Phoenix manage draw, set record

Wellington Phoenix have done just enough to grab the outright record of most consecutive national league games unbeaten at one venue by drawing with the Melbourne Heart at Westpac Stadium tonight.

It had been 23 games since the Phoenix had lost at Westpac, while in contrast the Heart were looking for their first away win in their short history. It took just five minutes for the Phoenix to make that task more difficult as Muscat and Greenacre combined for the opening goal.

A sublime pass by Manny Muscat split the Heart defence; Greenacre timed his run perfectly and tucked his finish into the bottom corner. It was a quality finish but Greenacre owed everything to Muscat’s ball, which took as many as six Heart players out of contention.

It could have been two just a minute later. The goalscorer found himself free on the right and curled in a cross. Ifill got to it first but lifted his volley too high. It was a very good chance and the Heart were lucky to not find themselves two down.

The miss was costly: just five minutes later it was all square. This time Muscat’s involvement was far less auspicious than his contribution to the opening goal. Ward initially lost the ball in the middle of the park and the Heart drove forwards. North slipped in the box and Muscat’s covering tackle on Zahra was clumsy enough for referee Matthew Breeze to point to the spot. It was a needless challenge by Muscat and John Aloisi stepped up to punish him for it, driving the ball underneath the diving Paston.

The wet conditions underfoot were making plenty of players look silly, but with ten minutes left in the half it was Matt Thompson’s turn to cause embarrassment. The Heart man looked to be running into a dead end in the box when he paused and somehow turned between Sigmund and Hearfield and stroked the ball into the far corner. It was a great turn but unforgivably poor defending by the Phoenix duo.

Herbert made two changes at half time and threw Lia and Pavlovic on. The latter’s big frame nearly got the Phoenix back on level terms off a corner a minute into the half, but Thompson cleared off the line.

The Phoenix were pressing and fifteen minutes later they got their reward. Tim Brown’s half volley from 18 yards was charged down, Muscat got onto the rebound and rolled it back to Bertos who hit it from the edge of the box. It looked to be comfortable but a gust of Wellington wind saw Bolton completely misread the strike, overrun it, and Bertos’ strike nestled in the middle of the goal.

Bolton was just the latest goalkeeper to be embarrassed by the Westpac gusts: Justin Pasfield had his own moment of shame away to the Phoenix just a few weeks earlier.

Both sides continued to go looking for the win, and both had half chances before the end, but it was box to box and neither side could muster a sustained period of pressure or get the winner. It finished two each and it would be hard to argue the draw wasn’t a fair result.

The Heart bossed most of the opening period, while the Phoenix were improved in the second half but still restricted to patches.

Regardless, John van ‘t Schip will be much the happier manager after his side snared just their second away point.

The Phoenix get the record but not the points they need.