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07Mar21
Outstanding Defending Helps Wellington Down Perth
by Jeremy Ruane
Despite conceding both possession and territory to Perth Glory, Wellington Phoenix recorded a second successive victory in the A-League on March 7, overcoming the Western Australians 3-0 in front of 2,331 fans at WIN Stadium, all while wearing an unfamiliar kit of red shirts and white shorts, the colours of the local Wollongong Wolves club.
Perth assumed the ascendancy fairly early on in the contest, but found their frequent waves of attacks crashing against what amounted to a red wall, as Wellington's rearguard, brilliantly led by Tim Payne, staved off everything that Diego Castro and company could create.
Such as in the eleventh minute, when Castro switched play to Dane Ingham, who worked a one-two with Andy Keogh before looking to pick out Bruno Fornaroli with a pull-back from the by-line. In stepped Payne - chance lost.
Three minutes later, Fornaroli brought Japanese fullback Kosuke Ota into play. His pull-back flew behind all-comers but was retrieved by Brandon Wilson, whose fierce drive drew a parried save from Oliver Sail.
The rebound fell kindly for Adam Keogh, but he thrashed his snapshot over the bar, then was denied a goal by the offside flag four minutes later, as Perth pounded away in search of an opening goal.
Two in five minutes at the other end of the park, completely against the run of play, stopped them in their tracks. Alex Rufer and Clayton Lewis worked a one-two in the centre circle before presenting Reno Piscopo with the ball, and downfield he dashed until he got to within twenty-five yards of goal, at which point he let fly with a thunderous drive which left Tando Velaphi diving in vain.
Perth sought a swift response through the combination play of Ingham, Wilson and Castro, but Sail turned the last-mentioned's twenty-yarder away in the 33rd minute. The goalkeeper was celebrating again two minutes later, as Wellington doubled their advantage.
Daniel Stynes was caught in possession half-way inside his own half by Ulises Davila, who swiftly brought the overlapping figure of James McGarry into play. Without breaking stride, he curled a tantalising cross into the goalmouth, where David Ball was arriving at pace to turn the ball home - 2-0, a scoreline no one had anticipated Wellington enjoying in light of the general pattern of play to this point.
It rocked Perth, but they kept on coming, Keogh just failing to make contact with a tantalising cross from Ota four minutes later. But they could have found themselves three down three minutes before half-time, Louis Fenton's first time cross proving too high for Ben Waine to reach, after Piscopo and Davila had combined on the left before Wellington's captain switched play with a pass into the fullback's stride.
The general pattern of the first spell continued after half-time, but Wellington's defence wasn't in the mood to be breached. Instead, a third goal looked likely, and after McGarry had fired over the near post after a neat move featuring Piscopo and Ball, the Kiwi team realised that objective in the 59th minute.
Davila spread play wide to Fenton, who slipped the ball into the path of Ball, racing up inside him. The striker feinted inside a defender near the by-line before cutting in and letting fly, drawing a parried save from Velaphi.
Unfortunately for the 'keeper, he directed it straight to Waine, who prodded the ball home at the second attempt before Wellington's baby-faced assassin raced off to celebrate his second goal in as many matches.
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There was no way back for Perth from this, but they never gave up in their bid to reduce the deficit, despite knowing it wasn't meant to be their day as a result of a 61st minute attack.
Ota picked out Fornaroli with a cross to the near post, the striker being denied twice by point-blank range blocks by Sail. The ball broke for Keogh, who set up Stynes for a shot. Payne blocked this, but the rebound fell invitingly for Fornaroli, who surely had to score from six yards out.
The combined efforts of Sail and McGarry denied him, however, the ball arcing over the bar to leave Perth wondering what they had to do to score in the latest "Long Distance Derby", a match which the Western Australian outfit has dominated on the scoreboard in recent seasons.
Fifteen minutes from time, they tried again. A Castro cross wasn't cleared, inviting substitute Osama Malik to launch into a bicycle kick. The ball took a wicked deflection off McGarry, forcing Sail to paw the ball out from beneath his crossbar. The fullback reacted swiftly to thump the sphere to safety.
Perth were still piling on the pressure in search of a goal in the 82nd minute when Wellington hit them on the counter-attack. The ball was cleared to half-way, where Piscopo was lurking for just such an opportunity, and downfield he dashed.
Bearing down on him at a great rate of knots, despite giving his opponent a five yard start, was Perth substitute Josh Rawlins, who forced the Wellington man to angle away from goal before shooting.
Velaphi turned the ball to safety, but Wellington swiftly regained possession, Rufer presenting Piscopo with the chance to double his personal tally for the game from inside the 'D' seconds later. This one left Perth's 'keeper clutching at air, but it curled just past Velaphi's left-hand upright.
Instantly, Perth responded, substitute Nick D'Agostino dashing down the right before attempting to pick out Fornaroli with a cross which was brilliantly anticipated by Payne - his marshalling of one of the league's leading marksmen was exceptional throughout proceedings.
Five minutes from time, Davila and Piscopo brought Tomer Hemed into play. The substitute touched the ball into the stride of McGarry, racing up in support, allowing the fullback to whip in a wicked cross which Perth scrambled clear just before Ball could pounce, the goal looming invitingly before him.
Immediately the visitors counter-attacked, D'Agostino slipping Fornaroli through on goal. He deftly evaded two defenders, but was foiled initially by Sail's one-handed save at his feet, then by Cameron Devlin's decisive tackle, which thwarted any hopes the striker had of breaking his game-long drought.
Sail was right behind a long-range effort from Carlo Armiento as the game entered stoppage time, and it was rather fitting that, as the three additional minutes elapsed, a clearance from Payne proved to be the game's final act, confirming a well-earned 3-0 win for Wellington over opponents who will wonder how they failed to turn so much territorial advantage and possession into three points.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton, McGing, Payne, McGarry; Davila, Rufer, Lewis (Devlin, 67), Piscopo; Waine (Hemed, 77), Ball (Ridenton, 90)
Perth: Velaphi; Ingham (Sullivan, 57), Aspropotamitis, Lachman, Ota (Rawlins, 64); Wilson (Malik, 57), Kilkenny, Stynes (booked, 64) (Armiento, 75); Keogh (D'Agostino, 64), Fornaroli, Castro (booked, 37)
Referee: Adam Kersey
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