Phoenix 2
Heart 0
Ricki Herbert gambled by reshuffling his pack last night, and it paid off as his Wellington Phoenix returned to their winning ways with a Paul Ifill-inspired victory over Melbourne Heart.
Before the kick-off at Westpac Stadium Herbert played what became his trump card.
In a midfield reshuffle Simon Elliott went to allow for Tim Brown's return and Manny Muscat switched from left back to central midfield. Troy Hearfield swapped from right to left back with Jade North in at right back. On attack Daniel was given a rare start, Chris Greenacre headed to the bench and, most tellingly, Ifill was handed the central striking role.
Accepting that responsibility, Ifill, with those two second-half goals, emerged as the ace.
From the outset the Phoenix showed their intention to take the game to the visitors, but the early half-chances they created and some heart-stopping hesitancy in the Heart defence in the end came to nothing as Melbourne's goalkeeper Clint Bolton was spared the blushes.
The game became another midfield arm wrestle with only sporadic genuine scoring chances. The best fell to visiting Brazilian Alex Terra in the 37th minute when the Phoenix defence was split apart by Adrian Zahra's pin-point through ball. Terra's woeful finish did not test Mark Paston in the Phoenix goal.
The tale of the tape in what was a cagey affair revealed little in the opening 45 minutes. Four attempts by each - two on target for the home side who had slightly more possession - and just one Heart corner.
The second half opened up a little as both teams chased the game-breaker.
Ifill was wide with an early attempt from a Daniel pass, but there was more venom in the Heart with Terra on the end of another two superb defence-splitting passes. Paston saved well.
The battle within the battle - between Heart captain and central defender Matt Thompson and Ifill - then took centre stage with Ifill emerging a hands-down victor.
Thompson was booked in the 56th minute for a foul on Ifill. Five minutes later Ifill provided the finishing touch to a hardly-flattering opener. Ten minutes on, another Thompson foul on Ifill, brought a second yellow - then a red - card. Within two minutes the visitors were made to pay again.
Substitute Nick Ward's first touch found Brown who fed Ifill. A second touch and Bolton was turning to retrieve the ball from the back of the Heart goal.
Ifill continued to chase a first-ever Phoenix hat-trick but was thwarted despite his non-stop workrate.
The only down side for the home side was the late yellow card for Ben Sigmund - his fifth of the season which will sideline the hard-working defender when the Phoenix chase victory over another Melbourne side, as the Victory roll up on Saturday.
