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04June21
Wellington Finish With A Flourish
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix finished their A-League season with a flourish at Campbelltown Stadium on June 4, thumping Macarthur FC 3-0 to finish just a point and a position behind the team which finished sixth and in the play-off spots in their inaugural season.
With results during the week having sealed their play-offs fate for this season, the Wellingtonians went into their final match of the campaign with nothing to play for but pride, and they showed the 5,126 fans in attendance that they boast that particular commodity in spades as they took the game to a Macarthur side which could potentially have finished third had they won and other results gone their way.
In truth, the home team rarely looked like going close to achieving that in this match as Wellington took charge of the contest from the outset and made Macarthur dance to their particular tune.
Ulises Davila, playing his final game for Wellington before transferring to Macarthur, instigated the visitors' first attack of the evening, an eighth minute cross to the far post which the outstanding Reno Piscopo turned inside towards David Ball, whose shot on the turn slammed into the stanchion holding up the net.
Adam Federici was soon called upon to keep Wellington at bay, Macarthur's 'keeper blocking at his near post from Piscopo in the eleventh minute before the same player directed a twenty-five yarder at the custodian sixty seconds later.
An untimely stumble by Ball prevented him from doing justice to a Piscopo cross after the Australian had combined with Mexican Davila and Israel's Tomer Hemed in the eighteenth minute, seconds after which the last-mentioned was denied by a timely Antonis Martis challenge after Davila and Piscopo had opened Macarthur up yet again.
Jake McGing's vital clearance halfway through the first half prevented Ball from doing justice to a fine move featuring Davila, the Englishman, Louis Fenton and Piscopo, after which Macarthur mounted their first attack of the night.
Ivan Franjic and Martis linked up with Tommy Oar on the right, the winger cutting inside onto his favoured left foot and letting fly, only to see Oliver Sail save his deflected effort.
Back came Wellington, Fenton's cross picking out the head of Sam Sutton. Macarthur scrambled the ball to safety - just! - but were soon under the cosh again, Clayton Lewis lashing a twenty-five yarder over the bar in the 32nd minute.
After Sail had dealt with a deflected shot from Charles M'Mombwa, Fenton thrashed a piledriver straight at Federici when team-mates were better placed to exploit the opening. The resulting corner from Lewis was headed down by Steven Taylor, prompting Cameron Devlin to execute the cheekiest of back-heeled efforts, only for Federici to save at close quarters.
Sail was called upon once more to grab a Moudi Najjar header from beneath his crossbar after Wellington failed to clear an Oar corner, after which the visitors kept up the pressure until half-time, Davila firing a shot on the run past the post before Hemed was struck by a goalbound Piscopo effort.
With time all but up on the clock, Wellington took a deserved lead. Devlin won the ball in midfield and fed Davila, who brought Hemed into play. The striker took on Aleksandar Susnjar, cleverly drawing him away from goal before a most clever back-heeled pass saw the ball roll into the stride of Ball, who fair thrashed the sphere into the bottom far corner of the net - 1-0 Wellington.
Make that 2-0 within sixty seconds of play resuming at the start of the second spell. Lewis and Davila combined for the benefit of Piscopo, who surged forward past two opponents before playing the ball back inside to Davila.
He hit a stray pass, but got lucky as the clearance rebounded straight off Wellington's captain into the stride of Hemed, who tucked home comfortably with Federici caught on the hop by the ricochet off the Mexican playmaker.
Macarthur had to score next if they harboured hopes of getting something out of the game, and came desperately close to doing so in the 53rd minute. James Meredith and half-time substitute Loic Puyo combined on the left, the latter's cross being met by a thumping header from Michael Ruhs which cannoned to safety off the base of Sail's left-
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hand post.
Wellington responded with a Piscopo drive which clipped the crossbar, before any hope Macarthur harboured of getting something from the game foundered on the influence of the Video Assistant Referee.
Davila and Puyo both went for a high ball with feet raised in the 56th minute, with the Frenchman catching the Mexican on the knee. Down went Davila, prompting referee Daniel Elder to brandish the yellow card to Puyo.
The VAR saw things differently, however, deeming the challenge to be serious foul play. Cue a change of decision by referee Elder, with the yellow card rescinded, to be replaced by a red one - Macarthur, already trailing by two goals, now had to try and fight back with just ten men on the park, extremely unjustly from this writer's perspective.
Wellington duly set about the task of exploiting their numerical superiority. Lewis and Hemed both drilled shots at Federici, while in between times Davila was fouled off the ball by Mark Milligan as Wellington's captain looked to receive a return pass from Ball inside the penalty area. Referee Elder saw nothing untoward.
Macarthur mounted a rare raid in the 64th minute, Ruhs ratting the side-netting after a driving run around the outside of Sutton took him into the penalty area, an area of the park which the home team only sighted once more in the remainder of the contest.
Devlin slipped at the vital moment in the 66th minute as Ball and Davila combined on the right, the latter then going close with a well-struck thirty yarder after taking on a couple of opponents.
Hemed went closer still eighteen minutes from time, rattling the crossbar with a dipping twenty-five yard effort moments after Federici had kept out an effort by Ball. The rebound on this occasion fell invitingly for Devlin, whose shot deflected to safety off M'Mombwa as Wellington pressed for a third goal.
Seconds later, a cross on the run from Ball ricocheted off both a defender and Federici, prompting an almighty goalmouth scramble, the ball more like a pinball than a football for a few seconds.
Macarthur scrambled this threat to safety, and were fortunate not to be reduced to nine men twelve minutes from time when Najjar followed through on a tussle with Lewis. Referee Elder booked the offender, but the VAR asked him to have another look. The official stood by his original decision on this occasion.
Susnjar's vital block prevented Ball from adding his name to the scoresheet eleven minutes from time, after Piscopo and Sutton had combined on the left. Cue that rarest of birds in this match, a Macarthur attack, one which culminated in Sail saving at the feet of Jake Hollman after the striker had linked up with substitute Lachlan Rose.
Wellington should have made it 3-0 five minutes from time when Fenton was felled in the area by the retreating figure of Rose, only for Federici to redeem the offender by saving Hemed's penalty.
But the visitors weren't to be denied the third goal their performance merited. A concerted attack as the game entered stoppage time culminated in Ball threading a pass through the inside right channel towards the offside figure of Fenton, who allowed the ball to run past him as Ben Waine was bursting through inside him on an angled run.
The substitute duly delivered the coup de grace - 3-0, a fine note on which to conclude Wellington's campaign, one which, but for a missed penalty here, or a daft decision there, would have seen them making the play-offs for the third season running, and on the back of a club record eleven match unbeaten run at that.
Macarthur: Federici; Franjic (Puyo, 46 (sent off, 57)), McGing, Susnjar (booked, 90), Meredith (Liam Rose, 63); Martis (booked, 61), M'Mombwa (booked, 36) (Lachlan Rose, 73), Milligan; Oar (Hollman, 46), Ruhs, Najjar (booked, 74) (Cimenti, 81)
Wellington: Sail; Fenton, Taylor, Payne, Sutton; Ball, Devlin, Lewis (booked, 63) (Rufer, 78 (booked, 80)), Piscopo (Waine, 89); Hemed, Davila (Sotirio, 76)
Referee: Daniel Elder
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