Herbert hails Phoenix's finest performance

The points were shared at the Telstra Dome on Saturday night but Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert is hailing the 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory as his side’s finest performance of the Hyundai A-League 2007/08 season so far.



A super strike by Vince Lia in the 58th minute secured the draw for the visitors after Danny Allsopp had put the last season’s champions in front just before halftime. The Victory played close to an hour of the match with 10 men after skipper Kevin Muscat was marched for an ugly challenge on Phoenix counterpart Tim Brown.



The Phoenix dominated for much of the match and had several fine chances to snatch the win, but the gutsy Victory were able to grind out the draw.



Herbert felt his side should have taken the three points but he was still beaming about the overall performance.



“I thought we were very, very good, it was probably the best performance we’ve put in so far this season. We’ve talked for some time about all 11 individuals on the park taking responsibility and against Melbourne we saw what I think is one of the most complete performances from the team.



“We should’ve won it, but what pleased me most was that we showed we’re competitive and that will only improve as the season progresses.”



But there is still plenty to work on for the Phoenix, who failed to finish chances and finish off the under-manned Victory. Another concern was the manner in which they conceded Allsopp’s goal – Archie Thompson’s deflected cross falling to last season’s golden boot winner, who had the simplest of tap-ins.



“I thought we were decent, apart from a little bit of a silly mistake, which can kind of be us at times,” said Herbert.



“We also could have been a little more decisive in the front third,” he added, referring to good chances to the Phoenix’s frontmen to seal the win as the Victory struggled to contain the visitors’ attacks on the back of overwhelming advantages in possession and territory.



The result is another step in the Phoenix’s development in their inaugural season in the Hyundai A-League and confirms the Wellington outfit is a force to be reckoned with.



“I thought we were very dominant and we probably did enough to get a couple more points, but last week [against Sydney FC] we could have had three [points] as well,” Herbert said. “Still, it was a good performance right across the board and a continuation on from last weekend. We dictated the game and the tempo and movement was great. It was also great to see Vinny get on the scoresheet.”



Lia’s strike was a stunner, the former Victory player drilling the ball past keeper Michael Theoklitos with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the box after terrific lead-up play from Ahmad Elrich and Felipe.



Herbert said it was also pleasing to grab a point in the Telstra Dome cauldron in front of more than 20,000 rabid Victory fans.



“You can come to these places and quite easily get tonked. But now we’ve gone back-to-back against the two biggest clubs in the league and neither have been able to beat us at home or away.



“That’s a big sign of what we’ve managed to achieve in a short time.”



The draw means the Phoenix remain in seventh spot on the Hyundai A-League table, just three points behind the sixth-placed Victory.



Importantly for the Wellington club, its next three matches are at home at Westpac Stadium, starting with Friday night’s match against Adelaide United.