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15Jan25
Twins Make History In Scoreless Draw
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC battled out a scoreless draw in their Isuzu Ute A-League clash at Sky Stadium on 15 January, a match noteworthy for the starting line-up appearances of the youngest twins in the competition's history.
Lukas Kelly-Heald was joined in the side by his goalkeeping brother Alby, as Wellington coach Giancarlo Italiano sprung a selection surprise by dropping incumbent custodian Josh Oluwayemi.
The twins - they turn twenty in mid-March - both played their part in a result which arrests Wellington's recent run of defeats, but after both teams threatened to score inside the opening three minutes, a great spectacle wasn't witnessed.
Costa Barbarouses' shot on the run just seventy seconds into the contest saw the ball fly narrowly past the left-hand post of Harrison Devenish-Meares - there won't have been many matches played in the history of the game where both goalkeepers were sporting double-barrelled surnames - while Patryk Klimala started and finished a move inside the next sixty seconds which saw him steer his shot past the far post.
In a match which may well have set a record for the number of players with double-barreled surnames playing in it, Wellington, playing much more assertively than has been the case in recent times, were next to threaten through Barbarouses, whose shot was blocked by Rhyan Grant after Corban Piper made a strong break down the right.
Sydney responded halfway through the first half, Anthony Caceres' delightful flick inside inviting Klimala to target the goal once more, but under pressure from Isaac Hughes, he could only rattle the side-netting.
Hughes' unwelcome habit of being generous to the opposition was to the fore again in the 28th minute, when he passed the ball straight to Klimala, lurking near the edge of the penalty area. He squared it to Lolley, who took on all-comers before unleashing a shot which was deflected to safety, just as Adrian Segecic was screaming for a pass in space to Lolley's left.
The resulting corner was cleared to Joel King, whose volley narrowly cleared the crossbar. But Sydney, now they'd had a sniff, fancied their chances of altering the scoreline before half-time, and went close to doing so on three occasions soon after.
Caceres' 33rd minute cross to the far post wasn't cleared, allowing Klimala to engineer an opening inside the area. His fierce drive was parried by Alby Kelly-Heald, who turned a well-struck Klimala volley round the post seconds later after Segecic had orchestrated the opportunity.
The resulting corner was cleared as far as Lolley, who worked his way in off the right past three opponents before inviting Segecic to let fly. His shot was goalbound, until the vital intervention of Scott Wootton diverted the ball over the bar.
The visitors kept on coming, and in the 39th minute a Wootton back-pass to Kelly-Heald saw a poor touch from the goalkeeper - not wise with Caceres in close proximity. The 'keeper recovered to clear his lines - his lone error on his A-League debut.
Three minutes before the interval, Wellington went close to breaking the deadlock, Hideki Ishige
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drawing a parried save from the hitherto untested Harrison Devenish-Meares, who, a moment later, produced a fine denial to repel Hughes' header from Sam Sutton's resulting
corner.
That was the fullback's penultimate noteworthy contribution to this clash, for after a storming run down the left five minutes into the second half, he landed awkwardly after blocking a shot soon after, hobbling off with an ankle injury.
This meant the home team had lost both fullbacks, with Matt Sheridan having been withdrawn from the fray at half-time - not a situation you want to find yourself in when facing the league's most prolific attack!
Sydney looked to take full advantage, Segecic drawing a parried save from Kelly-Heald soon after Sutton's departure, while Klimala sent a header flashing over the bar following a corner halfway through the second spell.
Cue controversy in the 69th minute, referee Shaun Evans pointing to the penalty spot after Klimala went down under the challenge of Hughes in the area. Wellington were not best pleased, to put it mildly, strongly believing that the defender had played the ball first, and
not the man. The Video Assistant Referee supported their case - penalty overturned.
Sydney sought another penalty eight minutes later, Leo Sena indulging in the "dark arts" in a bid to break the deadlock. Referee Evans added a dash of yellow to the situation, booking the midfielder for simulation.
By this time, there was any amount of niggle in evidence on the park, with both teams feeling aggrieved at perceived wrongs not being called in their favour. As Wellington fans well know, former coach Ufuk Talay is a past master at complaining about anything which doesn't go in his favour, and as he's now Sydney's gaffer … fourth official Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh had to be at his diplomatic best to keep order on the sidelines.
Wellington were defending resolutely as Sydney pressed for a winner, but every once in a while the home team sprung forward, Barbarouses' selfless running after seemingly lost causes occasionally being rewarded. Devenish-Meares had to dive to his left to keep out a volley from Wellington's attacking spearhead, who ran himself into the ground for the cause in this match.
In the dying minutes, a Lolley cross was headed out by Wootton to Caceres, who evaded a challenge before picking out Klimala with a cross. Kelly-Heald greedily grabbed his looping header, the last chance of note in a match which earned the home team a rare clean sheet to please the 4,858-strong crowd, as Sydney stumbled in their pursuit of a top-three placing on the standings.
Wellington: A. Kelly-Heald; Sheridan (Walker, 46), Hughes, Wootton, Sutton (Al Taay, 52); Piper, Nagasawa (booked, 82), Retre, L. Kelly-Heald; Barbarouses, Ishige (Supyk, 81)
Sydney: Devenish-Meares; De Jesus (Courtney-Perkins, 57), Grant, Matthews, King; Hollman, Caceres, Sena (booked, 77); Lolley (Quintal, 90), Klimala (Wood, 90), Segecic (booked, 22 (Kucharski, 81))
Referee: Shaun Evans
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