Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert was rewarded for the faith he showed in his team while Sydney FC were punished for a lack of patience as the New Zealanders sprung a surprise 2-1 A-League win at Westpac Stadium.
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Winless at the bottom of the league after five rounds, the Phoenix crafted a major upset after falling behind to an early goal.
With the scores tied 1-1 at the break, the Phoenix’s uncompromising defence and enterprising midfield play was rewarded when Tim Brown planted home the winner after 76 minutes.
“I think there’s a lot of belief in this group, and today was a real testament to the boys,” Herbert said.
“I had a lot of faith in them, a lot of belief in them and today they really stood up for a cause after a difficult period. It was great to win at home, great to win for the fans.”
The Phoenix had scored only three goals from five games before Sunday’s match, for two draws and three losses, and Herbert said there was still plenty of work to do.
Herbert made a swathe of changes from the team who suffered a drab 0-1 loss to Perth Glory last week, forced to some degree by injury and illness.
Sydney took advantage of this early working the ball well through the midfield, with Steve Corica constantly finding space to pressure the Phoenix defence.
Right back Shannon Cole also caused problems for Wellington, particularly from set play, and it was his ball into the box after 20 minutes that Alex Zealanders latched on to unchallenged.
Brosque’s looping header floated over the reach of `keeper Mark Paston and the Phoenix were back in familiar territory, a goal down and on the back foot.
But with Leilei Gao providing some extra midfield spark, the Phoenix found an extra gear in the closing minutes of the first half.
Tony Lochhead slotted in a pinpoint cross for Smeltz, unmarked at the near post, who climbed high to head the ball past Sydney goalkeeper Clint Bolton in the 42nd minute.
The Phoenix came out strongly in the second half, but it was an innocuous challenge from Coveny two minutes into the spell that provided the most heart-stopping moment for the 7000-strong home crowd.
Referee Peter Green brandished the red card to widespread disbelief before realising his mistake and showing the more appropriate yellow card.
The Phoenix kept pushing forward until Brown, his head bandaged after an earlier clash with Sydney striker Brendan Santalab, left an unsighted Bolton sprawling and secure an unlikely lead.
Wellington kept attacking in the final stages, then held on for three long minutes of extra time for the win.
Sydney coach John Kosmina admitted his side relaxed after scoring the opener.
“We were almost too dominant,” Kosmina said.
“We talked about it at halftime – we got a bit too comfortable and stopped doing the good things and the simple things well.
“We started to mess about a little bit – a little bit too cute for want of a better description.”
“I think we were trying to force things at times as well. We just needed to keep the simple things ticking over and you eventually break a side down that has numbers behind the ball.”
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