Oh, how things have changed in the space of 12 months. It was a year ago this week that the Wellington Phoenix made a statement in front of 15,000 fans at Eden Park by bouncing back from their worst loss of the season in Perth to beat Melbourne City and start a run of four wins on the trot. But just as they were hitting their stride and beginning to dream of playoff glory, the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear and the A-League was placed on pause for four months. When it resumed for a sprint to the finish in July and August, the Phoenix were living out of Sydney hotels away from friends and family, and were a shadow of their former selves as they failed to build on a record third-place finish and were sent packing in the first round of the playoffs.
Sydney FC continued their recent dominance over the Phoenix after All Whites striker Kosta Barbarouses found his finishing touch to score a well-taken double.
Football: Wellington Phoenix claim first win of A-League season as late goal topples Central Coast Mariners
31 Jan, 2021 07:05 AM
3 minutes to read
Wellington Phoenix 2
Central Coast Mariners 1
The Wellington Phoenix have produced a smash-and-grab to notch their first win of the new A-League season, beating the league-leading Central Coast Mariners 2-1 in Gosford.
Substitute Jaushua Sotirio was the man of the hour, latching onto a long pass from Alex Rufer in the dying moments and finishing with aplomb to secure his side three points that for large parts of the second half looked highly unlikely.
In a classic of the game-of-two-halves genre, the Phoenix were the better team for the majority of the first half, while their hosts completely dominated the second. Coach Ufuk Talay made two changes to the Wellington side that started last weekend s loss to Newcastle with Alex Rufer returning from suspension and Clayton Lewis also restored to the starting eleven.
Mark Birighitti – Central Coast Mariners
Birighitti has proved to be one of the most reliable shot-stoppers in the competition so far and the 29-year-old did not put a foot wrong while shutting out the Premiers to keep his third clean sheet in four games.
While he was only forced to make four saves – the highlight being a late block from substitute Jordi Swibel – Birighitti dominated his penalty area, fending off cross after cross and racing of his line to smother a number of through balls.
Birighitti - Mariners shot-stopper adamant on a clean sheet
Defenders
Ruon Tongyik – Central Coast Mariners