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Wellington Phoenix vs Newcastle Jets: A-League live scores, blog

27th January, 2013
Teams

Wellington Phoenix

1. Mark Paston
2. Manny Muscat
3. Tony Lochhead
6. Alex Smith
7. Leo Bertos
8. Paul Ifill
9. Benjamin Totori
10. Stein Huysegems
11. Jeremy Brockie
12. Tyler Boyd
14, Ian Hogg
16. Louis Fenton
18. Ben Sigmund
20. Glen Moss
21. Dani Sanchez
22. Andrew Durante (c)

One to be omitted

Newcastle Jets

1. Ben Kennedy
2. Scott Neville
3. Zenon Caravella
7. James Brown
9. Emile Heskey
11. Connor Chapman
12. Josh Brillante
13. Sam Gallaway
14. Taylor Regan
15. Craig Goodwin
16. Jobe Wheelhouse
17. James Virgili
18. Jacob Pepper
19. Michael Bridges
20. Mark Birighitti
22. Adam Taggart
23. Ryan Griffiths
25. Mitch Cooper
26. Andrew Hoole

Kick-Off: 2.30pm AEDT
Venue: Westpac Stadium
Referee: Ben Williams
Last Time: Newcastle 0-3 Wellington
History: Wellington 12, Newcastle 4, Drawn 1
Betting: $2.15 Wellington, $3.30 Draw, $3 Newcastle
TV: Fox Sports 1 (LIVE)
The Wellington Phoenix are calling for more patience in attack. (Image: AFP)
Roar Guru
27th January, 2013
61

A massive Australia Day weekend of football comes to an end across the ditch when the Wellington Phoenix host Newcastle Jets at 2.30pm AEDT this afternoon in what is looming as a must-win for Ricki Herbert’s men.

Barring a victory by 11 goals or more, Wellington will still be propping up the table regardless of the result.

However a win for the Jets would see them pull four points clear of the playoff chasers, a particularly handy lead to have considering they host Sydney FC next week, who are a point behind the Novocastrians.

I think it’s safe to say that the top four can all confidently punch their tickets to the finals, and that the remaining six are all still in the hunt for those final two spots. So with that in mind, any contest between two of the league’s stragglers is laden with intrigue at this time in the year.

The old saying is ‘things can only get better’, but that’s never been more true than with the Yellow Fever this week after they were completely and utterly blown off the pitch by Sydney last week – a 7-1 thumping which saw the mercurial Alessandro Del Piero grab a stunning quadruple.

The Jets head into this one on the back of a less than memorable bore draw with arch-rivals Central Coast in the F3 Derby.

But as underwhelming as that game may have been, the visitors have now not conceded in their last three starts, including a win over the defending premiers.

It seems likely that there will be goals in this one, because as miserly as Newcastle may have been in recent times, their hosts haven’t played out a scoreless draw all season.

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In fact, only two games have yielded less than two total goals for Wellington, including a stunning 3-0 at Hunter Stadium in the first meeting between the two clubs.

So there’s a lot on the line for both of these teams, and now is the time to start racking up some points to give your finals push a shot in the arm. Should be an exciting contest.

Join us just before 2.30pm AEDT for all the line-ups, formations and team news.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @TheMattBungard

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