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080325
Western Wallop Wellington To Claim Second Spot
by Jeremy Ruane
Western United surged into second place on the Isuzu Ute A-League standings on March 8, walloping a woeful Wellington Phoenix 4-1 at Ironbark Fields to effectively end the beaten team's season with seven games still to play.
The natives couldn't have wished for a better start, Angus Thurgate's third minute corner ricocheting into the far corner of the net off Rhys Bozinovski to put Wellington on the back foot and leave them having to chase a game which was a must-win affair as far as their play-off hopes were concerned.
The brutal reality is, Wellington's play-off hopes have been unrealistic ones for quite some time, in part because of poor pre-season recruitment, and in part due to the poor tactics employed by coach Giancarlo Italiano.
His insistence on having his team try to play the ball out of defence, with players who aren't capable of consistently doing so, has been their undoing on so many occasions this season, with this match the latest instance of their one-dimensional game-plan being exploited by superior opponents.
The first occasion of this happening in this match came in the eighth minute, when Riku Danzaki was gifted possession just outside the penalty area, into which he raced before shooting past Scott Wootton - a nightmare display from him - and drawing a save at the second attempt from Albie Kelly-Heald.
Two minutes later, a Thurgate free-kick delivered from the left flank somehow made its way through the goalmouth and past the far post without anyone making contact with the ball - a touch towards the target would likely have seen United's lead doubled.
Another cheap concession of possession swiftly followed, with Danzaki again the beneficiary. His low cross zoomed across the six-yard line, but no one in a green-and-black-striped shirt was on hand to do his delivery justice.
In the eighteenth minute, another turnover of possession well inside Wellington's half saw Thurgate play the ball across to Matt Grimaldi. He lashed a twenty-yarder through the legs of Kelly-Heald, who managed to retrieve the situation before being completely embarrassed.
Within seconds, the 'keeper redeemed himself with another save, this time turning the ball round the post after Grimaldi and Danzaki had combined to create an opening for Hiroshi Ibusuki on the edge of the penalty area.
Wellington briefly appeared as an attacking force halfway through the first half, with a denied penalty claim - the ball struck Grimaldi's shoulder, not his arm - being followed up by a Marco Rojas flick-on of a Kelly-Heald clearance for Costa Barbarouses, whose shot was blocked by Dylan Leonard.
Normal service soon resumed, Noah Botic's delightful flick allowing Ibusuki to send Danzaki dashing through from halfway. The covering figure of Corban Piper picked his pocket, however, while on the half-hour, Kelly-Heald pawed a Thurgate corner out from beneath his crossbar as United continued their search for a second goal.
After Isaac Hughes had blocked a Botic drive, Ibusuki and Danzaki having worked a fine one-two on the left to create the opening, that second goal finally materialised in the 33rd minute. Grimaldi threaded a ball through to Danzaki, whose low cross, intended for Botic, was parried by Kelly-Heald straight into the stride of Ibusuki, eight yards out from goal … 2-0.
Wellington looked to reduce the deficit before the interval as they enjoyed their best spell of the match. Francesco Geraldes, Rojas - a lovely flick - and Matt Sheridan combined on the right, the latter's cross beyond the far post picking out Sam Sutton, who rattled the side-netting from an acute angle.
Soon after, Rojas fired a shot on the turn narrowly past the post following a Geraldes-inspired spell of possession. One must feel sorry for the Portuguese youth international, who is clearly a level above anybody else wearing yellow, only a handful of whom are capable of raising their game to the standard of play Geraldes is used to.
It was more of the same in the second spell, with Western opening Wellington up with a slick one-touch passing move in the 48th minute, the pinnacle of which saw Botic's bid to net goal number three blocked by the combined efforts of Wootton and Kelly-Heald.
United had just three minutes more to wait before the third goal they sought materialised. Leonard stopped Rojas in his tracks on halfway and evaded two challenges before threading the ball through to Danzaki.
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He delivered a gem of a cross with the outside of his right foot which landed invitingly at the feet of the fast-arriving Grimaldi, who wasted little time in picking out the bottom far corner of the net - 3-0, game over.
Ibusuki was narrowly astray with a twenty-yarder soon afterwards, slipping as he pulled the trigger. It triggered a response from Wellington, with Barbarouses and Rojas working a one-two on the right before Tomoki Imai stepped in to avert the danger.
The ball was sent downfield, with Wellington taking possession through Wootton, who promptly gave it away - this was unquestionably his worst performance in a Wellington shirt, which is quite surprising given he's been reliability personified for the club in defence.
Thurgate, Botic and Ibusuki took advantage of the gift, the last-mentioned opting to shoot unsuccessfully with Grimaldi on his right in yards of space. While this attempt was thwarted, Western's next raid, in the 62nd minute, proved far more successful - it was a superb goal.
Once again, Wootton gave the ball away, under-hitting a pass towards Piper which Danzaki gleefully pounced on. He worked a one-two with Botic before taking advantage of the untimely slip of Sutton by picking out Grimaldi, who swept home the inviting low cross to make it 4-0.
And still they pressed, Imai picking out the hat-trick-hunting Grimaldi from halfway. The goalscorer played in Botic, whose low shot was blocked by the legs of Kelly-Heald, Piper reacting quickest to the ricochet.
A rare Wellington raid followed, culminating in Tim Payne's cross flying across the face of goal, well beyond Barbarouses and Luke Brooke-Smith, the first of the visitors' five substitutes, the remainder of which made their entrance to the fray before the goal kick arising from this squandered attack could be taken.
The newcomers made little impact on proceedings initially - Kelly-Heald saved a Grimaldi shot at the second attempt in the 69th minute, then looked on with relief as Luke Vickery hit the post and Ramy Najjarine fired the rebound over the top of an open goal, the goalkeeper having gifted the former possession ten minutes from time.
Two minutes later, however, that rare bird made an appearance - a Wellington shot on target, with a goal the result. Payne pinged the ball over the top for Nathan Walker to chase, and he was greatly aided by Imai's rare blunder before unleashing a shot which the hitherto untested Matt Sutton found too hot to handle - 4-1 in the 82nd minute.
Western weren't best pleased with conceding a goal after being so dominant, and looked to restore their four-goal advantage in the remaining minutes. Vickery worked a one-two with fellow substitute Michael Ruhs before surging downfield and picking out Najjarine on the right.
His shot curled past the far post, but soon after, Tate Russell won possession on halfway and instantly picked out Najjarine, who invited fellow substitute Jake Najdovski to let fly, an effort with which he should have at least hit the target, given the amount of time and space that was his to exploit.
In stoppage time, Jordan Lauton's cross saw Wootton steer his attempted clearance straight into the stride of the delivery's intended target, Ruhs, who, under pressure from Payne and Kelly-Heald, contrived to fire over the bar from four yards when scoring seemed the easier option.
The sight of Barbarouses appealing in vain for a free-kick following a challenge from Imai just about summed up Wellington's afternoon, and referee Shane Skinner's final whistle soon after condemned last season's beaten semi-finalists to the status of competition also-rans in 2024-5, with seven games still to play.
Western, meanwhile, are well on course to make the play-offs, with this win propelling them into second place on the standings, although they've played a game more than the majority of their rivals in the race for the top six.
Western: Sutton; Russell, Imai, Leonard (booked, 31), Shamoon; Grimaldi (Najjarine, 78), Bozinovski (Lauton, 63), Thurgate (booked, 35), Danzaki (Vickery, 72); Botic (Najdovski, 78), Ibusuki (Ruhs, 72)
Wellington: A. Kelly-Heald; Payne, Hughes, Wootton, Sutton; Piper (booked, 9 (Walker, 67)), Sheridan (Nagasawa, 67), Rufer (booked, 13 (Retre, 67)), Geraldes (Ishige, 67); Barbarouses, Rojas (Brooke-Smith, 57)
Referee: Shane Skinner
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