Home win eludes Phoenix

An historic home win continues to elude Wellington Phoenix FC after the Hyundai A-League’s new boys fought out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Adelaide United in the capital tonight.

Having drawn 2-2 with reigning champions the Melbourne Victory in their Hyundai A-League 2007/08 season opener at home before dipping out 1-0 to the Newcastle Jets, the Phoenix went tantalisingly close to backing up their first competition win, 2-1 against Sydney FC in Sydney last weekend, against Adelaide at Westpac Stadium.

After a scoreless first half, the match roared to life when the Phoenix’s Brazilian playmaker Felipe set the 12,127-strong crowd alight by opening the scoring in the 64th minute. Felipe outjumped the Adelaide defence and connected with Jeremy Christie’s cross, his header looping over stranded Adelaide keeper Robert Bajic.

But Adelaide were back on par just five minutes later when Bruce Djite’s close-range header from a corner struck the post and fell to Diego Walsh, who nodded in the simplest of goals.

Djite then put the visitors ahead in the 78th minute, the United States-born striker latching on to Nathan Burns’ low cross in front of goal before spinning and slamming the ball past Phoenix keeper Glen Moss from close range.

With the score at 2-1 and time running down, it was Shane Smeltz who ensured the Phoenix took a well-deserved point from the match when he glanced on a header from a pinpoint Tony Lochhead cross past Bajic in the 87th minute.

Smeltz had a gilt-edged chance to win the game for the Phoenix with regular time up, the All Whites marksman unable to keep his close-range shot down after breaking clear of the Adelaide defence.

Both teams had plenty of chances. Diego came closest to breaking the deadlock on the hour when his scorching strike from just outside the penalty area beat Moss and slammed into the right-hand post. At the other end, Nathan Burns saved the visitors in the 72nd minute when his goal-line header preserved his team’s lead.

But the draw was probably a fair reflection of the game. The result leaves the Phoenix still searching for their first home win while Adelaide are yet to be on the winning side of the ledger after five games. The Phoenix are third on the Hyundai A-League 2007/08 table, tied with Melbourne and the Queensland Roar, with two matches to play in the round.

Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert was philosophical about the result against Adelaide.

“I thought we were okay at 1-0, to be fair. I thought it was going to be one of those nights when Lady Luck was going to be with us, rather than the opposition,” he said in reference to the Jets match at Westpac Stadium, when the Phoenix were unlucky to have lost after a late deflected goal.

“But at the end of the day, to get the result we did tonight again highlights the strength and character we have within the team – the never-say-die attitude.

“It is a matter of swings and roundabouts and at the end of the year you tend to get your equal share of luck or no luck. We had some chances, there were some key things from the match that I’ll want to look at again, but sometimes those are the breaks.”

Phoenix captain Ross Aloisi said his side never panicked at 2-1 down.

“The feeling was that we knew we could get the goal back. We’ve shown in the past that we can do it and it showed a lot of character from the players once again. So we knew we could get the goal back and even get a winner.

“We played well at times, played some good football. But don’t forget that tonight we were up against one of the best teams – if not the best team, squad-wise – in the competition. I think we held them well and created chances ourselves, so I think we deserved a point.”

The Phoenix get another opportunity to nab their first home win when they play the Perth Glory and Westpac Stadium on Sunday, September 30.

“We are new but we’ve shown what we’re capable of and got the three points against Sydney last weekend,” said Herbert. “Roll on Perth, we may get that first home win against them, we may not, but at the end of the day we’ve kept momentum and kept in touch with teams and that’s important to us.”

Match summary

Wellington Phoenix 2 (Felipe 64’, Shane Smeltz 87’)

Adelaide United 2 (Diego Walsh 69’, Bruce Djite 78’)

HT: 0-0


Crowd: 12,127 at Westpac Stadium, Wellington