Orgasmic...

As the Wellington Phoenix and their fans wander down the path of an uncertain future, there has never been a better time to believe in the often used cliche 'only worry about what you can control'. Skipper Andrew Durante said that football side of the club, the players and coaching staff, have been given the M.O. of controlling what they can control without paying too much attention to the external issues surrounding the club and on Friday night it wasn't just the players and coaching staff who played their roles to perfection.

The Wellington faithful, whether certified Yellow Fever or not, can only worry themselves with what they can control as well. Hence Friday night's 4-2 win over Adelaide inside the walls of the Yellow Castle was so fulfilling as 13,654 people turned out to support their club and to represent for all the Nix fans around Aotearoa who couldn't be there.

That and Roly...

That crowd was the third largest in the club's history and they witnessed (/helped) the Nix put in arguably their best performance of this season. Roy Krishna was immense after playing for Fiji and the absence of Michael McGlinchey was absorbed by the work of Roly Bonevacia, Jeffrey Sarpong and the hard-workers in the midfield.

Albert Riera had the most interceptions of either team with seven and with Andrew Durante grabbing six interceptions the Nix held down the middle of the field, as they should at home. But it was on attack where the team most flourished. Blake Powell had his best game for the Nix, while Krishna and Roly were just unplayable at times. Adelaide were not good at the back, not at all (goalkeeping most definitely included) but watching the Nix flood forward with such purpose and success was superb. Seeing Matt Ridenton get a goal off the bench was a pleasant addition. 

A couple spare words for Justin Gulley as well, who looks well within his depth after two games at this level, and also Glen Moss, who wasn't exactly safe yet had a quality game all the same.

Within the context of the club's predicament, this win over Adelaide was nothing short of momentous as the Phoenix responded to the pressure of a big game in front of their home fans strongly. Adelaide are sitting bottom of the table and had let in 10 goals in three losses leading up to this game, so the Nix should have won but the manner of this victory was a statement. Bear in mind that Adelaide scored first against the run of play and last as a consolation - the scoreboard was a little flattering.

'Controlling what you can control' is often lip-service, a cliche used to offer simplicity yet I haven't seen a kiwi sports club/team/franchise do so well at putting that cliche into action. The challenge facing the Nix is to back this up with another strong showing in Sydney on Saturday night against the Western Sydney Wanderers who, along with the Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets share 10 points with the Nix; a win could see the Nix climb up to third or even second.

It's a tough ask going to Sydney and bringing back point. While the clouds of uncertainty continue to linger above the Phoenix, the players and coaching staff will be solely focused on putting their best foot forward against the Wanderers. One week at a time and controlling what you can control, two cliches that should serve the Phoenix well as they continue to fight off silly buggers on this adventure.

If all else fails, we'll still have memories of Roly...