A three-goal turnaround from the Wellington Phoenix has kept their Premiers Plate dream alive, recording a stunning last minute 3-2 wing against the Central Coast Mariners at Westpac Stadium.
Phoenix rise to the challenge
Winless in their last three games, with no goals scored and six conceded, the Phoenix were slowly falling out of the race for a top-two finish. With a game at home to the eighth-placed Mariners, Ernie Merrick would have been hopeful of securing a good result to get his side back into form. However, after the first 45 minutes, things were looking dire for the Phoenix, trailing by two goals after some wretched defending.
Merrick turned to his bench on the hour mark, bringing on Kenny Cunningham and Manny Muscat for Roy Krishna and Alex Rodriguez. Suddenly, the match turned on its head. Muscat’s introduction saw Louis Fenton pushed into midfield and the youngster added much-needed support to the ailing Roly Bonevacia, who was able to kick-off his side’s comeback by placing the ball into the bottom corner from outside the area.
It was then Cunningham’s turn to step up. First the Costa Rican rifled home the loose ball after Bonevacia was tackled on his way towards goal, levelling the scores with ten minutes remaining. The striker then wrote himself in Phoenix folklore with his second goal of the game, caressing the ball past Liam Reddy in stoppage time to win the match.
Ernie Merrick certainly earned his pay this week with game-changing substitutions, but credit must also be given to the players that refused to give up. That mentality will pay dividends when the finals start in two weeks’ time.
Mariners still under construction
It was Tony Walmsley’s first game since being announced as the club’s permanent head coach and it looked as though the Englishman would secure a first away win of the season when the Mariners raced out to a two-goal lead.
Unfortunately, the game unravelled for the yellow and navy in the second-half. Instead of looking to kill the game off with a third goal, the Mariners elected to sit deeper and invite pressure on their defence. The Phoenix had ample ammunition, taking 24 shots at Liam Reddy while his forwards could only produce eight attempts on goal themselves.
It is important to ask how much of the problem is down to Walmsley or simply the players available. The Englishman has attempted to bring a high-pressing defensive style to the club, but with centre-backs as slow as Zac Anderson and Eddie Bosnar the strategy can not be used to its full extent. Hopefully Walmsley will use the club’s final game of the season to properly assess what areas of the squad need strengthening in the off-season.
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Wellington needs to get behind their team
With such a thrilling conclusion to the match, the 6868 supporters at Westpac Stadium will surely turn up again next weekend when the Phoenix host Sydney FC, but they need to bring a friend each. The game will play a huge role in determining the club’s final position on the ladder, so the energy and support of a big crowd could make a difference in a finely-balanced match.
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