The Wellington Phoenix have stayed perfect in the A-League Men.
Corban Piper’s continued hot streak plus two goals from substitutes have earned the Nix a 3-0 win away to Newcastle on Halloween night.
Piper struck first to open the scoring at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Phoenix then withstood a huge amount of Jets pressure before late goals by Riley Bidois and Nathan Walker sealed the points.
Head coach Chris Greenacre has praised the resilience of his side.
“We’ve had to dig in really deep,” he told media post-match.
“We can probably say it’s a smash and grab at the end, but we dug in really deep. In transition we were pretty clinical and we needed to be.
“We know transition moments suit the attributes of our players, we have speed and especially when we have players off the bench who are clinical finishers.
“We said to the guys, you’re going to have to maybe dig in where you’ve never been before and they certainly did that.”
The mindset he wants from his players was on full display during the game.
“If you have enough people with a common goal you’ll get your rewards.
“We’re a hardworking group, 16 of the 24 man squad are from the academy.
“They understand what’s needed for our club. The bare minimum for us is that they show fight and courage and they showed that today.
“It was a disciplined performance, I’m delighted for the subs that came on, they made an impact and that’s what you can ask for.”
Chris Greenacre stuck with the same starting eleven and bench as last week’s 2-0 win over Central Coast Mariners.
The first proper chance fell the Jets’ way, Nikos Vergos finding space on the angle and seeing Henry Gray stay big to beat his shot away.
Piper was in behind just seconds later after a great ball from Sheridan, Delianov rooted to his line. The striker was unfortunate to see his shot balloon over.
It wouldn’t make a lasting impact though, as Piper put the Nix ahead with the assistance of VAR in the 14th minute.
Kazuki Nagasawa’s ball in behind found the number 99 in acres of space, where he took his time before lifting over Delianov and into the net.
His celebration was curtailed by the flag going up, but a long VAR check showed that Piper had been played onside by Alex Grant and so the goal counted.
It was the 700th goal in A-League Men history for the Nix.
Anderson nearly doubled the lead moments later, Nagasawa squaring to him in the area but his shot was blocked.
The Jets started to take control of the game from that point on, their best opportunity of the first half seeing Lukas Kelly-Heald head off the line in spectacular fashion.
After the break it continued to go the hosts’ way, Bertoncello in particular impressing.
Greenacre made his first change in the 55th minute, Nathan Walker replacing Rafael Durán.
James McGarry matched Kelly-Heald’s earlier defensive intervention on the hour mark, hurling himself in front of a Vergos shot to prevent a certain goal.
The defence and goalkeeper continued to stand firm for the Nix, Gray making a close-range save from Bertoncello to continue an excellent night for the shot-stopper.
There were inklings that the visitors might threaten on the counter, the clearest being in the 85th minute when Piper pounced on a loose pass to bear down on goal, Grant getting back just in time to poke away.
He was soon replaced by Riley Bidois, Luke Mitchell also on for Bryce Duke.
And that threat soon turned concrete, Bidois racing onto Nagasawa’s through ball and finishing with aplomb.
With the Jets scrambling, Nagasawa then nabbed his third assist of the day with the final meaningful kick of the game.
This time Nathan Walker was the striker latching onto the long pass, from which he made no mistake for his first of the season.
The Wellington Phoenix land back in Aotearoa tomorrow as they take on Auckland FC in the New Zealand Derby at GoMedia Stadium next Saturday.
Wellington Phoenix: 13. Henry GRAY (gk), 7. Bryce DUKE (35. Luke MITCHELL 85th), 8. Max ANDERSON, 9. Rafael DURÁN (17. Nathan WALKER),14. Alex RUFER, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD, 23. James MCGARRY, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matthew SHERIDAN, 28. Bill TUILOMA, 99. Corban PIPER (11. Riley BIDOIS 85th).
Unused substitutes: 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 5. Walter SCOTT, 24. Xuan LOKE, 34. Dylan GARDINER.
Newcastle Jets: 1. James DELIANOV (gk), 2. Alex GRANT, 5. Joseph SHAUGHNESSY, 9. Nikos VERGOS, 10. Zach CLOUGH, 17. Ethan DEBONO (19. Alex Badolato 58th), 23. Daniel WILMERING, 24. Alexandro NUNES (43. Xavier BERTONCELLO 46th), 28. Will DOBSON (11. Joe LOLLEY 58th), 52. Nicholas BADOLATO (14. Max BURGESS 58th), 64. Jesse HILL (22. Joel BERTOLISSIO 46th).
Unused substitutes: 40. Jordan BAYLIS (gk), 39. Thomas AQUILINA.
Goals:
99. Corban Piper (Wellington Phoenix) – 14th
11. Riley Bidois (Wellington Phoenix) – 87th
17. Nathan Walker (Wellington Phoenix) – 90+3rd
Cards:
14. Alex Rufer (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 76th
