Melbourne Heart 2 - 1 Wellington phoenix

Melbourne Heart recorded the second win in their short history at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Sunday night, getting up 2-1 over a poor Wellington Phoenix. The Wellington side will fly home having taken just one point from their two-match stay in Melbourne.

Away form has long been the Achilles of the New Zealand-based side, but a bright performance on Wednesday night against the Heart’s city rivals must have meant it was a confident Phoenix outfit that took the pitch on Sunday afternoon. Ricki Herbert named an unchanged side, and that meant Danny Vukovic was preferred again to All Whites keeper Mark Paston.

Vukovic was almost called into action early on when John Aloisi – making his first start for the Heart – got a faint touch on a free kick, but his header from the penalty spot drifted wide. His Melbourne side had started the better, however, and the Phoenix were unable to keep possession during the early stages.

Herbert didn’t look concerned, and he had little reason to be; the Heart were unable to do much with their early possession as both sides continued to be sloppy when they had the ball.

In the 17th minute the Phoenix very nearly made the Melbourne club pay. Nicky Ward found Bertos in behind the Heart defence and his delivery was into a dangerous area. Greenacre was steaming into the six yard box and must have thought he’d scored before a combination of his right boot and the covering Heart defenders scrambled the ball behind. Greenacre was livid at referee Peter Green’s decision to award a goal kick.

The Heart responded minutes later when Aloisi nodded down to Dutch striker Gerald Sibon who was unable to get over a volley from a useful position, though he was always reaching for it.

In truth, the game was still struggling to get going, but in the 27th minute both sides went close to giving the game the goal it badly needed.

First Nicky Ward went close for the Phoenix from the edge of the box with a stabbed effort on the bounce after a good pull back by Bertos, then the Heart’s Alex Terra got on the end of Srhoj’s through ball to nearly catch the Phoenix defence out, but Vukovic closed the angle well and the Brazilian striker could only find the side netting.

Wellington, however, were growing into the game and you felt they might grab one before the end of the half. First Muscat chose to dink a cross to Bertos when he should have had a shot from 18 yards out, then Ward jinked his way to the byline but his cross failed to find one of the yellow and black shirts in a crowded penalty area.

Despite their endeavours, the Phoenix were lucky not to go behind at the death. Melbourne floated in a free kick and Sigmund’s header was less than convincing. He reacted well, however, and slid in to scramble away the resulting loose ball, but only as far as Rutger Worm 16 yards out on the angle. His left footed strike sliced narrowly wide of Vukovic’s left hand upright in what was easily the Heart’s best chance of the half.

You felt the Heart needed to be more ambitious in the second period, and Melbourne coach John van ‘t Schip may well have made a similar point to his charges during the half time break. If so, the Dutch coach deserved plenty of credit for the way his side came out in the second 45. After just five minutes, the Heart were ahead.

Aloisi dropped into the midfield to begin the move and a well judged pass from Srhoj found Sibon in behind. The moment he slid his cross from the right byline across the Phoenix area the Wellington defence was struggling, and Aloisi – who had continued his run – left his feet to bundle the ball over the line at the far post.

Buoyed, the Heart began to look more fluid and in the 55th they put together a beautifully flowing counter attack. Worm wriggled his way out of trouble against Troy Hearfield in his own area and the Heart broke brilliantly, another slid cross from a similar area to the goal finding Aloisi again. This time Vukovic scrambled to make a good save at his far post.

Minutes later Aloisi had an even better chance. Worm whipped in a cross from the left with his right foot and the sharp Alex Terra got a good header from the penalty spot, but Vukovic made the save of the match, getting down superbly to his left to somehow redirect Terra’s glancing header. Aloisi’s resulting side foot from three yards out against the underside of the crossbar was as bad as Vukovic’s save was good.

The game was opening up, and the Phoenix nearly made Aloisi pay for the embarrassing miss. The almost anonymous Ifill drove a shot into a bevy of Heart shirts and Bolton had to be sharp to get down bravely to beat Nicky Ward to the rebound.

Ward’s next contribution was less than auspicious. He was caught in possession in a bad area by Sibon and Alex Terra pounced on the loose ball. He burst into the box with two quick touches and his third, from the edge of the box, was emphatic as he drove the ball past Vukovic into the top left corner.

The Heart were two up, and on the Phoenix’s first 65 minutes, it would be enough.

Wellington looked out of ideas and so it was surprise when they scored from nowhere just ten minutes later. Ifill floated in a cross with the outside of his right foot from the left side, Tim Brown somehow drifted in behind Dean Heffernan and calmly side footed home. Bolton was rightly furious. It was a fantastic ball by Ifill but two Heart defenders were caught in no man’s land.

The next five minutes were all yellow and black, and Heart nerves may well have been jangling. Bertos began to see more of the ball and won a succession of corners. With ten to go he stood up a great ball to McCallister at the far post, but the big man was outdone in the air brilliantly by Michael Marrone, who copped a headache for his troubles. It was a brave piece of defending by the young Australian, capping a very good night’s work.

You felt the Phoenix could make the last ten minutes a torrid time for the Heart, but it didn’t eventuate. Their newfound momentum was just as quickly lost and extra time was as disappointing as the previous 90 for Phoenix fans. In the end, the Heart weren’t even forced to hang on.

The final whistle brought an end to another disappointing away tour for the Phoenix. They’ll be happy to get home before the North Queensland Fury visit on Friday evening, but Ricki Herbert will be less than pleased about several of the individual performances. For some players the trip home might well be a nervous time.

Heart verdict: The home side weren’t ambitious enough to consistently trouble the Phoenix in a disappointing first half, but were good value for their two goal lead in the second period. They conceded a soft goal from an innocuous forward excursion by the Phoenix with fifteen minutes to go, but held on for their second win of the season without any real scares.

Phoenix verdict: The Phoenix headed into the break having seen marginally the better chances of a disjointed first 45 and spent more time in their opposition’s half, but looked short of ideas after the break when the Heart were much improved. A goal from nowhere gave them brief hope with fifteen minutes to go, but their comeback was short-lived and a late barrage was not forthcoming.

An outstanding Vukovic was much improved on his rusty performance last week, but the performance of the match from the Phoenix was put in by the visiting fans, who more than matched the Heart supporters and outsung them for large parts of the game.