There was late drama at McDonald Jones Stadium as former Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Glen Moss, saved a Roy Krishna penalty in the 87th minute to earn a point for his side.
Mark Rudan’s team came out fighting from the beginning and enjoyed several chances to open the scoring.
The returning midfielder, Mandi Sosa, had his shot saved by Moss. The rebound came to Louis Fenton who was unable to keep his shot down.
Moments later, in-form striker, David Williams, did well to lose his marker inside the box as he drilled a header goalwards. However, Moss again performed a fantastic save to deny Wellington Phoenix the lead.
Newcastle Jets then caused an upset as they scored against the run of play. Ronald Vargas danced inside the box and released a shot beyond Oliver Sail in goal to give his side the lead heading into the break.
Ernie Merrick’s team thought they were on course for all three points before David Williams finished low beyond Moss to draw level early in the second half.
Goalkeeper, Oliver Sail, replaced Filip Kurto moments before the game, and he produced some world-class saves to keep Wellington Phoenix in the game.
Newcastle Jets broke on the counter as Sail saved well down to his left before saving with one hand to deny the Jets the lead once more.
The flying Fijian, Krishna, had the chance to grab all three points with minutes remaining as Louis Fenton was fouled inside the box.
Unfortunately for the travelling fans, Moss stood tall and saved the strike from the Wellington Phoenix top scorer to give both sides a point.
After a long stint away from home, the Phoenix head home, with a point in hand looking ahead to their Round 19 fixture against the Victory.
Full highlights here.
FULL TIME | A thrilling game ends all square as your #Nix fight to the end!
Auckland, we are coming for you! Get your tickets for Friday 15 February at @edenparknz ? https://t.co/utNzJm2xTR#StandUpWithYourNix #CreateHistory #NEWvWEL pic.twitter.com/ZgGE2yw1Sj
— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) February 7, 2019
Starting XI
4. Mandi SOSA, 11. David WILLIAMS, 13. Liberato CACACE,14. Alex RUFER, 15. Michal KOPCZYNSKI, 16. Louis FENTON, 18. Sarpreet SINGH, 20. Oliver SAIL (gk), 21. Roy KRISHNA, 22. Andrew DURANTE, 27. Steven TAYLOR
Wellington Phoenix Substitutes
76’ OFF 18. Sarpreet SINGH ON 23. Max BURGESS
83’ OFF 4. Mandi SOSA ON 7. Cillian SHERIDAN
Newcastle Jets Substitutions
46’ OFF 23. Matthew RIDENTON ON 5. Benjamin KANTAROVSKI
76’ OFF 10. Ronald VARGAS ON 14. Kaine SHAPPARD
83’ OFF 17. Daniel GEORGIEVSKI ON 13. Ivan VUJICA
Next Match details
Wellington Phoenix vs. Melbourne Victory, Friday 15th February 2019, Eden Park, Auckland, 7:35pm NZT
