 2-0.
Only a fine save by Birighitti low to his right prevented Ball's fiercely struck twenty-yarder from finding the net nine minutes before half-time, while Davila went close soon afterwards after being picked out by Liberato Cacace.
Central Coast needed to get back into the game before half-time, and went desperately to doing so
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in the 44th minute when Tommy Oar unleashed a thunderous volley which beat Marinovic all ends up, only to cannon to safety off his left-hand post.
Unperturbed, the visitors kept the pressure on, and were rewarded in stoppage time when Jack Clisby and Daniel De Silva worked a short corner which culminated in the former's angled cross finding the far corner of the net via the head of Wellington defender Luke DeVere, whose desire to head clear had exactly the opposite outcome.
The visitors began the second spell in much the same manner they commenced the contest - on the front foot, with Marinovic being called upon to keep out a De Silva effort five minutes after play had resumed.
Davila fired another shot over the top in response, after a swashbuckling run through four challenges by Cacace, while substitute Jaushua Sotirio - on for the injured Ball - squandered a great chance to restore Wellington's two-goal cushion in the 57th minute.
Five minutes later, Marinovic saved at the foot of his right-hand post to foil Jair's bid to equalise, while the Wellington 'keeper made a fine denial low to his left fifteen minutes from time to deny Jordan Murray's volleyed attempt following Oar's attacking thrust.
Both teams had chances to score in the dying minutes, with Davila denied in the act of shooting by Clisby's timely challenge, while in stoppage time, De Silva drilled a shot narrowly past Marinovic's right-hand post as Central Coast piled on the pressure for a late equaliser.
One wasn't forthcoming, however, allowing Wellington to climb to fourth place on the table as they edged ever closer to establishing a new club record for an unbeaten run in the A-League.
Wellington: Marinovic (booked, 84); Payne, Taylor, DeVere, Cacace; Davila (booked, 86), Devlin (booked, 50), Steinmann, McCowatt (Hudson-Wihongi, 67); Ball (Sotirio, 52), Hooper (Waine, 63)
Central Coast: Birighitti; Gordon, Kim, Rowles (booked, 39) (Silvera, 54); Miller, Gallifuoco (Simon, 81), Stensness, Clisby (booked, 23), Oar; De Silva, Jair (Murray, 63)
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
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