Western Sydney Wanderers 4
Wellington Phoenix 3
The Wellington Phoenix have been on the wrong end of a seven-goal A-League thriller, losing 4-3 to Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta.
A pulsating contest saw Wellington lead three times before being clawed back each time and eventually conceding an 84th minute winner. Among the many talking points was a first Phoenix goal for Israeli marquee Tomer Hemed, a disallowed injury-time equaliser from the same player and a sensational strike from midfielder Cam Devlin who wasn't even included in the original starting side.
With the scores level at 1-1 after half an hour, a Phoenix attacking move appeared to have broken down when a Reno Piscopo shot rebounded off a defender to Devlin thirty yards from goal. The nuggety midfielder chested the ball down and fired an absolutely brilliant strike into the top right-hand corner to notch his first Phoenix goal and enter himself into the conversation for the A-League's goal of the season. It was a breath-taking finish.
Devlin was originally named among the reserves but received a late call-up when fullback Louis Fenton injured a hip flexor in the pre-game warmup. The resulting reshuffle saw midfielder Alex Rufer shifted to right-back, and he was to have a hand in the opening goal, feeding the ball into Ulises Davila on the edge of the penalty area in the seventh minute. The Mexican exchanged passes with Reno Piscopo before producing an assured finish past advancing Wanderers goalkeeper Daniel Margush.
The home side squared the ledger midway through the half when striker Bernie Ibini muscled his way to the bye-line before lifting a cross into the path of young fullback Daniel Wilmering who fired a left-footed volley into the roof of the net for his first A-League goal.