Queensland 1
Wellington 0
KEY POINTS:
A stuttering first half and the failure to convert golden scoring chances in the second cost the Wellington Phoenix and pitched them back to familiar territory on the A-League table yesterday.
Poor defending handed Queensland Roar their only goal in the 1-0 win at Westpac Stadium and again dashed any hopes the Phoenix entertained of winning successive games.
From the time they handed the visitors a half chance after just 35 seconds, the Phoenix struggled for rhythm. Yet again they were guilty of needlessly turning over possession, forcing themselves to back pedal. And, when they did swing on to attack, the quality of ball played into the penalty area was without conviction and easily cut out by the Craig Moore-led Roar defence.
There was an air of inevitability as the Queenslanders took the 37th minute lead. From their second corner of the match - a smashing long-range Charlie Miller freekick deftly palmed away by Mark Paston - the ball was played short and then crossed to the far post from where unchallenged Josh McCloughan headed home.
Another Miller freekick went close as they maintained the pressure on a Phoenix side which showed only very rare glimpses of the quality of football needed to win at this level.
The halftime statistics underlined the Roars' advantage. They had 60 per cent of the possession, were clearly 8-4 ahead on shots and committed just six fouls to the 12 from the Phoenix.
Their ears obviously stinging from Ricki Herbert's halftime tirade, the Phoenix, with Leo Bertos on for Adam Kwasnik, were a revelation.
The intensity lifted. They closed the possession percentage, turned the foul count around and finished 11-9 ahead on the shot count.
But failing to convert any of those seven second-half chances - and two or three came down to simply weak finishing - cost the hosts dearly.
In nine games the Phoenix have managed just eight goals. Unless there is a dramatic turnaround, and this week they are off on a second testing trip to Perth, any good they managed in going unbeaten for three in a row, will be quickly forgotten.
In the dying minutes Leilei Gao got on the end of a superb Ben Sigmund cross but headed straight into Liam Reddy's hands at the near post, Bertos beat the offside trap but fluffed a cosy one-on-one with Reddy by blasting away and Shane Smeltz attempted a bicycle kick which flew high.
There was nothing fancy from the Roar. Simple but effective even if they had four players - including Reddy who "questioned" the linesman's call in waving Bertos on - booked by referee Peter O'Leary.
The Phoenix must go back to the basics. They have to be more direct with their passing and more clinical with their finishing.
In Sigmund, filling in at right back, they have found a trump. Paston was again accomplished in goal and apart from the lapse of concentration which led to the only goal, the central pairing of Karl Dodd and Andrew Durante did well enough.
But the failure to produce a full 90-minute effort cost them dearly. As it will again.
The Phoenix were spared further blushes when Adelaide United scored twice in as many minutes to beat Perth 2-1 at Hindmarsh stadium in late yesterday.
