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Nix striker Eugene Dadi celebrates - Source: Photosport
Three second-half strikes into the teeth of a howling Wellington
southerly saw the Wellington Phoenix notch up their third win on
end in soccer's A-League with a 3-0 victory over North Queensland
Fury on Friday.
The scores were tied 0-0 at the break as the Phoenix struggled to
put their strikers into space, but goals to new signing Eugene
Dadi, old hand Paul Ifill and defender Jon McKain saw them
shut out the Fury for a well-deserved win.
Dadi, who marked his debut for the Phoenix last week with a brace
of goals including a spectacular bicycle kick, was first off the
mark barely two minutes into the second half.
Leo Bertos' corner into the wind kept low, Dadi climbed high and
found the back of the net with a well-placed header.
A clash of heads with Fury defender Matt Smith after 67 minutes
left the former Ivory Coast international bleeding profusely.
The Ivorian required 15 stitches, but the clash luckly did
not leave the 36-year-old concussed and the Phoenix lost little
when Costa Barbarouses took his place.
Ifill made the win secure with his ninth goal of the season with 12
minutes remaining as the Phoenix's midfield built pressure with
some intelligent distribution.
Ifill found himself out wide with space to spare, his first touch
proved immaculate and a crashing shot left Fury goalkeeper Justin
Pasfield with no chance.
McKain, better known for his feats as an uncompromising defender,
added insult to injury in the 90th minute when his looping header
lobbed over Pasfield to make it 3-0.
The bitingly cold winds and lashing rain meant there was no place
for the free-flowing football of last week, when the Phoenix's 3-1
win over Brisbane eased them into fifth place on the A-League
ladder.
Both teams struggled with the conditions early on, and although the
Phoenix had the strong wind at their backs in the first spell, they
had precious little to show for it at halftime.
Ifill and Dadi were kept under tight wraps up front, with perhaps
the Wellington team's best chance of the opening stanza coming
after 37 minutes.
Ifill sliced through the midfield, but his touch approaching goal
was a little heavy and the resulting shot skewed across the goal
face without troubling Pasfield.
The Queenslanders had a couple of early chances, the most dangerous
coming after barely two minutes, when an uncharacteristic McKain
error left Robbie Fowler clear in the box.
Pressure from the scrambling defence and some strong work from Liam
Reddy saw Fowler's shot crash into the side netting.
Fowler featured again with a fine touch that saw striker Dyron Daal
beat the offside trap and force a superb save from Reddy.
But the Phoenix put their lacklustre first half emphatically behind
them with a trifecta of second-half goals that put them firmly into
contention for a mid-February play-offs berth.
