-
View Photos
-
Related
The A-League dream lives on for Wellington Phoenix after
striker Paul Ifill inspired a 3-1 defeat of the Newcastle Jets in
their minor semi-final in Wellington on Saturday.
Brilliant Englishman Ifill buried a decisive goal midway through
extra time to carry his team into next Saturday's preliminary final
across the Tasman.
The winners of that game - against the losers of the major
semifinal between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory which is being
finalised late on Sunday night - will advance to the grand
final.
Victory will have to come away from Westpac Stadium, which the
Phoenix farewelled for the season in front of a delirious club
record crowd of 32,792, where they have not been beaten in 19
matches since October 2008.
They defied a heavily disrupted buildup to pull off a memorable
win, dominating large chunks of the match and appropriately sealing
the result through Ifill after Jets captain Matthew Thompson and
inspirational Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown had struck in the first
half of regular time.
Substitute striker Eugene Dadi ensured the match wouldn't go to a
penalty shootout with a third goal five minutes from the end of
extra time, tapping home as the Jets went in search of an
equaliser
At times the match resembled the Paul Ifill show, his teasing
skills on the edge of the box at the heart of the hosts' many
attacks, either creating chances for himself or others.
Ifill's goal came via a neat Brown pass and was his 13th of the
season, rifled past goalkeeper Ben Kennedy after he deceived yet
another defender.
The hosts had a mortgage on possession and created seven shots at
goal to two by halftime, a statistic that had more than doubled
after 90 minutes, while they also won nine corners to one.
The visitors were most dangerous on the counter and that was borne
out in the 20th minute when Thompson blasted his team ahead with a
left-footed bullet that left under-employed Phoenix goalkeeper Liam
Reddy with no hope.
Brown's eighth goal of the season was his most important, taking
advantage of typically elusive Ifill buildup with a first-time
left-footed strike from 10m out in the 33rd minute.
Tough buildup
The Phoenix had a far from ideal buildup for the match, with
their four starting All Whites (Brown, Ben Sigmund, Leo Bertos and
Tony Lochhead) all heavily involved in the international against
Mexico in Los Angeles last Thursday (NZT).
All but Bertos played out 120 minutes despite they and coach Ricki
Herbert arriving home only on Saturday morning, having left
assistant coaches Jonathan Gould and Luciano Trani to prepare a
depleted squad.
Brown popped up all over the park in a mammoth display, while
Bertos joined Ifill in posing countless problems down the
flanks.
The back four were largely sound while Vince Lia anchored a
midfield that comfortably won the battle for possession.
Defender Sigmund could easily have registered a goal after just 75
seconds but his low, diving header was cleared off the line by Ali
Abbas.
Another clear chance came when midfielder Manny Muscat was clear on
goal but his strike was blocked by a sprawling Kennedy.
It was mirrored at the other end soon before halftime when
Newcastle defender Tarek Elrich fluffed a clear one-on-one with
Reddy.
The hosts had the edge through most of the second half although a
clear chance was squandered by the Jets' best player Thompson, who
failed scuffed a low, hard cross in front of an empty net.
The Phoenix controlled the last half hour and Elrich nearly
conceded an embarrassing own goal, needing Kennedy to stretch and
tip a looping header over the bar. Moments later Brazilian Daniel -
who replaced Bertos with 25min remaining - found space but blasted
over the top.
The arrival of Dadi saw the Phoenix lay siege on goal in the dying
stages of normal time but they couldn't find an opening while the
Jets squandered a couple of gilt-edged raids.
The crowd was breathless in the final minute of injury time when
Ifill rounded Kennedy but his touch was too heavy and he was closed
down.
It was end-to-end action in extra time, with Ifill and Jets
substitute Sasho Petrovski both finding the woodwork but the Jets
struggled to lift after they fell behind.
Read exactly how it happened with tvnz.co.nz's live commentary blog
