Match Review – Round 22 Phoenix v Glory
Both teams headed into this game in a desperate need of points. Results went against the Phoenix earlier in the weekend, with both the Jets and Sydney FC taking all 3 points from their encounters in the race to the top 6. With the Jets ending Melbourne Heart’s winning streak, Perth were presented with the opportunity to go level on points with Heart in 9th position.
Carlos Hernandez and Kenny Cunningham both started this game despite injury clouds, and Jack Duncan made his Perth debut. William Gallas also lined up for his first game in New Zealand.
Phoenix dominated early proceedings; Roy Krishna was looking the likely man to break the deadlock, causing Jack Clisby all kinds of trouble down the right. The Fijian whizzed a volley past the post in the 11th minute, and had another effort cleared by Gallas in the 16th.
The middle parts of the first half were uneventful as the game broke down into a scrap. Both teams suffered injury scares, with Gallas receiving some heavy strapping for a hamstring injury, Carlos Hernandez constantly stretching in back play and young Brindell-South going off with what may be a serious injury. Brindell-South was replaced by Shaun Timmins, whom was only signed mid week as an injury replacement.
Despite tightness in his left hamstring, Gallas was the man to split the deadlock in the 34th minute. Gallas robbed Huysegems of possession on halfway and found Jacob Burns on the right side. Gallas continued his run towards the penalty area, Burns summed it up well finding Gallas on the edge of the area, Gallas then opened up for a shot on his left and coolly curled it inside Moss’s far post.
Wellington wrestled control of the game back after the goal, and should have equalised before half time. Hernandez found Krishna with a decent ball in the 42nd, which split the Perth centre backs. Krishna was still left with a lot of work to do, but the Fijian was able to slice through 3 Glory defenders and beat Duncan with his effort, only to see it clatter back off the upright. This was the last real action of the half, Glory going into the break 1-0.
Michael Thwaite didn’t return for the second half after a clash with Krishna just before the break, replaced by Brandon O’Neill. Jamie Maclaren also replaced Shane Smeltz during the half time interval.
The start of the second half was highly uneventful, with Carlos Hernandez being withdrawn from the action in the 63rd minute for Jason Hicks. Carlos was not happy with being substituted, although he was highly wasteful through out the affair and looked underdone.
The Glory defense continued to hold strong, with Phoenix pressure starting to build from the 70th minute onwards. William Gallas was enjoying his best game thus far in purple, with young Matty Davies and Jack Duncan also performing well. Ernie Merrick made a tough call in the 71st in an attempt to find an equaliser, withdrawing danger man Krishna for Tyler Boyd.
Steve McGarry replaced Rostyn Griffiths in the 74th, making him the only man to feature in every Glory fixture this season thus far. Phoenix started to knock on the door in the 80th minute, Kenny Cunningham testing Duncan with a bullet header from the back post. Duncan denied Cunningham with a fantastic reflex save, also doing well to smother the rebound and bundle it out for a corner.
Duncan’s solid performance continued, making another terrific save in the 82nd minute. The rebound this time fell to Matthew Ridenton, whom had a clear sight on goal from the edge of the 6-yard box. Ridenton couldn’t keep his cool, and opted for power over placement, sending the ball into the grandstand.
Wellington’s constant pressure finally paid off in the 84th, this time thanks to a slip-up from Duncan. Duncan opted to come out and attempt to clear a cross, but he judged the height all wrong. The ball floated over Duncan and found Cunningham at the back post, who bulleted his header into the ground and into the back of the net to level the scores. Despite the error, Duncan could be happy with his overall performance replacing Danny Vukovic.
Phoenix piled the pressure on for the rest of the 90, but could not find the winner. The match finished 1-1, which was a fair reflection of the performances on the day. Wellington had more opportunities than Perth, but were wasteful in front of goal. Huysegems in particular wasted a few guilt edged opportunities to find the winner in the closing stages.
Glory go back to Perth with a point well earned, however both teams would have wanted more from this encounter. Phoenix now have an uphill battle to make the 6, travelling to Melbourne to take on Heart next week. As for Glory, they host Melbourne Victory at NIB Stadium on Saturday night in Perth.
Both teams will leave this game believing it was an opportunity lost. Wellington’s season is slowly fizzling out, however there are now some signs of life in Perth, perhaps the race for the spoon isn’t over just yet.
BY MITCH DOYLE
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