After a troubling few weeks for New Zealand Football and the Wellington Phoenix, the Phoenix and the All Whites both won games on Friday, which gave football fans this side of the Tasman reason to hope for future longevity and success internationally and in the A-League.
With the Socceroos’ 3-0 defeat of Kyrgyzstan and Western Sydney Wanderers making it three wins on the trot, it was also a good week for Australian football fans, especially if you are a Wanderer.
A number of Phoenix players were away on international duty. They will all make a swift comeback to the A-League squad after their successful excursion with the All Whites in Oman, where coach Anthony Hudson registered his first win as coach of the New Zealand national side at the sixth attempt. It was the All Whites’ first win since 2013; 11 games ago. It would have come as a relief for Hudson that the team held onto their 1-0 lead courtesy of captain Chris Wood’s fifth-minute goal, which 85 minutes later proved to be the winner.
Despite the absence of the internationals, the Phoenix registered a crucial victory in their first home match since the A-League license rejection debacle. The Nix trumped a hapless Adelaide United outfit in a 4-2 performance notable in two respects; the first was the sight of a bumper crowd of 13,654, giving the club metrics of that magnitude for the first time since the 2009-10 A-League season. The second was a stunning return to form for star man Roly Bonevacia after an anonymous performance the previous week away against the Mariners in Gosford. Bonevacia was all class in this fixture, not only scoring two goals but also stepping up in Michael McGlinchey’s absence to lead and inspire his teammates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH7XRDD568c
It was the Dutchman’s combination play with the red-hot Roy Krishna that really caught the eye during a night to relish at the Cake Tin. Krishna’s goal and assist, combined with a solid 90-minute performance was all the more impressive as it was delivered after a testing 90 minutes as captain for Fiji in a 2-1 loss to Vanuatu in an international friendly on Tuesday.
Krishna and Bonevacia will head into this weekend’s match with plenty of confidence and it will be interesting to see how Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick will adjust for the return of the league’s leading chance creator in McGlinchey. It seems that Merrick has a number of decisions to make with his team selections this weekend, as youngster Matthew Ridenton came off the bench to score in the victory over Adelaide and Justin Gulley performed admirably in place of defenders Tom Doyle and Louis Fenton who were also away on international duty.
Both will be back this weekend, as well as midfielder Alex Rufer and striker Logan Rogerson, so Merrick will be dealing with the great headache of figuring out the best way to involve them all while maintaining the team’s ability to play attractive football and deliver a result. It will especially be tough to replicate football of the calibre that the Nix produced on Friday for the faithful Yellow Fever and the hordes of other fans that showed up. With expectations elevated, it is ironic that it is the even more impressive Wanderers who will be welcoming the Phoenix.
The surging Wanderers came into their match looking for a third-straight win in the league and duly delivered a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Melbourne City at AAMI Park. City were also deprived of key players to international duties so could claim mitigating circumstances, but they were outplayed in a game that provided veteran Mark Bridge his 50th A-League goal.
The key moment of the match occurred 20 minutes before Bridge’s landmark achievement: a controversial call by referee Peter Green in the 61st minute allowed Federico Piovaccari to score as Green overruled the offside flag of his assistant. The ref’s call gave Wanderers full-back Scott Neville the opportunity to regain possession and cross to the Italian striker, who made no mistake with his volleyed finish. Midfielder Dario Vidosic had occupied an offside position but did not interfere with the play.
With the Phoenix proving both resilient and entertaining with their victory and the Wanderers on a winning sequence, both of these sides go into the match with their fans firmly on the side of the players and management. Goal difference is currently the only thing separating the two, with each team on 10 points after six matches this season. The Wanderers are fourth but the sixth-placed Phoenix could overtake them with a crucial away victory this Saturday at Parramatta Stadium. With international results providing further satisfaction for fans, a win for either of these sides in this game will extend the feel-good-factor even further.
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