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Struggling Sides Produce Waitangi Day Stalemate
by Jeremy Ruane
Ninth-placed Wellington Phoenix and last-placed Brisbane Roar battled out a 1-1 Isuzu Ute A-League draw at Sky Stadium on Waitangi Day, a result which served neither team's cause where their respective play-off prospects are concerned.
Brisbane started like a house on fire, putting tremendous pressure on Wellington inside the opening sixty seconds and forcing an error as the home team tried to play their way out of their penalty area. Nathan Amandatidis was the beneficiary, only to see his header tipped over the bar by Alby Kelly-Heald.
Five minutes later, Sam Klein and Henry Hore combined with Ben Halloran on the right, but he shot straight at the 'keeper, who looked on in disbelief sixty seconds later as Brisbane submitted a contender for "Miss of the Season"!
Louis Zabala got the better of Corban Piper on the right and got to the by-line before delivering a clipped cross over Kelly-Heald into the path of Klein, who was three yards out and with the goal at his mercy. How he contrived to head over an open goal only he can explain - unbelievable miss!
All Brisbane's early dominance was nearly undone in the eleventh minute, when Costa Barbarouses pounced on a stray pass, only to shoot at Macklin Freke. The 'keeper was beaten six minutes later, however, as Wellington briefly took the lead.
Barbarouses and Matt Sheridan combined to invite Piper to deliver an angled ball in from the right. Hideki Ishige met it perfectly with a first-time volley which arrowed across Freke into the far corner of the net, despite the presence of Hosine Bility on his shoulder.
But was he in an offside position when he pulled the trigger? The Video Assistant Referee took an eternity to determine that Ishige indeed was half-a-stride too far ahead of the defence when the ball was played in by Piper - no goal, much to the dismay of the 9084-strong crowd.
The home team threatened again in the 24th minute. Piper broke up a Brisbane attack, one in which Florin Berengeur-Bohrer, Klein and Halloran had produced a delightfully intricate interchange to manoeuvre their way out of a tight spot near the corner flag.
Piper's intervention sparked a Wellington counter-attack in which Barbarouses was taken out by Bility. Referee Jack Morgan allowed play to continue, though, as the striker had managed to get his pass away to Ishige. He squeezed the ball through towards Piper, whose progress was halted by Freke's save at his feet.
After Kazuki Nagasawa had seen a shot blocked by Bility, Wellington had penalty claims turned down by referee Morgan after a Piper cross struck the arm of Louis Zabala in the 33rd minute.
Three minutes later, Scott Wootton's timely intervention prevented Hore from converting a lobbed delivery from Berenguer-Bohrer as Brisbane threatened once more, the game having taken on tide-like elements, with first one team attacking, then the other.
In the shadows of the half-time whistle, Wellington were not best pleased with Mr Morgan, and that's being polite! Piper's delivery from the right was headed down by Lukas Kelly-Heald, only for Bility to head the ball partially clear.
For Ishige controlled it on his thigh, and as he went to regather it was clipped by the raised leg of Walim Shour, an incident which the referee was perfectly placed to see, and duly opted to play on in real time.
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Wellington howled for a penalty, and upon reviewing the incident, the VAR called Mr Morgan across to review his original decision, based on the evidence available from different camera angles.
The referee duly took on board the extra information, and decided that his original decision was good enough, deeming that while there had been contact, it wasn't enough to warrant a penalty being given. You can guess how that one went down with the natives - boos abounded well beyond the half-time whistle.
After Barbarouses had a shot blocked by Bility early in the second spell, the even nature of this battle between two teams who are struggling to find form at the wrong end of the table continued until the 61st minute, when Wellington took the lead. Ishige fired in a corner, and Isaac Hughes shrugged off the inattention of Halloran to direct the ball home with a diving header.
Within two minutes, Jay O'Shea had responded for Brisbane, a post-rattling first-time drive from the edge of the penalty area which swiftly snuffed out the celebratory air which had briefly enveloped Sky Stadium.
Those goal celebrations were well and truly silenced nineteen minutes from time when the visitors drew level - due reward for their sustained pressure. Halloran picked out Hore in between defenders, and his deft touch saw him escape the attentions of Piper before clipping the ball home beyond the approaching figure of Alby Kelly-Heald - 1-1.
That set up a stirring finale, with both teams going all out for a winning goal which both teams required, but neither could afford to concede. A super Zabala tackle in the 77th minute prevented Ishige from firing goalwards on receipt of a Barbarouses pass, while a vital headed clearance by Hughes prevented O'Shea from heading home an Adam Zimarino corner four minutes later.
Ishige released substitute Tim Payne down the right in the 84th minute, and his splendid cross arced just beyond the incoming figure of Barbarouses, to which Brisbane responded via the contributions of O'Shea and Zimarino, their efforts allowing half-time substitute Jacob Brazete to get in behind the defence and whip in a cross which was diverted back to Kelly-Heald by Retre.
Stoppage time saw Freke twice called upon to maintain parity, firstly foiling a Matt Sheridan drive - quite why referee Morgan never booked Jack Hingert for twice grabbing Nathan Walker's shirt in the build-up defies logic - then keeping out a Payne piledriver after he'd been picked out on the right by fellow substitute Fin Roa-Conchie's cross-field ball.
Parity prevailed, however, a 1-1 draw which could see Wellington up to eight points off a play-off spot after the conclusion of this round, with eleven games still to play. While the gap isn't insurmountable at this stage of proceedings, it could well be a different story come the end of the month, with their next three fixtures being against three of the leading play-offs contenders. In other words, they can no longer afford to employ their favoured play to not lose tactics.
Wellington: A. Kelly-Heald; Piper (Roa-Conchie, 78), Sheridan, Hughes, Wootton, L. Kelly-Heald (Payne, 66); Ishige (Candy, 89), Retre (booked, 51), Nagasawa (Walker, 78), Sutton; Barbarouses
Brisbane: Freke; Burke-Gilroy (Hingert, 79), Shour, Bility (booked, 25), Zabala (Ludwik, 90); Klein, Berenguer-Bohrer (Zimarino, 67 (booked, 90)), O'Shea (booked, 39); Halloran (Jelacic, 67), Amandatidis (Brazete, 46), Hore
Referee: Jack Morgan
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