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Eugene Dadi [left] celebrates with team-mate Diego - Source: Photosport -
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tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess looks back at the dramatic A-League semi-final on Sunday night between the Wellington Phoenix and the Newcastle Jets.
Hero of the day: Andrew Durante. If Sunday's atmosphere was comparable to the Bahrain match then Durante gave a captain's knock every bit as good as Ryan Nelsen back in November. The 27-year-old was immense against his former club. His positioning was perfect, he was strong in the tackle, speedy in anticipation and looked good going forward. Durante also came up with two of the tackles of the day in the tense extra-time period, stopping what would have been clear cut scoring chances.
Miss of the day: Quite a few contenders on a day when both sides, though especially the Phoenix, were profligate in the extreme. But the way Paul Ifill contrived to miss an open goal in the 94th minute will live long in the memory. It was agonisingly for the crowd, the players, coach Ricki Herbert and obviously Ifill as he dragged the ball across an open net. He is a seasoned professional but took a long time to recover, at one point asking to be substituted during extra time. Herbert told us later there was "no chance" of that happening, and Ifill found redemption and relief when he scored in the 115th minute, before running 100 metres to celebrate with the Yellow Fever fans.
Villain of the day: Tricky Newcastle left winger Ali Abas was an early contender as he demonstrated a propensity for diving which got him on the wrong side of the huge Westpac stadium crowd. This award though has to go though to fiery Jets subsitiute Mirjan Pavlovic, who went into every challenge with his elbows flailing and at one stage seemed to stamp on the shin of Ben Sigmund near the touchline.
Moment of the match: After watching the Phoenix blow a considerable amount of gilt edged chances, it was almost too much to bear for the fans when Paul Ifill missed that chance with, as Herbert put it, "three seconds left". But he responded positively, scoring the decisive goal in the 105th minute before Eugene Dadi put the result beyond doubt at the death.
Sore loser award: Branko Culina did nothing to endear himself to the New Zealand fans in the week leading up to the match, and continued his jibes in the press conference afterwards. "None" was his deadpan response when asked what chance he gave the Phoenix of winning their major semi-final next week. "On the scoreboard" was the slightly smarmy answer when asked where the Phoenix had been better. Finally he was asked to clarify a previous statement about not wanting the New Zealand side to be in the A-League. Given the chance to clear things up, he just confused it more. "No I didn't say that. I'm an Australian, so of course I want to have an Australian team in the league."
Awkward moment: Two of the camera crews had dismantled when the Newcastle coach Branko Culinna and captain Matthew Thompson walked into the media room. They frantically set everything up again but was a very tense three minutes and the defeated Jets contingent sat stony-faced, seemingly getting more and more annoyed by the second.
Steady Reddy: The goalkeeper was not called into action as much as the Perth encounter a fortnight ago, spending long periods as a spectator while the Phoenix laid siege on the Jets' goal. But he came up with some superb one-on-one saves, most notably in the 42nd minute when Tarek Edrich was clean through on goal and just six yards out.
Best fan t-shirt: "Your first time is always special - Phoenix finals campaign 2010" seemed to be the most popular choice among home fans. From the [ring of] Fire to the Final was another spotted frequently while "Bring back George" tribute shirts to a long forgotten player from the first season who barely played a game, added a weird nostalgic touch.
Chant of the day: The old favourites are always the best. Every time a Jets player sprayed a shot wide the Yellow Fever would start with "Who are ya, who are ya, who are ya". This even extended to any Jets corner kicks as the poor player would wander over to take his kick and be greeted with virtually the entire stadium questioning his ability. The referee and linesman had a good match, but whenever the officials made what was deemed a dubious decision it was something else to hear 32,000 people proclaiming "Same old Aussies, always cheating."
