Wellington coach Ricki Herbert had to be dragged away from his Sydney counterpart John Kosmina tonight after he took exception to a comment following the New Zealanders’ 2-1 A-League upset win.
“I just said he got a lucky decision,” Kosmina said, referring to the penalty decision that decided the game.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes, I don’t care, he and I used to fight with each other when we played against each other, nothing has changed”.
Herbert, who was a defender for New Zealand when Kosmina was leading the Socceroos attack, said he was disappointed with Kosmina’s comment.
“John and I go back 15 years, I thought it was a bit disrespectful to me and the club,” Herbert said.
“I don’t have that approach, I don’t take that approach. For me, at the end of the day, it’s water under the bridge. We’ve kicked each other around the pitch for 10 years.”
Shane Smeltz converted an 89th minute spot kick after Sydney captain Tony Popovic handled his cross.
Phoenix lifted themselves off the bottom of the ladder and moved above Perth and Newcastle into sixth spot.
The upset result completed an NSW double for Phoenix, whose only previous away win this season was against the Central Coast Mariners.
The loss cost Sydney the chance to draw level on points with pacesetters Melbourne and Adelaide.
It was their first home defeat of the campaign, but they have now accrued just two points from their last three engagements at home.
Sydney looked as if it might escape with a point after midfielder Stuart Musialik’s speculative 30 metre shot in the 77th minute somehow eluded Wellington goalkeeper Mark Paston.
Leo Bertos gave Wellington a 1-0 lead when he powered a near-post header past Sydney goalkeeper Ivan Necevski following a perfect right-wing cross from Tim Brown in the 34th minute.
While Kosmina was pleased with the way his team fought back after trailing, he was disappointed with their overall effort.
“That was by far our worst performance across 90 minutes this season,” Kosmina said.
Herbert made it clear Wellington had always intended to let Sydney settle and was delighted with the way they executed their tactics.
“I think we got it right tonight, I think the game plan was right, the players certainly executed it,” Herbert said.
“We had hungry players, we had a little bit more legs around the pitch and we didn’t want to let them settle,” Herbert said.
He praised leading goal scorer Smeltz for applying himself after the news that the striker would head to the new Gold Coast franchise next season.
“The best thing he could do was play well and score and he’s done that,” Herbert said.
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