The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
20Oct24 | 26Oct24 | 02Nov24 | 101124 | 241124 | 07Dec24 | 14Dec24 | 22Dec24 | 28Dec24 | 03Jan25 | 11Jan25 | 15Jan25 | 20Jan25 | 25Jan25 | 060225 | 140225 | 220225 | 280225 | 080325 | 160325 | 290325 | 060425 | 120425 | 180425 | 260425
290325
Wellington Earn Deserved Draw With Wests
by Jeremy Ruane
Despite the absence of a number of regular starters due to injuries and suspensions, Wellington Phoenix earned a deserved 2-2 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers in their Isuzu Ute A-League clash at Sky Stadium on March 29.
Makeshift central defender Tim Payne was called upon in just the fourth minute to bail out the home team, his vital challenge denying Brandon Borrello six yards out from goal, after the striker had worked a one-two with Nicolas Milanovic.
Wellington responded three minutes later through Kazuki Nagasawa, who burst out of defence into Western Sydney's half of the pitch before laying the ball off to Costa Barbarouses and racing off on a diagonal run towards the far post. That's where the striker's searching cross found his Japanese team-mate arriving on cue, but Nagasawa was denied a shooting chance by the covering figure of Gabriel Cleur.
Back came the visitors, Jack Clisby ranging up on the left before delivering a cross which Borrello touched on to Milanovic, whose shot on the turn was blocked by Josh Oluwayemi. Wellington scrambled the ball to safety, but Alen Stajcic's side weren't backwards in coming forwards. The same three players combined again in the eighteenth minute, but this time Sam Sutton was in the mix, and was able to divert the ball to safety.
To the surprise of many, Wellington opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Hideki Ishige delivered a corner to the far post which Corban Piper rose to meet with a thumping close-range header, the ball flying into the net with Lawrence Thomas rooted to the spot.
Unperturbed by the setback, Western Sydney kept on coming, Cleur spreading play wide to Milanovic in the 27th minute. His cross picked out former Wellington star Bozhidar Kraev, who sent his shot flying over the bar.
Four minutes later, the impressively performed Milanovic invited Zac Sapsford to let fly, but Matt Sheridan blocked his shot for a corner. Clisby's delivery to the far post was headed narrowly over the bar by Anthony Pantazopoulos.
Further Western Sydney pressure followed, with Sapsford and Milanovic combining to present Borrello with a chance, only for Sheridan to again save the day for the home side. An equaliser was inevitable, however, and materialised in the 36th minute.
Milanovic beat Sutton on the right before working a one-two with Sapsford, whose return pass played the wide man in on goal. Milanovic unselfishly slipped the ball into the stride of Kraev, who steered home a shot through a forest of legs to score against his old club, the Bulgarian failing to celebrate the goal as a mark of respect to Wellington for their part in his A-League career.
Before the interval, Borrello weaved past two opponents into the penalty area, from where he let rip. Oluwayemi turned his effort around the post, the last save he would have to make for a fair few minutes.
For after the interval, Wellington was the team which enjoyed the better of the exchanges, Francisco Geraldes' twenty-five yard volley, after he had controlled the ball with a deft flick, drawing a
|
sound save from Thomas in the 51st minute.
Sixty seconds later, Ishige delivered a free-kick into the penalty area where Payne went to ground amid a cluster of defenders. Western Sydney cleared the ball to the edge of the penalty area, where Geraldes was lurking with intent. His volleyed bid to return it with interest saw the ball fizz just past the post.
The visitors went straight down the other end, with Sapsford looking to earn a penalty by diving while being challenged by Payne. The All Whites fullback was furious with the striker's dishonesty, and gave Sapsford a right royal serve which was thoroughly deserved. Referee Adam Bacvar failed to follow it up with a yellow card for simulation, however.
After Ishige had shot tamely at Thomas, the visitors came close to taking the lead. Alex Gersbach's 63rd minute cross picked out fellow substitute Carl Antonsson, whose lay-off invited Milanovic to let fly. His shot was blocked, but the rebound broke for Cleur, whose shot through a crowded goalmouth crept narrowly past the far post.
The scoreline changed six minutes later, but it was Wellington who were celebrating again. Payne fed Barbarouses, who played it across to Geraldes. He beat Thomas all ends up from ten yards, steering home into the far corner to the delight of the bulk of the 3698 fans present - the second-lowest attendance in the club's history.
Western Sydney weren't going to take this lying down, and didn't. Oluwayemi turned a Milanovic drive round the post in the 74th minute, and the winger slipped another effort past the upright four minutes later upon being played in by Kraev.
Wellington's bid to clinch victory was thwarted by Alex Bonetig four minutes from time as Geraldes and Sutton combined in a bid to pick out Barbarouses on the far post. That intervention was to prove crucial, for Western Sydney equalised three minutes later.
Borrello led the charge downfield before feeding Milanovic on the right, from where he cut inside and unleashed a twenty-yarder into the top far corner of the net - 2-2, and a goal few would have begrudged the visitors, who went all out for the winner thereafter.
All they had to show for their efforts, however, was an Antonsson drive which was parried to safety by Oluwayemi. Indeed, Wellington could have won it deep in stoppage time, Piper skying a great chance from six yards after Payne and Barbarouses had combined on the right, the latter's cross arcing over the head of Nathan Walker and finding the utility man nipping in behind him.
2-2 it remained, however, a result which dents Western Sydney's hopes of a top-two finish, while extending Wellington's winless run at home to six games - they haven't won at Sky Stadium in 2025.
Wellington: Oluwayemi; Piper, Payne, Sheridan, Sutton; Ishige, Nagasawa (Roa Conchie, 67), Geraldes (booked, 44), Kelly-Heald, Brooke-Smith (Walker, 67); Barbarouses
West. Syd.: Thomas; Cleur, Pantazopoulos, Bonetig, Clisby (Gersbach, 46); Milanovic, Brillante (Mata, 75), Priestman (Pelekanos, 75), Kraev (Carluccio, 90); Sapsford (Antonsson, 62), Borrello (booked, 84)
Referee: Adam Bacvar
|