“I don’t think it was our best performance but overall, the boys worked hard,” Talay said.
“We could’ve been a lot better with the ball at times. In the second half there were some good counter moments that we had, but we made some poor decisions on the pass or the execution wasn’t good.
“But overall, (I’m) happy. We walk away with a point and continue to momentum of not being beaten since we’ve come back from the break.”
The Phoenix have now taken five points from three games after the A-League’s three-week break, ensuring they will sit in the top six at Christmas.
A fixture known as the distance derby due to the lengthy commute the visiting team has to take, the Phoenix not only had the issue of a long travel schedule, but also navigating their way through the Perth heat and the 12.30am NZ time kick-off.
Settling for their fifth draw from nine fixtures this season (two wins, two losses), the Phoenix have been consistently collecting points – solitary or otherwise – to sit in the top half of what has been a competitive campaign in the early going.
While Talay believed his side were capable of more than they displayed against Perth, there is reason to be pleased with the performance outside of a results standpoint given the players they had unavailable to them.
Ben Old (hernia surgery), Ben Waine (non-Covid illness) and Tim Payne (non-Covid illness) were all out, stretching the depth of the Wellington side as each of the three has seen consistent game-time for the team this season.
The import trio of Zawada, Bozhidar Kraev and Yan Sasse all appear to be finding their footing as well, linking up for the Phoenix’s lone goal in Perth after each found the back of the next in their 3-1 win over Adelaide at home last time out.
With the only change to the starting lineup this week being the absence of centre back Payne, Talay said being able to have some consistency in his selections was showing on the pitch.
“They’re slowly getting there, and this is probably the first time they’ve played in this heat,” he said of the team’s imports. “Back in Europe, you don’t get this heat so it would’ve been a different challenge for those boys tonight.
“The good thing we’ve had over the last three weeks is we’ve kept the same team. We’ve had some consistency.”
The side will return home for Christmas, before turning their attention to top-of-the-table Melbourne City in a double-header in Wellington on January 2.
The Phoenix Women were afforded some extra time at home for the festive season, after their scheduled clash away to Adelaide United was
The side were due to travel to South Australia on Boxing Day for their match the following day, but the mercury in Adelaide is expected to approach 40C on Tuesday and is forecast to still be in the high 30s for the 4:35pm (local time) kick-off.
Wellington Phoenix 1 (Oskar Zawada)
Perth Glory 1 (David Williams)
