Wellington Phoenix and Western United began the Isuzu Ute A-League season in front of 7,535 fans at a sun-drenched Sky Stadium on 20 October, but offered those present little in the way of exciting football as they fought out a 1-1 stalemate. The first half in particular was a dour affair, with neither team threatening to trouble the scoreboard operator during the opening twenty minutes. United enjoyed the better of the exchanges, however, and were forcing Wellington to play long balls out of defence, a result of closing down the home team in their defensive third and denying them the time and space in which to get their short-passing game going. As a result, Wellington found themselves dicing with death at times, the pressure of Oliver Lavale in particular doing much to create mayhem in Wellington's penalty area, where new goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi only just got away with passes to team-mates on numerous occasions. It was Wellington who fired the first shot in anger, however, captain Alex Rufer pinging the ball forward to the lively Costa Barbarouses, whose lay-off invited Tim Payne to let fly. His 21st minute attempt was deflected to safety. Two minutes later, Payne turned provider, his ball in picking out new striker Hideki Ishige. The Japanese recruit chested the ball down into the stride of Barbarouses, who battered a twenty-yarder which sizzled narrowly past Matthew Sutton's left-hand post. Western fired their first shot in anger in the 26th minute, thanks in large part to the inspired play of new signing, Riku Danzaki. He did Wellington debutant Nathan Walker an absolute treat on the right before chipping the ball to the far post, where Hiroshi Ibusuki was arriving on cue. So was Payne, who headed over his own crossbar to prevent the game's opening goal from hitting the home team's net. Instead, that milestone materialised three minutes before half-time, and left the visitors a tad red-faced. Ishige delivered a free-kick to the edge of the penalty area, where Isaac Hughes headed the ball into the goalmouth. Stealing in beyond the last defender was Barbarouses, who edged out Payne to tuck the ball home on the far post - 1-0 Wellington. Within five minutes of the second half starting, Wellington should have scored twice more, and conceded an equaliser. Such was the chaotic start to a half which, after its chaotic opening, reverted to type for much of the duration. Scott Wootton was central to all the key moments in those first five minutes. His raking ball forward from deep inside his own half in the opening seconds sent Barbarouses darting through the inside right channel, from where he lobbed Sutton. Alas,

the ball didn't drop enough before the crossbar came into view. Three minutes later, Wootton again pinged one downtown, this time from halfway. Again, Barbarouses was the beneficiary, or, at least, would have been had Sutton not come racing off his line and, having missed the ball, clattered into the striker, prompting valid cries from Wellington's fans for a penalty. Referee Adam Kersey signalled a goal kick, however, the ball having gone narrowly past the upright. From said goal kick, Lavale once more put Oluwayemi under pressure, so much so that he was forced into executing a hurried clearance. The ball flew into Wootton and ricocheted off him back towards Wellington's goal, but Oluwayemi made amends for his blemish with a fine acrobatic save to prevent what would have been an unlikely equaliser. Unlikely because virtually every time Western attacked, their efforts were foundering on a Wellington defence in which Wootton was in commanding form. But after a couple of attempts to double the home team's lead by Barbarouses, including an attempted bicycle kick from six yards, United pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the 76th minute and drew level on the scoreboard. Angus Thurgate pounced on a loose ball before feeding Noah Botic on the left. The substitute evaded a challenge before pulling the ball back behind Lavale. Arriving on cue behind him was Thurgate, who thundered home a twenty-yarder into Oluwayemi's bottom left-hand corner. The equaliser gave United a welcome boost, with Matthew Grimaldi dragging a shot past the post four minutes later after a swashbuckling run from halfway. The same player sent another effort soaring over the bar soon after, following two blocked Jake Najdovski shots, but not before Rufer had sent a fifteen-yarder careering past the post after David Ball had been released down the right by Kazuki Nagasawa. Both teams had the chance to clinch all three points in stoppage time, Payne shooting straight at Sutton after Oluwayemi had saved at the feet of Botic. But neither team deserved to win a generally dour affair, and 1-1 was an appropriate outcome for what was a disappointing opening round spectacle which had "pre-season hit-out" written all over it. Wellington:     Oluwayemi; Sheridan (Smith, 87), Wootton, Hughes; Payne, Conchie (Al-Taay, 67), Rufer, Walker; Nagasawa, Barbarouses, Ishige (Ball, 72) Western:     Sutton; Russell (Leonard, 83), Imai, Donachie, Shamoon; Danzaki (Walatee, 71), Thurgate (booked, 90), Pasquali (booked, 45 (Bozinovski, 71)), Grimaldi; Ibusuki (Botic, 67), Lavale (Najdovski, 83) Referee:     Adam Kersey