The Wellington Phoenix rounded out their A-League preparations with a draw against Auckland City at Westpac Stadium yesterday.
The Phoenix have enjoyed a solid pre-season but were unconvincing yesterday. Playing a team who resumed training only two weeks ago, the Phoenix struggled to click on attack and possession was often frittered away. Auckland City's pressing strategy also made life difficult for the hosts.
"I don't think we played our best but it's been a hard week of training and you have to give credit for the way they closed us down," said Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick.
There were positives. New Dutch striker Jeffrey Sarpong got through 60 minutes and Australian trialist Troy Danaskos capped an impressive display on the left side of defence with a well-taken goal.
Earlier, Auckland City striker Emiliano Tade, who has recently returned from his brief sojourn in Argentine professional football and was probably the best on the field, opened the scoring after 15 minutes.
