Wellington Phoenix climbed off the bottom of the Isuzu Ute A-League table on January 21, ending a four-match losing streak by beating Western United 2-1 in front of 586 fans at Wollongong's WIN Stadium.
United settled the better of the two teams, Neil Kilkenny swooping on a stray Alex Rufer pass in the tenth minute, then surging forward before presenting Connor Pain with a great chance to deliver quality.
His cross was way off-beam, however, as were United's penalty claims two minutes later when Ben Garrucio and Louis Fenton tangling in the area. Referee Shaun Evans wasn't having a bar of it, although he did have to send the Wellington fullback to the bench three times in the first half to receive treatment for a bloodied cheek which was ultimately stitched at half-time, the price Fenton paid for colliding with Aleksandar Prijovic's elbow in aerial combat.
New Wellington signing, Mexican international Gael Sandoval, settled quickly on debut, and was soon getting involved in his new team's attacks, releasing Reno Piscopo with a raking cross-field ball in the fourteenth minute. The flank player stood up Josh Risdon a treat, but found Tomoki Imai a far more formidable proposition as he looked to make in-roads into the penalty area.
Just how quickly Sandoval had settled into his new environment was revealed in the sixteenth minute, as he opened the scoring. Rufer pinged a pass from halfway to an area just inside United's penalty area, which lured Jamie Young out of goal.
The retreating Leo Lacroix wasn't aware of his goalkeeping team-mate's presence, however, and headed the ball out to Gary Hooper. He slipped a pass inside to Sandoval, who swivelled and, from twelve yards out, swept the ball beyond the retreating figure of Young into the back of the net.
Wellington's delight was understandable - as well as having lost their last four league games, they hadn't kicked a ball in anger for sixteen days prior to this contest. And they went close to doubling their lead four minutes later.
Rufer sent a lovely ball forward to David Ball, who got in behind Risdon on the left before laying the ball back to Sam Sutton. The fullback linked with Sandoval, who clipped a cross to the far post for Fenton to head goalwards. He did so under pressure, however, allowing Young to avert the danger in his usual efficient manner.
Western responded to going behind with a spell of concerted pressure, but they failed to engineer too many openings despite having plenty of the ball. Captain Alessando Diamanti directed one effort straight at Alex Paulsen, who was mightily relieved to see a thirty yard screamer from the Italian flash a foot over the crossbar, following a free-kick.
In between these attempts, a Kilkenny corner picked out Lachlan Wales, who directed his header across the face of goal and past the far post, while in the 32nd minute, Diamanti's angled cross, targeting Prijovic, was headed out by Tim Payne to Wales, whose thunderous drive was turned to safety by Paulsen.
A tad against the run of play, Wellington doubled their lead ten minutes before half-time. Clayton Lewis fed Rufer, who turned his marker in midfield before picking out Hooper in between defenders with a slide-rule pass. The striker cleverly wrong-footed both opponents before drilling a shot between the legs of Garrucio and across Young into the far corner of the net - 2-0.
Immediately, United redoubled their efforts to get back into the contest. Payne blocked another Diamanti effort, while the Italian's measured cross for Prijovic was headed out by Joshua Laws to
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Risdon, who directed his shot straight at Paulsen.
The goalkeeper produced a fine save to deny Diamanti two minutes before half-time, and seconds later thwarted Prijovic in stunning fashion, his reflex denial turning the striker's shot on the turn to safety after Kilkenny had weaved his way through traffic to set up the chance.
Wellington enjoyed the better of the exchanges early in the second half, with Paulsen's raking 52nd minute clearance breaking for Ball, who invited Piscopo to take on United's rearguard while taking up a position from which he could provide a potentially match-winning outlet. Piscopo opted to go it alone, however, and was frustrated by the tall figure of Lacroix's timely block.
Back came United, Wales leading the charge on the hour, only for Laws to block his shot. Soon after, Pain and Steven Lustica combined on the left, the latter picking out Diamanti on the penalty spot. He executed a superb hip-turn volley to near-perfection - the sight of the ball flying over the bar rather than into the net left the Italian a frustrated footballer.
After the offside flag ruled out a second Hooper goal in the 64th minute, the striker smashed a fifteen yarder over the bar four minutes later, after fine work by Fenton, Ball and substitute Jaushua Sotirio, who was denied a goal by Young eleven minutes from time when he turned the striker's twenty-yarder round the post.
This effort was the result of a counter-attack, Laws and Lewis having blocked attempts by Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Risdon to fire United back into the match seconds earlier. They continued to press, and seven minutes from time Kilkenny and Risdon combined to present substitute Christian Theoharous with a chance, only for Paulsen to once again frustrate the visitors.
Any hopes Western harboured of getting back into the contest appeared dashed in the 89th minute when the Video Assistant Referee for once ruled in Wellington's favour. Substitute Ben Waine had been hauled back by Imai as he looked to race through on goal, an offence which referee Evans punished with a yellow card.
But VAR determined that Imai was the last defender, prompting Mr Evans to upgrade the colour of the card shown to the offender - off to enjoy the best of the shower water he duly toddled!
His team-mates didn't let up, however, and deep in stoppage time, were rewarded for their game-long efforts with a consolation goal. After pressing consistently, Theoharous received the ball on the left and slipped it inside to Lustica, who let rip with a ferocious drive which soared over Paulsen and into the top far corner - 2-1.
Had more time been available to them, Western would have fancied their chances of netting a late leveller. But they had done their dash in this one, the third-placed team failing to make the most of their plentiful share of possession as they played their first game of the season outside their native Victoria.
Wellington's win them sets up nicely for next week's FFA Cup semi-final, with Melbourne Victory lying in wait in Geelong. Coach Ufuk Talay and his coaching assistant, Giancarlo Italiano, will have to be on their best behaviour, however, after both were booked in this match for their sideline antics.
Wellington: Paulsen; Fenton, Payne, Laws, Sutton; Sandoval (Sotirio, 65), Rufer, Lewis (Pennington, 85), Piscopo (Waine, 77); Ball, Hooper
Western: Young; Risdon (booked, 57), Imai (sent off, 90), Lacroix (Topor-Stanley, 87), Garrucio; Lustica (booked, 6), Diamanti (Milanovic, 87), Kilkenny; Wales (Pierias, 61), Prijovic (Wenzel-Halls, 72), Pain (Theoharous, 72)
Referee: Shaun Evans
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