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Phoenix's Paul Ifill celebrates - Source: Photosport -
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Dreams really are made of these as the Wellington Phoenix have
beaten the Newcastle Jets 3-1 in extra time in their A-League
semi-final on Sunday
6:36pm
Well, well, well.
After a dodgy start to the season who would, or could of predicted that A-League underdogs the Wellington Phoenix would be just one game away from their FIRST EVER Grand Final.
Now as the Ring of Fire erupts into a frenzy of applause and song, the Phoenix will be watching in earnest to see who they will face in Australia next week as Sydney FC take on Melbourne Victory in the Major semi-final on Sunday night, as will we!
Thanks for joning us on yet another fantastic night for New Zealand football, and we'll hopefully see you all again for another Phoenix win next week!
6:35pm
Wellington Phoenix 3 Newcastle Jets 1 FULL
TIME!
6:31pm
After 100-odd minutes of tense drama and end-to-end
action the Phoenix seem to have put this one to bed as sub
Eugen Dadi blasts the ball into the back of the Jets net. Excellent
goal from the veteran. Dreams really are made of these for the
Phoenix!
6:28pm GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Dadi) Newcastle Jets
1
6:27pm
Another ball falls to Ifill but he seems to fall asleep
in the Jets box as he dilly-dallies around the keeper before losing
it.
6:26pm
YELLOW: Manny Muscat
6:24pm
Newcastle push forward as Pablovic surges, with the
influential Petrovski waiting in the wings but Reddy gets a hand to
it.
6:23pm
Herbet makes his final sub of the night as Diego comes on
for Lia for the final push of the game.
SUB: Diego on for Vince Lia
6:18pm
Well after more than what seems like a million attempts
on goal Paul Ifill has finally found the back of the net with a
blinding strike - the Phoenix can almost
taste the Major semi-final from here!
Holding on and defending with all their might is the key for the home side now.
6:17pm GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wellington Phoenix 2 (Ifill 105") Newcastle Jets 1
6:15pm
The players are now starting to drop like flies as cramp
comes in place of adrenaline. Vince Lia is the latest to
suffer but after going off field he battles back on.
6:12pm
Another close call for the Phoenix as Petrovski smashes the ball
towards the Phoenix goal, but it hits the woodwork before flying
back down the other end. Lands to Ifill, goes to Dadi before
failling to Daniel who fails to connect. There has got to be a goal
coming from somewhere here!
6:09pm
The heat and tiredness is beginning to show as the Jets'
Abbas is the first to go down with cramp.
The Jets nick a crucial free kick after Sasho Petrovski is brought down just outside the box., but once again the visitors fail to do anything with it.
6:04pm
Free kick for the Jets but it amounts to nothing as the
Phoenix get the ball forward again.
6:01pm
And we have extra time kickoff. Oh so close for the
Phoenix so early again as Ifill blasts forward only for his shot to
bounce off the left post.
Don't know about you lot but I'm really getting a sore throat now!
5:56pm
Oh My God! We talked about Thompson making the miss of
the season, well the Phoenix's Paul Ifill just kooked the best
chance to put this game to bed.
He recieves a pass to go one-on-one with Kennedy, but his first touch is too heavy and his attempts to go round the keeper fails.
Extra time it is!
5:52pm
Four minutes of injury time added before extra time
proper.
Late drama as a tired Lia gives the ball away as the Jets pile forward, Reddy comes out but the Jets are offside.
5:50pm
More danger for the Jets in the closing seconds of the
game as Paul Ifill is brought down on the edge of the box. Daniel's
free kick floats in but it goes out off the head of
Durante.
5:46pm
It's like ping-pong in the Newcastle box as the ball bounces
to at least three Phoenix players before being put out. Heart in
mouth stuff here!
SUB: Sasho Petrovski on for Newcastle skipper Matthew Thompson
5:44pm
One senses that there is a goal going to come from
somewhere before the end of this match. Daniel is playing like
there is no tomorrow as the Phoenix continue to apply pressure.
5:42pm
Newcastle make a sub as Labinot Haliti comes on for
midfielder Jin-Hyung Song with less than ten minutes of normal time
remaning.
SUB: Labinot Haliti on for Jin-Hyung Song.
5:36pm
Well it seems Herbert may have been reading this column
as he has just taken Troy Hearfield off for Eugue
Dadi. Herbert is definitely looking to win this
in normal time as tired legs are beginning to show.
SUB: Dadi on for Hearfield
5:32pm
Daniel and his fresh legs haven't half made a difference
to this game - only problem seems to be any of the Phoenix
strikers getting on the end of one of his crosses. Is it time to
bring on Big Dadi!?
5:28pm
Another close call just moments later as Greenacre passes to Ifill
for a shot. But he fails to hit the back of the net. Daniel, who
has just come on for Leo Bertos, also gets an early touch.
He fails to connect but he is doing his best to fire the squad and the crowd into action.
SUB: Daniel on for Leo Bertos
5:27pm
Oh so close for the Phoenix as Tim Brown see's Greenacre
though - but alas the flag goes up as the former Championship
player is called for offside. Promising stuff from the Nix.
5:23pm
Wooooo! Now it is the Jets turn to be let off the hook as the
Phoenix put them under more pressure. Ifill tries to fire into the
box, but it goes to Tarekelrich Elrich who almost smashes the
ball into his own net...what a goal that would have been!
5:20pm
More slick crosses down the left from the Phoenix.
Ifill gets a good touch on the ball before passing it to Bertos who goes one-on-one with a Jets defender, but the All White in his blinding yellow boots takes too much time on the ball as he tries to do his best Ronaldo step-over.
5:14pm
Another let off for the Phoenix as the Jets are once again allowed
into Liam Reddy's area.
A pin-point pass from Abbas find's skipper Thompson but he shoots it wide.
Your probably not going to see a worse miss this season! Lucky, lucky Phoenix....
5:13pm
Bright start and slow pressure building from the Phoenix
as they continue to press the visitors.
5:06pm
And we are back underway at Westpac Stadium as the Phoenix play
towards their favourite end of the ground.
Early corner for Herbet's side - Lia gets on the end but it goes straight to Kennedy.
4:52pm HALF TIME
It's half time at the Cake Tin and it is hard to separate the two
sides who are fighting with everything they've got to win this
clash.
It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, Herbert will make going into the second half.
4:49pm
YELLOW: Second yellow if the night given
to Newcastle's Jobe Wheelhouse - one minute of extra time
added.
4:48pm
Woah! The Phoenix are seriously let off
the hook as the defence falls asleep allowing Newcastle acres
of space - Tarekelrich Elrich fires forward to go one-on-one
with Reddy - but the heroic goalkeeper saves it.
4:43pm
There was almost another for the Phoenix as we edge
closer to half time.
Leo Berto's fires in a curling free kick, but Brown fails to get enough on it to blast it past Kennedy.
4:40pm
Well Tim Brown redeemed himself with a blinding goal to
put both sides on level terms.
Chris Greenacre passed the ball to Ifill who's first touch let him down, he then chested it for it to land at Brown's feet. Brown then slammed it into the goal for his 8th of the season.
Great work from the Phoenix!
YELLOW: The first yellow of the game has also been branded to D'Apuzzo after a cynical tackle on Lochhead.
4:38pm GOAL!
Phoenix 1 (Tim Brown 33") Newcastle 1
4:36pm
Tim Brown gives away a free kick as he fouls Adam D'Apuzzo - it
amounts to nothing, but it seems the pressure being piled on them
by the visitors is starting to affect the Phoenix.
4:33pm
The Jets are really hitting their stride. It's end to end
action and we have a game on our hands.
Ifill seems to have run off whatever was bothering him early on, which is great news for the boys.
4:29pm
The Phoenix bounce back as a beautiful pass from Durante
see's Manny Muscat fly into the visitors goal - but it is
expertly saved by Jets keeper Kennedy. The Nix may find this
man a hard one to get by.
4:26pm
One fears this writer may have spoken too soon as a rare
moment of lack of concentration from the Phoenix, and a ball
give away from Sigmund, see's Jets skipper Matt Thompson fire the
ball into the Phoenix net for the opening goal of the game. Liam
Reddy had no chance to get his fingertips onto that one!
4:25pm GOAL!
Phoenix 0 Newcastle 1 (Thompson 20")
4:23pm
First set play for the Jets as Abbas delivers a weak cross - but he
wins a corner as the ball comes off Muscat - it's fair to say
Liam Reddy is not seeing much action so-far
this afternoon.
4:18pm
The Phoenix are powering forward - with Bertos supplying
Tim Brown into the Jets box - but he is bullied off the ball
by Kantarovski who is defending well.
4:15pm
But there could be some bad news for the Phoenix as star
striker Paul Ifill looks to be limping slightly after a rough
challenge from Tarekelrich Elrich - Herbert will be keeping his eye
on his striker.
4:11pm
The noise coming from the crowd is almost deafening, and they are
no doubt making it hard work for the visitors, as are the Phoenix,
whose All White stars are showing no signs of tiredness
thus-far.
Corner from Bertos for the Phoenix, but it comes off Tim Brown for a goal kick.
4:07pm
It's all Nix's in the opening moments and it is almost a perfect
start for the home side
as Troy Hearfield blasts down the right to
put in a perfect cross - almost into the Jets net, but
it bounces off Ben Kennedy's knee to go out. So close, so
early!
4:06pm
Well it is kick off in Wellington as they Phoenix bid to reach
their first A-League Grand Final and keep their 18 game
unbeaten home record intact.
4:02pm
The Jets and the Phoenix have just walked onto the pitch
to rapturous applause from the crowd on a glorious day in
Wellington.
And as we can see from the Nix line-up, there is just one change for the homeside with Sigmund coming in for John McKain who is suspended.
3:49pm
With an estimated 35-thousand set to be in attendance, the fans
have flocked to the Ring of Fire as the Phoenix get set to take on
the Jets in this tense semi-final clash.
And as the sun shines the stadium is beginning to fill, with the forecasted wind and rain failing to appear.
Both teams have also been named and are as follows:
Wellington Phoenix: 4-3-3
Liam Reddy (GK) 2. Manny Muscat , 3. Tony Lochhead, 6. Tim
Brown, 7. Leo Bertos , 8. Paul Ifill, 9. Chris Greenace, 13. Troy
Hearfield, 17. Vince Lia
18. Ben Sigmund, 22. Andrew Durante (c)
SUBS: 5.
Diego Walsh, 11. Daniel, 15. Eugue Dadi, 20. Reece Crowther (
reserve GK), 23. Costa Barbarouses
Newcastle Jets: 4-5-1
1. Ben Kennedy (GK), 3. Adam D'Apuzzo, 4. Nikolai
Topor-Stanley , 5. Lgubo Milicevic, 6. Ben Kantarovski, 7.
Jin-Hyung Song, 8. Matthew Thompson (C ), 11. Tarekelrich
Elrich
12. Jobe Wheelhouse, 15. Sean Rooney, 26. Ali Abbas
SUBS: 9. Sasho Petrovski, 22. Kaz Patafta, 25.
Labinot Haliti, 29. Mirjan Pablovic, 30. Dion Shaw (reserve
GK)
