The Nix Fix: Miracle in Melbourne
After almost eight years (and numerous thrashings) the Phoenix have finally beaten Melbourne Victory in Melbourne.
The Nix had to come from behind twice in the match on their way to the historical 3-2 win. A stat which is more impressive given the team’s tendency in the past to almost give up once they had conceded a goal against the A-League power club with two premierships to their name.
It marked a much needed turnaround for the club, who had failed to pick up a win in any of their four matches following the Asian Cup break. The result moved the Nix up to equal second on the ladder but sitting fourth on points differential behind Adelaide, Melbourne Victory and league leaders Perth Glory.
The match started out all too familiar in Melbourne with the Nix going behind in the 34th minute to a goal from Scott Galloway following an earlier missed penalty by Berisha. But they responded beautifully with a brilliant set piece goal by Roly Bonevacia, who fired his free kick into the top left corner, to even up the scoreline minutes before halftime.
The Victory struck again less than ten minutes after the break to grab the lead once more. The goal came from former Wellington Phoenix player Kosta Barbarouses, who managed to squeeze one around Glen Moss at a tight angle in the 54th minute. This time to response took a little longer but it was worth the wait as Bonevacia again took a free kick that found Michael Boxall at the far post who calmly placed his header into the net.
The winner came in the 77th minute with Boxall again involved, laying a ball back for Nathan Burns to shoot home and seal the club’s historic win.
It was a well deserved result for Wellington and one that surely must force other clubs in Australia to start looking at the Nix as serious title contenders.
The Nix have a great chance to move higher up the table this weekend when they take on Adelaide at the Hutt Valley Recreation Ground, which is being used by the team while the ICC Cricket World Cup is on. Adelaide are one of the teams tied on 33 points with the Nix and a win would obviously cause them to jump above them to third or possibly second on the ladder depending on the Victory’s next result.
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