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A determination by the Wellington Phoenix not the ruin Andrew Durante’s 200th match for the club may have been behind their 2-1 win over Melbourne City.
Coach Ernie Merrick believes the dogged backs-to-the-wall effort to derail the high-flying visitors at a windswept Westpac Stadium was down to a desire not to let anyone down.
“That was for Dura and for the crowd,” he said.
Playing in front of their home fans for the first time since the club was granted a conditional 10-year licence, the Phoenix were up 2-0 inside 15 minutes after strikes from Louis Fenton and Michael Ridenton.
With no natural strikers to call on, the young pair were thrust into the frontline and repaid the coach’s confidence.
“We scored two good goals in open play,” said Merrick after two pinpoint crosses were seized upon.
“It was top service – just perfect. That’s the way we do it at training.”
They also trained on how to counter the twin threat of City striker Bruno Fornarolli and midfield linchpin Aaron Mooy and succeeded in limiting their influence.
“We’d done our homework and the boys stuck to the game plan, and that was the pleasing thing – everybody did their jobs.”
A deflected Mooy free kick managed to get past Moss and another set piece hit the crossbar, while Durante was fortunate to escape without conceding a penalty after tangling with Fornarolli.
“I think Glenn Moss made one crucial save, one on one, and, apart from that, he didn’t have much to do.
“I think we had 11 players up for it.”
Alex Rodriguez kept Mooy under wraps, while Dylan Fox restricted the influence of Fornarolli, who wasn’t able to add to his 17 goals this season.
With the pair subdued, City’s attempts to unlock the defence proved fruitless and Merrick could reflect on a game where things went their way – for once.
“It was an unusual match for us. We didn’t have a penalty against us, we didn’t have a player sent off and I don’t think we’ve got any players injured,” he quipped.
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