Following an uninspiring hour of foul-riddled football at Westpac Stadium on FIFA Fair Play Day, 22 September, Wellington Phoenix and Adelaide United threw off the shackles to produce a lively final half-hour's action in their Hyundai A-League encounter, which, like so many others this season, ended all square, 2-2 on this occasion. But for long periods of this match, the whistle of referee Ben Williams was as dominant as the respective defences in an encounter which was somewhat Spartan where scoring chances are concerned. Before the kick-off, the respective captains - Wellington's Ross Aloisi and Adelaide's Richie Alagich - swore their teams' allegiance to the Fair Play code, but the visitors' Robert Cornthwaite clearly wasn't paying any attention, as within a minute of the kick-off, he set the tone for a niggly, stop-start first half, sorely lacing in fluency and flow, with a bone-shaking tackle which pole-axed Daniel. It took ten minutes for the first shot to be fired in anger, a Kristian Sarkies free-kick which was directed straight at Glen Moss from twenty yards. Two minutes later, and ten yards further back, Cassio chanced his arm with a free-kick, but cleared the crossbar by yards. Wellington's first opportunity of the match materialised in the fourteenth minute. Daniel, having recovered from his first minute assault, surged past three opponents before slipping the ball to Felice Campos. With Adelaide backing off, the Brazilian fully utilised the space, only to see his efforts go to waste by pulling his shot wide. Referee Williams regularly incurred the wrath of the 12, locals present by ruling gainst Wellington at any given opportunity - a seventeenth minute decision to award Adelaide a corner when the ball was clearly headed out by Travis Dodd was typical of his incompetence. Thankfully for the home team, nothing came of it, but after Dodd had directed a header past the upright, Michael Ferrante and Campos teamed up in the 27th minute, the latter curling a delicious effort just past the far post - the closest we came to seeing a goal in a closely contested first half, the remainder of which saw defences well on top. The rearguard dominance continued into the second spell, although Adelaide made a few in-roads through Nathan Burns and Cassio. The former drilled a shot inches past Moss' right-hand post in the 48th minute, while sixty seconds later, the latter swept past two opponents on the left flank before picking out Dodd with a cross. His header flashed over the bar. After Daniel had had penalty appeals waved away by referee Williams following a foul by Angelo Costanzo, Adelaide came desperately close, on the hour, to breaking open the shackles between the league's highest-scoring teams going into this clash. Sarkies played the ball to Diego Walsh in the inside left channel, and he completely outfoxed Aloisi before unleashing a screamer which cannoned off the base of the right-hand post of Moss' goal. Cassio latched onto the rebound and whipped in a cross for Bruce Djite, whose spectacular bicycle kick flew wide of the same upright. Wellington's response to seeing Burns batter a shot straight at Moss, on receipt of a delightful pass from Sarkies, saw the home team open the scoring in the 64th minute. Jeremy Christie's deep hanging cross from the right found the head of Campos, whose looping header arced over the stranded figure of Robert Bajic and dropped into the net by the far

post. The local faithful went ballistic, but their joy lasted just five minutes. After Moss had saved Sarkies' twenty-five yard volley, the same player fired a corner to the far post, where Djite rose high to power a header goalwards. It hit the upright, but Walsh was first to react to the rebound and headed the ball into the opposite corner of the net. Within two minutes, Wellington came close to restoring their advantage. Campos' corner was flicked on at the near post by Shane Smeltz, only for Burns to be perfectly placed to head the ball off the line. Fifteen minutes from time, they went close again, another Campos corner the source. A cleverly worked routine saw the ball played towards the near post, where Aloisi chested it back into the path of Richard Johnson. His rasping fifteen-yard shot on the turn thundered past the upright. Three minutes later, the scoreboard did change - in Adelaide's favour. Burns was the architect of the strike, beating two opponents on the left-hand edge of Wellington's penalty area before firing in a cross for Djite. The burly striker controlled the ball well and held off a challenge before turning and thrashing the ball well beyond the stranded figure of Moss. That goal briefly silenced the Phoenix faithful, and United looked to make the most of their advantage by netting a third goal in the minutes which remained. Costanzo fired a free-kick forward in the 83rd minute, which Burns turned into the path of Djite. He outmuscled two opponents before letting fly with a drive which Moss smothered. Wellington responded to this scare with an equaliser of their own, three minutes from time. Tony Lochhead raced down the left before checking inside and firing over a cross. Bajic came and missed it, as did Phoenix substitute George Paladini ahead of him. But Smeltz was lurking behind this pair, and gleefully directed his header home into an untended net - 2-2. Cue a grandstand finish in time which remained, five minutes of which was to cater for the various stoppages which had taken place, including treatment for a head injury to Wellington defender Karl Dodd. The home team was first to go close, substitute Vaughan Coveny flicking on a lengthy Steven O'Dor free-kick for Smeltz to capitalise upon. He rounded the advancing figure of Bajic, but shot over the angle of bar and post from a tight angle. Adelaide's response saw Cornthwaite head a Lucas Pantelis corner narrowly over the crossbar, before the corner-taking substitute blazed over from inside the area, as he looked to capitalise on the industry of Cassio and Walsh. Back came Wellington, the last act of the match seeing Paladini direct a cross to the far post, onto which Ferrante dashed. His first-time shot flew high, wide and not very handsome, meaning that the home team have still to record a victory on home turf. But in this match, the result was about right, even though the first hour's action was less than memorable. Wellington:     Moss; Christie, O'Dor, K. Dodd, Lochhead; Ferrante, Aloisi (booked, 88), Johnson (Paladini, 85), Daniel; Campos (Coveny, 85), Smeltz Adelaide:     Bajic; Alagich (Erbogan, 74), Cornthwaite, Costanzo, Cassio; T. Dodd, Walsh, Salley, Sarkies (Pantelis, 79); Djite, Burns Referee:     Ben Williams