Soccer: Phoenix go down late to Mariners

Leo Bertos of the Phoenix runs the ball under pressure from Oliver Bozinac of the Mariners. Photo / Getty Images

Mariners 2
Phoenix 1

Former Phoenix player Troy Hearfield came back to haunt his old team-mates as he delivered the cross that led to the match-winning goal as the Central Coast Mariners claimed a 2-1 win in Wellington.

Hearfield's direct pass found the boot of Mariners striker Matt Simon, who tapped home from close range in the 81st minute to give the Australians a 2-1 victory.

Wellington tried their best during the final minutes to pull another goal back, but ultimately they were defeated by the same scoreline they lost to the Melbourne Victory by last weekend.

It marked the third consecutive week they had lost by only one goal.

Down on troops heading in to the game, the Phoenix were without regular centre back Ben Sigmund, who was suspended following his red card against the Victory.

Brent Griffiths, who was making his first start for the club after previously playing for the Perth Glory in the A-League, partnered Andrew Durante in defence and got through plenty of work.

Also missing for the Phoenix were Paul Ifill, Mirjan Pavlovic, Jimmy Downey, Vince Lia and Lucas Pantelis.

Herbert was forced to work with the bare minimum of 15 players for the game and the bench of Nicky Ward, Nikolas Tsattalios, Cameron Lindsay and goalkeeper Mark Paston didn't provide a lot of depth.

Central Coast came in to the game on the back of a 2-1 victory over Perth last week, which had ignited their season that had failed to get going during the first three weeks.

The first half didn't offer any highlights as both sides failed to assert their dominance on the game; chances were few and far between although Central Coast looked the more likely outfit.

They broke the deadlock early in the second half when Mariners striker Bernie Ibini latched on to a teasing cross from Simon and the forward managed to squeeze the ball under Phoenix custodian Tony Warner.

Ward entered the game in the 66th minute for hometown hero Leo Bertos and provided immediate impetus as the Phoenix sprung in to life and got on the scoreboard through Greenacre.

Manny Muscat returned from his one week suspension at right back in place of Tsattalios and looked dangerous throughout the game and was busy going forward but couldn't produce any late magic.

A windy Westpac Stadium made life tough for both teams as the keepers struggled with their goal kicks in to some stiff gusts.

As always the Yellow Fever supporters group were full of voice, but the fans were down on numbers with only 5090 in attendance, which could have been due to the cool weather or the rare Friday night game time.


CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 2 (Bernie Ibini-Isei 48m, Matt Simon 81m) bt WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1 (Chris Greenacre 69m) at Westpac Stadium. Referee: Gerard Parsons.