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28Dec19
Wellington End 2019 With Fine Win At Western
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix concluded 2019 on a winning note in the Hyundai A-League, an impressive 3-1 win over Western United in front of 5084 fans at Ballarat's Mars Stadium propelling them back into the top six in the competition.
The early stages of the match were marred by what appeared to be a serious injury sustained by United's Brendan Hamill, who was under no pressure in the centre circle when he slumped to the ground, clutching his left knee.
Western were still recovering from this setback when Reno Piscopo pounced on a stray pass and set sail towards United's goal, eventually pulling the trigger upon reaching the penalty area. The ball sizzled narrowly past Filip Kurto's left-hand post.
In the twentieth minute, Jerry Skotadis was very fortunate to escape any punishment other than the concession of a free-kick upon flooring David Ball with a hefty forearm blow. Referee Shaun Evans should really have taken action - one wonders how he would have reacted had the offence been committed by a Wellington player …
The visitors were playing some eye-catching football in the 38 Celsius heat, but after a drinks break, it was the home team which fired the first shot on target in the contest, a rasping twenty-five yarder from former Wellington midfielder Max Burgess which thudded against the base of Stefan Marinovic's left-hand post.
Wellington responded with a barrage of pressure. Kurto was right behind a Ulises Davila free-kick, while five minutes before half-time the Mexican linked with Liberato Cacace to send Ball darting through the inside left channel. His low drive was tipped round the far post by Kurto.
Western cleared their lines from the resulting corner, but in the 41st minute, they were undone by some brilliance from Davila. Turning smartly on half-way to lose his marker, the playmaker surged downfield before driving into the penalty area, whereupon three opponents converged on him.
Despite their presence, Davila cleverly threaded the needle with a precise pass upon which Ball swivelled and drove a low shot beyond Kurto and into the far corner of the net from eight yards - 1-0 Wellington.
Western came out all guns blazing early in the second spell, with Alessandro Diamanti thundering a rising drive narrowly past the far post just two minutes into the half, after combining with the hitherto anonymous Besart Berisha and Scott McDonald.
The latter was next to chance his arm, sixty seconds later. Picked out by Burgess' measured cross to the far post, McDonald was somehow denied at close quarters by Marinovic, who made a terrific save to preserve Wellington's advantage, a lead they doubled ten minutes into the second spell.
Luke DeVere intercepted a clearance, the ball breaking for Matti Steinmann, whose pass invited Piscopo to set off on a darting run infield, culminating in a ball into the stride of Callum
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McCowatt. The youngster evaded Jonathan Aspropotamitis before turning sharply to fire a shot past Aaron Calver and beyond Kurto into the far side of the net from an acute angle - 2-0 in the 58th minute.
Western never recovered from this blow, and came close to conceding a third goal soon after when Ball, latching onto a Davila pass, hit a first-time volley on the turn which careered just past the far post of the goal defended by the diving figure of Kurto.
Twenty minutes from time, a McCowatt cross bisected the duo of Cacace and Steven Taylor, both of whom were still forward following a free-kick. Western swiftly swept downfield, with Cacace blocking Diamanti's shot before Burgess sent one sailing past the post.
Wellington iced the cake ten minutes from time. Tim Payne and substitute Gary Hooper combined to send Davila dashing through the offside trap, and his finish across Kurto and into the far corner of the next was exemplary.
Western were afforded a late consolation goal by Taylor, whose untimely stumble and fall came at just the moment United substitute Valentino Yuel was pulling the trigger. Both Marinovic and Kurto would have been proud of the save Taylor produced, but it merely handed the home team the chance to pull one back from the penalty spot, something Diamanti did with distinction, and no little power - he hammered it home!
Wellington looked to restore their three-goal margin before the final whistle, with Andrew Durante blocking a Davila drive before the Video Assistant Referee came to Western's aid by ruling that Hooper was a millimetre offside as he set off on a run which saw him meet Marinovic's raking clearance with a header.
Not just any header, but a thirty yard effort which, with Hooper having beaten the approaching figure of Kurto in the air, bounced all the way into the untended goal, despite Aspropotamitis' desperate efforts to clear the threat.
Thanks to VAR, however, football was denied this fine headed goal to appreciate, all because of the most marginal of offside calls - hardly what one would describe as a clear and obvious error.
This contemporary curse is killing the fun, the spontaneity and the joy which is such a crucial aspect of the emotion in football, something which can't be good for the game the world over as we move into the third decade of the 21st Century.
Western: Kurto; Calver (booked, 10) (Jertec, 62 (booked, 68)), Durante, Hamill (Aspropotamitis, 15); Pierias, Skotadis (booked, 34), Burgess, Pain (booked, 37); Diamanti, Berisha (Yuel, 87), McDonald
Wellington: Marinovic; Payne (Hudson-Wihongi, 82), Taylor (booked, 88), De Vere, Cacace; Piscopo (booked, 44) (Hooper, 78), Devlin, Steinmann, McCowatt; Ball, Davila
Referee: Shaun Evans
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