Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory battled out a 1-1 draw in their Hyundai A-League encounter at Westpac Stadium on December 13, a result which neither team wanted in light of their respective pursuits of play-off places. Yet it was the result both teams deserved at the end of a clash which saw 6362 fans witness a largely forgettable first half, which contrasted starkly with a lively second spell. The first ten minutes, for all Wellington's possession, were punctuated by two lightning-quick raids by Perth. Jimmy Downey rampaged down the right in the sixth minute before working a slick one-two with Eugene Dadi and racing into the penalty area, only to see his cross cleared. Three minutes later, it was Nikita Rukavytsya who was sent haring down the same flank by Adriano Pellegrino's pass, and the striker's pull-back saw Dadi arriving on cue to unleash a first-time drive which ricocheted to safety off a retreating defender. A couple of Tony Lochhead crosses gave Perth's defence cause for concern inside the next seven minutes, particularly the second one - Shane Smeltz headed it over the crossbar. The league's leading marksman was in again two minutes later, this time thanks to a woefully under-hit Nikolai Topor-Stanley back-pass. Perth goalkeeper Tando Velaphi had to be quick to make amends for his team-mate's carelessness and thwart the fast-closing figure of Smeltz in the eighteenth minute. After Velaphi had saved a tame effort from Leo Bertos, the former Perth flyer found himself in acres of space in the 23rd minute via a smart dummy. The defence failed to deal with his cross, allowing Tim Brown the chance to shoot over from eight yards. Eight minutes later, the last chance came to pass of a half of football which would have cured an insomniac's principle health concerns, such was its general sterility! Smeltz capitalised on some defensive hesitancy to weave his way through three challenges before smashing a twenty-yarder a foot wide of Velaphi's right-hand post. Whatever was in the half-time tea certainly had the desired effect, because both teams came out for the second half showing a far greater degree of intent. The tone was set by Wellington, who earned a corner inside the first ten seconds of the half, and while it came to nothing, it set the tone for a far more vibrant forty-five minutes of football. Within five minutes, Ben Sigmund had warmed Velaphi's gloves with a headed effort from a Bertos cross. The goalkeeper promptly launched a counter-attack which saw Pellegrino pick out the unmarked Scott Bulloch lurking beyond Wellington's defenders in the 51st minute. The flank player could easily have shot himself, but instead opted to present the better-placed figure of Rukavytsya with the chance to open the scoring from six yards. Leaning back, and with Sigmund and Andrew Durante in close attendance, the striker directed his effort against the crossbar. A bad miss, yes, but kindergarten stuff compared to what happened at the other end of the park two minutes later! A frankly mind-numbing back-pass from wide on the left by Naum Sekulovski went nowhere near its intended target of Velaphi, but picked out the unmarked figure of Smeltz as if it was laser-guided! The striker found himself with just Velaphi to beat, but the 'keeper was on top of him in a flash, and did superbly well to parry Smeltz's first attempt to score at close quarters. The rebound favoured the striker, however, and with the prone 'keeper behind him, and both Downey and Jamie Harnwell beating a hasty yet vain retreat towards the unguarded target in an effort to block a prospective shot, you'd have put the house on the league's leading scorer notching his tenth goal of the season. Had you done so, you'd now be homeless! Inexplicably, Smeltz hit the crossbar from six yards out with the goal at his mercy - a sure-fire contender for miss of the season!! Relieved by the let-off, Perth looked to capitalise in

the traditional manner just four minutes later. Rukavytsya rampaged down the right and worked a slick one-two with Dadi while outpacing all-comers as he powered his way into the penalty area. Sigmund was one of those left in his slipstream initially, but managed to recover in order to produce a superbly timed tackle, albeit at the expense of a hip injury which led to his premature departure from the fray ten minutes later. Before that happened, the hitherto inactive figure of Glen Moss had plucked the ball off Dadi's head following the corner which resulted from Sigmund's tackle, while Rukavytsya fired wildly wide after Wayne Srhoj had picked him out with a pass which the striker turned into a shooting opportunity with a fine piece of control. Just after the hour mark, referee Strebre Delovski inadvertently became a key figure in the action for a brief moment when a Perth clearance ricocheted off him straight to Michael Ferrante. The Wellington player's shot was deflected to safety, but Perth were filthy about the official's part in proceedings - wrongly, as the game's Laws confirm. After Topor-Stanley's timely intervention had prevented Troy Hearfield from being picked out by a Jon McKain cross from the right, Perth stunned the local faithful by taking the lead fifteen minutes from time with a superbly executed goal. Srhoj's free-kick to the far post was headed back by Topor-Stanley to Downey, whose first attempt to cross was blocked. The second found Dadi lurking on the edge of the goal area, in line with the far post, but the striker had plenty to do if he was going to score, as the cross was a wee bit behind him. Cue a spectacular hip-turn volley, the dreadlocked striker's acrobatic effort crashing into the net beyond the stunned figure of Moss to leave Perth on the verge of a vital three points in their pursuit of a play-off place which seemed extremely unlikely just four weeks ago. The sight of the ball nestling in their net immediately prompted Wellington to throw caution to the wind and go all out for an equaliser. And after McKain had thundered a twenty-five yarder narrowly wide after slaloming past three opponents, they got it. Bertos - somewhat fittingly against his old club - sparked the move, dazzling his way past Downey before curling over a teasing cross. Topor-Stanley didn't clear it adequately, his header finding its way to Wellington substitute Daniel - he impressed in the brief time he had on the park. He certainly did in this instant, curling a clever effort towards the far corner of the net which Velaphi turned away superbly. But fortune was not on the goalkeeper's side, as his parry directed the ball straight into the path of the incoming figure of Tim Brown - from four yards, he couldn't miss! 1-1, and a grandstand finish in store, as both teams went all out for the three points, Wellington particularly. Only some outstanding defending by Harnwell kept Perth in parity in the 84th minute, as he twice denied Hearfield before launching himself full length to thwart McKain's blockbusting drive. This last effort resulted in a corner, which Bertos belted into the box. The ball was cleared to Lochhead, who picked out the unmarked figure of Brown eight yards out from goal. The scorer this time headed over the bar, rather than under it. In the last minute, Velaphi made sure Perth would return home with a point to their name with a magnificent save. Bertos' twenty yard screamer had "top far corner" written all over it until the 'keeper launched himself to his left and tipped the ball onto the crossbar - a stunning stop, and a fitting way to ensure both teams would end up with the point each deserved. Wellington:     Moss; Muscat, Sigmund (Dodd, 68), Durante, Lochhead; Ferrante (Daniel, 73), Brown, McKain, Hearfield; Bertos, Smeltz Perth:          Velaphi; Downey, Harnwell, Topor-Stanley, Sekulovski (Tarka, 85); Pellegrino, Anthony, Srhoj, Bulloch; Dadi (Rizzo, 90), Rukavytsya (Jukic, 90) Referee:     Strebre Delovski