Racial abuse sours Reds romp at Hindmarsh

Adelaide United’s 3-1 victory over the Wellington Phoenix has been marred by racial abuse from a spectator at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Wellington star wide-man Paul Ifill was the target of the abuse as he was substituted in the 61st minute of the match against the Reds.

Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert refused to be drawn on the subject post-match, preferring not to comment on the matter.

"It's not for me to confirm or deny, its best to go through that process and talk to Adelaide," Herbert said.

"There are a few comments we've shared with club officials and I'm sure they will explain it."

Ifill took to social networking site Twitter after the match.

"Bad times poor result and racist abuse from a very small minority of fans #nothappy,'' Ifill posted.

The incident took the shine off another strong result for United who have opened up an eight point gap on their nearest rivals, Melbourne Victory, in third place.

After Adelaide took a 3-0 lead into half-time, Herbert shuffled his pack and the Phoenix came out the stronger of the two teams after the break.

Herbert was particularly pleased with the impact his youngsters provided, singling out Louis Fenton and Tyler Boyd for praise.

"I can't speak highly enough of team ... I thought we were the best team in the second half," Herbert said.

"3-0 down is a hard position to be in, but we rung the changes and I thought the young ones were excellent.

"There was a goal scored that wasn't given ... we missed a penalty, Louis should have scored an open goal, and it would have made for a fascinating finish to the game," he said.

The Phoenix will look to turn things around next Saturday as they take on league leaders Central Coast in front of their home fans with a win taking them as high as fifth on the Hyundai A-League ladder.