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28Mar21
Macarthur Edge Wellington In Game Of Two Halves
by Jeremy Ruane
Macarthur FC edged Wellington Phoenix 1-0 in front of 2,516 fans at WIN Stadium on March 28, a result which leaves the Wollongong-based Kiwi outfit starting to run out of games if they harbour hopes of securing a play-off place in this season's A-League competition.
A very cagey first half was the order of the day, with chances very much at a premium as Wellington and Macarthur effectively cancelled each other out. The home team enjoyed the first opportunity, David Ball beating an opponent before picking out Steven Taylor on the far post.
His header down sat up perfectly for James McGarry to let fly, but Aleksandar Jovanovic did enough to divert the danger to safety in just the second minute of play.
Taylor was to last seven more minutes before tweaking a hamstring, and his replacement, Joshua Laws, was soon called into action, his timely thirteenth minute tackle thwarting Matt Derbyshire after Tommy Oar had broken down the left, supported by Loic Puyo.
In between these incidents, Wellington had twice tested Adam Federici inside thirty seconds. Louis Fenton combined with Ulises Davila on the right to present Ball with the chance to shoot on the turn. The goalkeeper parried his effort away well, and was in position to keep out a Cameron Devlin drive as Wellington sought the opening goal.
There was plenty of thrust and parry but no penetration over the course of the next twenty-five minutes as the spectacle took on all the appeal of a chess match, but the game burst into life eight minutes before half-time when Macarthur produced the best move of the half thus far.
Benat Extebarria played the ball wide to Puyo, who brought Ivan Franjic into play further forward. His cross picked out Denis Genreau, but just as he pulled the trigger, Oar got in his way.
Wellington countered instantly, Davila threading a ball through for Ball in the inside right channel. Federici was out quickly to save at his feet, and plucked the ball off the head of the same player on the stroke of half-time after Ball, Davila and Tomar Hemed had combined on the right, seconds after Derbyshire's hair had been parted by a teasing Franjic cross after the wingback had again been brought into play by Puyo.
The second half was contrasted markedly with the opening forty-five minutes, with Macarthur taking the game to Wellington straight from the outset. An Extebarria corner sixty seconds into the half was met outside the area by Franjic, whose shot took a deflection off Puyo, forcing Oliver Sail into a fine save to his left.
Three minutes later, the first of many late offside calls in the half appeared well after Davila had been denied on the edge of the penalty area by Mark Milligan's super close-range block, as the home team responded in kind to Macarthur's throwing down the gauntlet.
The visitors weren't to be denied, however, and in the 52nd minute, Extebarria teamed up with Oar, who cut inside and curled a cross into the danger zone. Puyo met it with a glancing header, but Sail was on hand to save well.
Two minutes later, a dipping twenty-five yarder from Jovanovic was narrowly astray as Macarthur continued to probe for an opening, and after Alex Rufer went close from a Davila free-kick - Federici saved well at the base of his right-hand post to keep out the midfielder's angled drive - Macarthur finally
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broke the deadlock.
Extebarria was the starting point, as is often the case with their attacks. This time, Franjic was his outlet, and the wingback's angled cross deflected off Markel Susaeta, a change of direction of the ball which meant Payne's attempted clearance ending up heading towards his own net. Sail produced a superb reaction save to keep it out, but Genreau was first to react to the opening - 1-0.
There was no denying Macarthur's 65th minute strike was deserved, but having taken the lead they opted to play the "hold what we have" tactics, inviting Wellington to come at them and break them down.
The home team duly introduced Ben Waine to the fray sixteen minutes from time, meaning they had four strikers on the park, plus Davila. But it was the young substitute who was Wellington's biggest threat, via the quality of his deliveries from the right.
After Payne had got away with one on half-way - Derbyshire just failed to capitalise on the defender's mis-control of the ball, Waine delivered an absolute peach of a cross in the 76th minute through the corridor of uncertainty, but no one in a red shirt was on hand to exploit the opening.
Fellow substitute Charles Lokoli-Ngoy headed a cross from Waine past the post two minutes later, while after Sail had made a fine save at the feet of Genreau after a Derbyshire strike had deflected into the path of the game's lone goalscorer, Davila delivered a corner at the other end of the park which picked out Waine unmarked eight yards out from goal.
Sadly for the youngster, he sent his effort sizzling over the bar. Back to delivering crosses for you, lad!
Payne blocked an 84th minute attempt by substitute Lachlam Rose before the offside flag once more was raised long after Lokoli-Ngoy, Davila and Ball had all seen shots blocked by Macarthur's rearguard.
The powers that be really need to do something about that troublesome law - we never had this issue of late calls being made before the latest interpretations were introduced. If something's working to the satisfaction of the majority, why fiddle around with it? (Mind, this is the same mob who've inflicted the Video Assistant Referee upon the game - a welcome non-contributor in this contest!)
Another late call resulted after Jaushua Sotirio scampered down the left and looked to pick out Ball with a cross to the far post, only for Federici to paw it to safety. And after Sail had capably dealt with a long-range free-kick from Extebarria, Waine whipped in another invitation to score which Lokoli-Ngoy failed to take up.
It was all or nothing for Wellington in the final minutes, with Sail joining the ranks in the Macarthur goalmouth for a corner and a free-kick as time ticked away. Davila's deliveries were well dealt with by Macarthur's rearguard, however, the visitors' defensive solidity the foundation upon which this 1-0 win was based.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton, Taylor (Laws, 9), Payne, McGarry; Davila, Devlin (booked, 61) (Waine, 74), Rufer, Lewis (Sotirio, 59); Ball, Hemed (booked, 45) (Lokoli-Ngoy, 59)
Macarthur: Federici; Jovanovic (booked, 48), Milligan, Susnjar; Franjic, Genreau (Popovic, 87), Extebarria, Oar; Susaeta (Rose, 73), Derbyshire, Puyo (Martis, 59 (booked, 90))
Referee: Adam Fielding
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