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19Apr24
Missed Penalty Costs Wellington Vital Victory
by Jeremy Ruane
A missed penalty by captain Alex Rufer deep in stoppage time may cost Wellington Phoenix dearly in their pursuit of the Isuzu Ute A-League Premiership Plate, as they were held by Newcastle Jets to a 1-1 draw in front of 4376 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium on April 19.
While the draw sees them return to the top of the table in the absence of title rivals Central Coast Mariners, whose Asian Champions League excursions saw them stranded abroad so unable to fulfil their A-League commitments this weekend, Wellington's advantage with one game still to play is only one point, when it could, nay, should have been three.
Yet this was a game they could have lost, because Newcastle started proceedings like a house on fire, forcing several corners after their initial second minute raid saw Lachlan Bayliss slip Apostolos Stamatelopoulos through the inside left channel, where his cross was blocked at the near post by the covering figure of Finn Surman.
Wellington survived this stern examination of their defensive set-up, and after Clayton Taylor had cut in off the right and lashed a drive past the far post, Surman's vital headed clearance in the eighth minute prevented Taylor's cross from reaching Bayliss, who was running in behind the defender.
The visitors came back into the contest, their initial threat coming from Bozhidar Kraev, who cut in off the left past two before unleashing a shot which flew narrowly past the near post. But Newcastle weren't done, finally scoring the goal their early pressure merited on the quarter hour.
Kosta Grozos started the move by picking out Taylor, whose angled pass allowed Bayliss to burst through to the by-line and deliver a low pull-back. This caught Wellington goalkeeper Alex Paulsen unawares, and his scrambling efforts to cut out the ball succeeded only in turning it into his own net for an own goal - 1-0 Newcastle, to the delight of the locals.
The goal clearly rocked the visitors, and it was after the half-hour mark before they looked to respond, by which time Newcastle had spurned three chances to double their advantage. Bayliss sent one sizzling narrowly over the bar in the 23rd minute, while Stamatelopoulos headed just past the post three minutes later, having been picked out by Daniel Stynes' measured cross.
Bayliss and Callum Timmins, who engineered the opening for the former's earlier attempt, both saw shots blocked by Wellington's resolute rearguard on the half-hour, after which the visitors finally fired some shots in anger of their own making.
Mohamed Al-Taay struck the first of them in the 33rd minute, drawing a fine save at the football of his right-hand post by Ryan Scott. Newcastle's goalkeeper then looked on as Costa Barbarouses sent an angled volley narrowly over the crossbar three minutes later, having been picked out by Tim Payne's lob over the defence.
Two minutes before half-time, Rufer sent Youstin Salas through the middle, only for the Costa Rican to send his twenty-yard shot on the run soaring over the bar. Two minutes later, Payne picked out Rufer with a corner which the skipper controlled neatly on his chest, only to see his fifteen-yard volley through the gathered throngs smothered by Scott.
Newcastle counter-attacked immediately, Bayliss scampering down the right before scything inside and charging into the penalty area, where he was thwarted by a superb blocking save by Paulsen - you can imagine the difference between being 1-0 and 2-0 down at half-time in the Wellington dressing room.
From which the visitors emerged for the second half hell-bent on at least levelling the scores. Within minutes, Sam Sutton's sizzling twenty-five yarder drew a fine flying save to his left from Scott, who looked on with relief after Kraev wriggled through a plethora of opponents before inviting Ben Old to pick out Barbarouses with a cross which the striker headed over the bar from virtually directly beneath
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it!
Back came Newcastle, with the crossbar coming to Wellington' rescue in the 54th minute. Stynes sent Stamatelopoulos scooting through the inside right channel, from where his low cross was blocked by Scott Wootton.
The ball rebounded to the striker, who unleashed a firecracker which crashed against the bar and flew to safety. Seconds later, the ball was in Stamatelopoulos' charge again, and this time he curled his shot past the far post as the Novocastrians sought a second goal.
Wellington had other ideas, and substitute Oskar Van Hattum was only denied by Phil Cancar's timely tackle in the 55th minute, before Scott produced a superb save on the hour to deny a close-range attempt by Barbarouses.
Van Hattum then sent a cross sizzling across the six-yard box, from which Old's shot was denied by the goalkeeper's outstretched foot. Old was again thwarted in the 67th minute, this time via the outside of the post as, after beating two opponents, his cross took a wicked deflection off Cancar.
In between these efforts, Wootton nearly handed Newcastle three points on a silver platter, and would have done but for the alertness of Surman to danger. The Englishman committed a glaring error when passing the ball across his penalty area straight to Grozos, who was gobsmacked by the gift but couldn't capitalise on it thanks to Surman's timely block.
With twenty minutes to go, Carl Jenkinson's superbly timed tackle prevented Barbarouses from equalising after he had superbly turned his marker, but Wellington's leveller was just seconds away, and it was their leading marksman who was responsible for it.
Van Hattum fed the overlapping figure of Payne, whose cross was squandered by Barbarouses. Old was following up on the left, and afforded Barbarouses a second chance with a cross which the striker headed into the roof of the net from close range - a deserved equaliser.
And, with it, all the makings of a grandstand finish, with both teams not keen to settle on sharing the spoils. Newcastle substitute Jason Hoffman rattled the sidenetting, while Barbarouses hit the near post from close range on receipt of a lovely piece of skill by Kraev.
Wellington hearts were in mouths in the 89th minute as Grozos tucked the ball home, but the goal was ruled out as substitute Trent Buhagiar had strayed offside in the build-up. Then, deep in stoppage time, there was drama in the Newcastle penalty area as Jenkinson handled a cross from Old then promptly landed awkwardly, requiring treatment for a shoulder injury.
Once he was at right angles to terra firma, referee Alireza Faghani pointed to the penalty spot, presenting Rufer with the chance to clinch the win at the death for Wellington. But their captain failed in his quest, hitting the outside of the post from twelve yards with the last meaningful kick of the game to ensure a 1-1 draw resulted from a contest which the visitors needed to win to maintain full pressure on their title rivals.
As things stand, Wellington lead the league with one game still to play. But Central Coast Mariners are a point behind with two games remaining - it's now in the reigning champions' hands, i.e. the title is theirs to lose.
Newcastle: Scott; Ingham (booked, 90), Jenkinson (booked, 65), Cancar (booked, 65), Wilmering; Timmins (booked, 17), Bayliss (Hoffman, 73), Grozos (O'Neill, 81); Stynes (Buhagiar, 64), Stamatelopoulos, Taylor
Wellington: Paulsen; Payne (Pennington, 90), Surman, Wootton (booked, 68), Sutton; Salas (Van Hattum, 46), Al-Taay (Ball, 46), Rufer, Old; Barbarouses, Kraev (Zawada, 84)
Referee: Alireza Faghani
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