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21Mar21
VAR Strikes Again In Wellington's Draw With Brisbane
by Jeremy Ruane
The menace to football which is the Video Assistant Referee once again played a critical part in deciding the outcome of a football match on 21 March, as Wellington Phoenix were denied a late penalty in their 1-1 A-League draw with Brisbane Roar at McDonald Jones Stadium.
1,432 fans braved the inclement weather which has left parts of Australia's east coast resembling a giant lake to witness a match which saw Wellington hit the ground running right from the first whistle.
Ulises Davila saw a shot blocked inside the opening minute of play, while that fired by Reno Piscopo sixty seconds later stung the gloves of Jamie Young, who was relieved to see another shot from the same player deflect past his post in the third minute, after David Ball led a three-pronged charge downfield, with Tomer Hemed the other option to whom he could have passed the ball.
The Kiwi side kept up the pressure, forcing Brisbane to concede fouls aplenty - two players were booked before ten minutes in the contest had elapsed. Cue further attacks from the Wellingtonians, with Davila blazing over from just outside the penalty area on the quarter-hour, before Piscopo gave Young more catching practice after linking with his captain seconds later.
Brisbane finally fronted as an attacking combination in the seventeenth minute, but instantly fell foul of Tim Payne, whose intervention prevented Corey Brown from latching onto a cross, allowing Oliver Sail to save at his feet.
Normal service swiftly resumed, with Wellington earning a free-kick some thirty yards from goal in the twentieth minute. Piscopo's strike ricocheted off the defensive wall to Hemed, whose snatched attempt at turning home the rebound ended up nowhere near the target.
Six minutes later, Wellington carved out their best opening of the match thus far, with Piscopo's twenty-five yarder rattling the post. Davila, following in, saw his effort strike the hand of Ball en route to goal, instantly denying the game's more dominant side the opening goal their efforts fully merited.
Only Jack Hingert's timely intervention prevented Clayton Lewis from getting in behind the Brisbane rearguard ten minutes before half-time, but five minutes later, the Wellingtonians finally had something to show for all their attacking efforts.
James McGarry's cross from the left wasn't cleared, an error which Hemed punished in ruthless fashion to open the scoring, an advantage Davila went close to doubling on the stroke of half-time, his effort creeping narrowly past the far upright as the half drew to a close.
Brisbane began the second spell with a great deal more intensity, Brown drawing a save from Sail just two minutes after play resumed. The goalkeeper then came to Luke McGing's rescue after the defender had misjudged a Hingert cross, while after Davila had blocked a Jay O'Shea attempt, McGing redeemed himself with a timely interception of Hingert's bid to set up a team-mate in the 64th minute.
The Queenslanders were growing into the game with every passing minute, and shots from both Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Joey Champness inside the next ninety seconds made their intentions crystal-clear. Sail was called upon to keep out the latter's effort, but the earlier shot was a curled attempt which only just missed the target.
Wellington were now very much playing second fiddle, but in the 66th minute went close to
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doubling their lead through substitute Jaushua Sotirio, who lashed a twenty-yarder narrowly past the far post after being set up by Ball.
Back came Brisbane, substitute Riku Danzaki drilling a shot on the turn past the post after being picked out by Champness in the 69th minute. From the resulting goal kick, Wellington retorted via Davila, who shot straight at Young when a goal would have been a certainty had he directed his effort either side of the goalkeeper.
Seventeen minutes from time, Brown drove a corner to the far post which was headed inside by Tom Aldred. Dunzaki was the beneficiary, but Payne was perfectly placed to foil his attempt to level the scores.
Still Brisbane pressed, with their substitutes leading the way. Cyrus Dehmie rode a challenge before linking up with Champness, who sent a low cross fizzing across the six yard box - it only needed a touch, but no one in orange was on hand to provide it.
Some silly stuff ensued soon afterwards, Macaulay Gillesphey - one of the early bookings - risking further involvement in the game in an incident which left Alex Rufer flat out on the turf.
Referee Stephen Lucas saw no evil, and with the VAR also turning a blind eye to the incident, no punishment was forthcoming. Based on past events, one wonders what the outcome would have been had the roles of Rufer and Gillesphey been reversed …
Wellington's defence was coming under tremendous pressure from Brisbane, who piled it on still further with the introduction of the aptly named Gol-Gol Mebrahtu in the 84th minute.
Within two minutes, the newcomer had lived up to his name. Brown led the charge down the left before feeding the overlapping figure of Gillesphey. His cross picked out Mebrahtu, who guided home a headed - and deserved - equaliser from close range.
1-1 then, but neither team was going to be satisfied with a point from this encounter. Wenzel-Halls' wild finish in the 89th minute was followed by a Sotirio charge at the other end of the park which was halted in crude fashion by Gillesphey, for whom there was to be no second reprieve - "On yer bike!" said referee Lucas, as the yellow card was swiftly followed by a red one, the offender's second bookable offence.
Wellington failed to capitalise on that free-kick, and were screaming for a penalty deep in stoppage time after Aldred's attempted clearance struck the outstretched hand of Danzaki in Brisbane's eighteen-yard box.
Referee Lucas waved play on, and the VAR supported his call, deeming the incident a case of ball to hand, although the footage seems to suggest Danzaki moved his hand towards the sphere as it flew towards him … yet another VAR decision with which Wellington were far from satisfied - one of the recurring features of their campaign, which was boosted by a point from this hard-fought, rain-soaked duel with Brisbane.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton, Payne (booked, 80), McGing, McGarry (booked, 68); Davila (Hudson-Wihongi, 85), Rufer, Lewis, Piscopo (Devlin, 80); Hemed (Sotirio, 57), Ball (Waine, 80)
Brisbane: Young; Trewin (Champness, 54), Aldred (booked, 90), Gillesphey (booked, 5, 90 - sent off); Hingert, Daley (Danzaki, 54), O'Shea, Akbari (Mebrahtu, 84), Brown (booked, 10); Wenzel-Halls, Kudo (Dehmie, 72)
Referee: Stephen Lucas
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