KEY POINTS:
If the Wellington Phoenix narrowly miss this year's A-League soccer semifinals they may well lament a lack of killer instinct in Saturday's 1-1 draw away to Perth Glory.
The Phoenix are still within sight of the top four but the slumped players' shoulders after fulltime indicated their desire to bag three points at home against seventh-placed opposition.
While it was a vast improvement on the 1-6 loss to Adelaide a week earlier, the Phoenix remain becalmed in sixth place with just six rounds remaining.
A dull affair burst into life in the second spell, with both sides going close before Glory striker Eugene Dadi thumped home a close-range volley 15 minutes from time.
Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown nodded home the equaliser from a goalkeeper deflection soon after and his side thundered into action over the closing minutes but to no avail. The same sort of ambition was needed earlier in the game but the hosts struggled for rhythm for long periods.
Coach Ricki Herbert said his side didn't play with the confidence needed to generate an attacking flow: "It's fair to point out that we were probably a bit tentative tonight, given that we'd come off being hit for six [goals] last weekend. Ultimately, it felt like a couple of points lost tonight to be fair. But at least we got something from it; other nights we might have got nothing."
Phoenix striker Shane Smeltz blasted wide when given a clear sight of goal on the half-hour while he muffed a gilt-edged chance from a stray back pass early in the second spell.
Herbert squashed a suggestion his side struggle when the league's leading scorer isn't on song. "It's hard to hang it on him every week. Other people in the squad contribute and Tim added his third of the season tonight."
Phoenix play another home game on Friday, against the in-form Central Coast Mariners.
- NZPA
