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Wellington Phoenix snatched a 1-1 draw with North Queensland Fury in the battle of A-League strugglers at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Monday night.
A crowd of 5,107 braved the rain to see North Queensland lead for the majority of the game thanks to a Chris Payne goal in the 12th minute.
But Wellington’s Andrew Durante grabbed the equaliser in the 76th minute to lift his side one place on the ladder to seventh.
The Fury remained wedged in 10th position.
North Queensland got the start they needed with David Williams getting a perfect through ball to Payne who went one-on-one with Phoenix goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and found the back of the net after 12 minutes.
A hand ball by Wellington’s Ben Sigmund, just outside the 18 yard box on the half hour, gave North Queensland another chance but the free kick from Ufuk Talay drifted over the crossbar.
The Fury continued to dominate and Wellington’s Dylan McCalister blew an opportunity to equalise close to half time when, unmarked in front of goal, he fumbled a shot that was easily taken by home keeper Justin Pasfield.
North Queensland should have had their second in the 60th minute with both Mark Hughes and Panagiotis Nikas having shots at goal from right in front but a frantic Wellington defence kept the ball out.
The Phoenix responded in 76th minute with Ward making a break and getting a cross to Durante who smashed the ball past a diving Pasfield to equalise.
North Queensland Coach Franz Straka was pleased with his team’s performance despite the deadlock result.
“It was a great game. I was really satisfied with how we played,” Straka said post-match.
“We played with two strikers, very offensive and the battle between the teams was excellent.
“The boys did what they could and it’s a compliment to the team, they did very well.”
Straka believed his team could have had the opportunity to score several goals highlighting their problem of not being able to find the back of the net.
“We had a lot of chances and it’s a real shame because we didn’t score more.
“The problem is we don’t punish if we have some chances. This is the problem but we have to keep going. We have a couple of games left and we will try our best.”
Like Straka, Wellington Phoenix Coach Ricki Herbert tried to get something positive out of the result but believed they could have gotten the full three points.
“I think when we got the goal we were right on the front foot.
“We created a lot of good opportunities tonight and it’s a good point because it keeps us moving up the table but there was probably a bit more for us tonight.”
Herbert also praised the players from both teams in their performance in such wet conditions.
“I think it is a credit to the players tonight that the ground was very difficult to play on and it wasn’t a bad spectacle.”
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