Phoenix finals hopes erased by Reds

The whistle  blew on the end of the Wellington Phoenix season on Sunday with any hopes of making the top six snatched away with a 1-0 loss to Adelaide United.

The game began with both teams attacking but as time progressed Adelaide United showcased a more polished front where the Phoenix play slid down with the team not managing to use any opportunities presented to them.

The Phoenix got their first chance early on in the match with Kenny Cunningham taking a shot at goal only to have it go straight over top of the bar.

However, even with this quick off the mark start all the game did was deteriorate with the Phoenix losing possession constantly through bad passing.

This bad passing led to Adelaide picking up a lot of extra ball and the Phoenix had to work extra hard on defence.

Ben Sigmund and Andrew Durante both played centre-back rolls and were a major part of the Phoenix first half defence.

With the Phoenix lacking in speed in the backs and their passing being nothing but poor, attacking seemed to be a low priority even when the opportunities were handed to them.

This  fact was high lighted in the stats that by the 38th minute they had six corners to utilise compared to Adelaide's one and still had not managed to gain any rewards.

The very end of the first half finally saw the Phoenix finally pass with a purpose with Cunningham having a great shot only to have it go slightly over the crossbar.

He then missed another deflection opportunity after Stein Huysegems took a shot at goal but aimed it directly at the goalie.

The second half started in a lackluster fashion for the Phoenix with Adelaide improving in leaps and bounds.

Adelaide continued on the attack with tension rising on the field between Carlos Hernandez and Vince Lia with words seemingly told to Hernandez about his lack of covering defence.

This defence then crumbled in the 56th minute when Durante gave away a penalty by diving into a player in the box.

This was an opportunity Adelaide didn't miss with a well placed shot going straight down the middle and into the goal.

Manny Muscat then hit double digits of the bad kind earning his 10th yellow card for the season from a dodgy looking tackle.

The Phoenix did keep trying with Michael Boxall having a shot in the 80th minute that looked promising but with a panicked mindset he took the shot to fast with the ball soaring straight over the goal.

Finally the end whistle blew with the Phoenix fans who had so hoped for a different season this year sharing the teams disappointment with the realisation the top six goal everyone had been wanting so badly was no longer going to happen.



Wellington Phoenix: 1.Glen MOSS (GK) 2.Manny MUSCAT  5.Michael BOXALL 9.Kenny CUNNINGHAM 10.Stein HUYSEGEMS 11.Jeremy BROCKIE 12.Tyler BOYD 15.Jason HICKS 17.Vince LIA 18. Ben SIGMUND 20.Lewis ITALIANO (GK) 21. Carlos HERNANDEZ 22.Andrew DURANTE (C) 23.Matthew RIDENTON 24.Roy KRISHNA 25.Shaun TIMMINS


Adelaide United: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC, 2. Michael MARRONE, 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 5.Osama MALIK, 8.ISAIAS, 10. Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11. Bruce DIJITE, 14. Cameron WATSON, 17. Awer MABIL, 18. Michael ZULLO, 21. Tarek ELRICH, 22. Fabio FERREIRA, 23. Jordan ELSEY, 25. Ryan KITTO, 30. John HALL, 32. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOD