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McBreen's woes continue as Phoenix, Mariners tie

Monday, January 13, 2014

by
A botched penalty attempt by the Mariners’ Daniel McBreen saw the curse of the draw return for the Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Sunday, with the 1-1 result they gained against Central Coast Mariners not being one they had hoped for.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the 70th minute of the second half, referee Matt Gillett awarded a penalty after Phoenix goalkeeper Glen Moss was ruled to have brought Trent Sainsbury down inside the box. However, the resulting spot kick was blasted over the crossbar.


The Mariners started out strong in the first half with their game plan seemingly revolving around stopping the Phoenix from playing theirs.

As a result, the Mariners defence managed to cut out any short passes the Nix could make, breaking down the Wellington structure and leading to a high turnover rate.

Shaking the Phoenix out of their usual playing structure caused them to cluster and ball watch, with the Mariners capitalising on this to score their first goal of the game when Nick Fitzgerald played in Matt Simon for the opener after 15 minutes.

As the Phoenix struggled under the Mariners’defence and the gusty conditions, Central Coast continued to be all over their opponents for the majority of the first half.

However, the Nix finally started to pull it together late in the first half with Kenny Cunningham managing to beat the battle with the wind and score a goal to tie it up heading into half-time.

Wellington’s sudden burst of form continued into the second half with the Nix coming out strong, gaining back-to-back corners and looking threatening in the first 10 minutes.

They continued to maintain the majority of the possession, but any passes in front of goal never seemed to connect to another player, leaving chances wasted.

However, the best chance came to the visitors when the ref pointed to the spot after Moss brought down Sainsbury in the penalty area to give the Mariners a chance at the lead, although McBreen continued his scoring woes when the blasted strike continued to rise, completely missing the target.

The last five minutes of the game turned brutal with Michael Boxall receiving a hefty kick in the stomach from Anthony Caceres and first-time Phoenix player Roy Krishna getting his legs taken out from under him.

Even with the lift in aggression, Wellington carried on attacking but unfortunately, no shots could make their way into the goal, leaving the score at 1-1.

A win for the Phoenix now becomes vital as they meet the Melbourne Victory at home with hopes of staying in touch with the middle of the pack, while the Mariners’ clash with Sydney FC will be key in the makeup of the mid-table group.



Wellington Phoenix: 1. Glen MOSS, 2. Manny MUSCAT, 5. Michael BOXALL, 9. Kenny CUNNINGHAM, 10. Stein HUYSEGEMS, 11. Jeremy BROCKIE, 13. Albert RIERA,   17. Vince LIA, 18. Ben SIGMUND, 21. Carlos HERNANDEZ, 22. Andrew DURANTE Subs 12.Tyler Boyd 15. Jason HICKS. 20.Lewis Italiano (GK), 23.Matthew Ridenton, Roy Krishna.

Central Cost Mariners: 2.Daniel MCBREEN, 3.Joshua ROSE, 5.Zachary ANDERSON, 7.John HUTCHINSON, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY, 9.Mitchell DUKE, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 12.Liam REDDY (Gk), 15.Storm ROUX, 16.Trent SAINSBURY, 19.Matt SIMON, Subs: 1.Justin PASFIELD (Gk),  6.Brent GRIFFITHS, 17.Anthony CACERES, 20.Bernie IBINI, 21.Mile STERJOVSKI