The Wellington Phoenix’s slim hopes of avoiding an end-of-season trip to Darwin are over.
The Brisbane Roar have beaten the Phoenix 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to assure Wellington will finish in the bottom four of the A-League and will head to Northern Territory for the Australia Cup playoffs next month.
The Roar’s match-winner came 13 minutes into the second half after a lacklustre first half, with both sides struggling on a poor pitch.
The Nix had their best spell of the match after going behind but ultimately weren’t able to find the back of the net.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was disappointed with the performance.
“I felt the first 10-15 was okay, wasn’t anything brilliant and then…as the half went on we got pinned more and more,” Italiano told media post-match.
“The most frustrating part in that first half is we were making a lot of basic mistakes. The pitch didn’t help but it’s not an excuse because they also played on it.
“I just felt we were a little bit short in certain areas. I didn’t like some of the body language as well.
“I thought there would be a bit of a bounce in the second half. We had one or two good passages but we just weren’t able to stick that last pass.”
Italiano was happy with the impact of his young substitutes Luke Brooke-Smith and Nathan Walker.
“The intention was good, especially from Luke Brooke-Smith, getting the ball one-on-one with the fullback.
“He was coming back inside quite a bit and dribbling, which made it harder for them to nullify.
“I felt as though they gave us good energy when they came on and we probably should have capitalised on that first chance.
“We had moments like that where we could have exploited, especially the last 15 but we couldn’t put it consistently together.”
Giancarlo Italiano named an unchanged starting XI. There was once change amongst the substitutes with fit-again midfielder Paulo Retre replacing young striker Luke Supyk, who scored for the Phoenix reserves in their Central League match against Petone FC earlier in the afternoon.
It was a relatively uneventful first half. Brisbane registered the only shots on target, but only one of the two tested Josh Oluwayemi in Wellington’s goal.
The Phoenix’s best chance came little over two minutes into the match when Kosta Barbarouses got in behind the Roar defence and attempted to pick out Hideki Ishige, who toed his shot wide of the left-hand post.
Brisbane came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 10th minute when midfielder Sam Klein rattled the right post with a stinging shot from 25 yards out. Isaac Hughes was first to the rebound and was able to scramble clear.
The Roar otherwise looked most threatening from set pieces. Their captain Jay O’Shea dragged a 25-yard free kick narrowly wide of the left post in the 19th minute and he registered the first shot on target shortly after the half hour mark from a free kick just outside the Nix box. Oluwayemi made a good save to push the shot away from danger.
Klein registered the only other attempt on goal in the first minute of time added on when he headed a right-wing free kick straight at Wellington’s ‘keeper.
Oluwayemi made a sharp save three minutes into the second half to deny Henry Hore, who volleyed a shot on target after Brisbane won possession on the edge of the Phoenix penalty area.
Florin Berenguer gave the Roar the lead in the 58th minute with a powerful volley from outside the box that Oluwayemi was unable to keep out.
He made a good save a few minutes later to keep out a first-time effort from the Frenchman.
Italiano responded by making a triple substitution, bringing on Brooke-Smith, Walker and Retre in place of Matt Sheridan, Ishige and Alex Rufer.
The changes had their desired effect with the Nix having their best passage for the next 10 minutes.
Walker called Brisbane goalkeeper Matt Acton into action for the first time in the 65th minute when he got on the end of a perfectly weighted reverse ball from Brooke-Smith. Acton was able to keep out the shot and gather the rebound.
He made a sharper save a couple of minutes later to deny Corban Piper, who had burst into the Roar box after getting on the end of a header from 16-year-old Brooke-Smith and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot.
Barbarouses joined the party in the 69th minute when he found space down the left flank before cutting in and unleashing a stinging shot, which just sailed over the top right-hand corner of Acton’s goal.
Tim Payne charged forward a few minutes later and tried to tee-up a team-mate when he drove the ball into the Brisbane penalty area, but it just eluded the oncoming Wellington players.
Oluwayemi made a good save at his near post to deny Asumah Abubakar in the 78th minute to keep the Phoenix in the game.
But the Nix were unable to threaten the Roar goal for the remainder of the 90 and time added on.
Their best moment came in the second minute of stoppage time when Brooke-Smith created something out of nothing and again slipped Piper into the Brisbane box. Piper this time attempted a left-footed cross, which unfortunately for him and Wellington was unable to find a teammate.
The Wellington Phoenix will return home tomorrow before turning their attentions to their final round match against Perth Glory at Sky Stadium on Friday night.
Wellington Phoenix: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Scott WOOTTON, 6. Tim PAYNE, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 9. Hideki ISHIGE (41. Nathan WALKER 63rd), 14. Alex RUFER (c) (8. Paulo RETRE 63rd), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD (25. Kazuki NAGASAWA 80th), 19. Sam SUTTON, 27. Matthew SHERIDAN (29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH 63rd).
Unused substitutes: 35. Dublin BOON (gk), 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE, 39. Jayden SMITH.
Brisbane Roar: 29. Matt ACTON (gk), 10. Florin BERENGUER (43. Adam ZIMARINO 82nd), 11. Asumah ABUBAKAR (17. Nathan AMANATIDIS 86th), 12. Lucas HERRINGTON, 13. Henry HORE (18. Jacob BRAZETE 64th), 15. Hosine BILITY, 19. Jack HINGERT, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 24. Sam KLEIN, 26. Jay O’SHEA(c), 27. Ben HALLORAN (23. Keegan JELACIC 64th).
Unused substitutes: 1. Macklin FREKE (gk), 6. Austin LUDWIK, 35. Louis ZABALA.
Goals:
10. Florin BERENGUER (Brisbane Roar) – 58th
Cards:
14. Alex RUFER (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 60th
Ruben ZADKOVICH (Brisbane Roar) – yellow – 68th
18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 80th
19. Sam SUTTON (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 85th
29. Matt ACTON (gk) (Brisbane Roar) – yellow – 90+3
