Nothing Quite Like That First Welly Nix Win Of The Season, Aye?
There’s no such thing as a must-win game in the sixth match of the season but after four straight defeats to start things and five games without a win and coming back home after a bye week to face a Brisbane Roar team that’s just as young and transitional as the Phoenix are... this is as close to a must-win as there gets this early in things. Even Uffie said so, unfortunately going as far as unleashing the old ‘cup final’ cliche (no league game is like a cup final unless there’s literally a trophy on the line).
Anyway, guess what? They won! No, seriously, they really did. The Wellington Phoenix finally got that first win of the new season at the sixth attempt.
It’s been a long time since we last supped from the golden goblet of victory. April 21st it was, as the Nix beat Melbourne City 3-2 at home with a starting eleven that featured just two players still at the club (Taylor & Rufer). It was only seven months ago but it feels like a generation has passed since then and, in the context of this football club, perhaps that’s true. The Nix have had plenty of positives to their first five games but the inability to get anything much to show for it has been increasingly frustrating. This game against Brisbane Roar... not exactly the perfect performance. But that’s exactly why it was such an important one. The Nix flashed a few sighters of some incredible quick-passing attacking footy and they also flashed signs of a team feeling the pressure of a winless start. But you could see the relief of those first three points in the players as the final whistle blew. Alex Rufer damn near punched a couple holes in the clouds.
Brisbane have been so notoriously slow starting this season that they still haven’t scored a first half goal so the Nix knew this was a game they could seize advantage of at home with a positive start. That’s just what they got with those front four starting to link up beautifully... although the tenth minute goal they scored came from a cheeky old set piece rather than a flowing attacking move. Won by Sotirio putting a bit of pressure on (if memory serves) and then a short corner routine led to a sitter of a header from Steven Taylor. You could see he was gonna score before he’d even jumped, a couple jumbled up defenders at the back post not even challenging and that’s a hearty breakfast of berries and oats for Stevie T. Too bloody easy, not even kiwi international Max Crocombe had a chance to stop that one.
Thus for the second game in a row the Phoenix were able to spend a good amount of time playing from in front, not chasing the game but actually controlling it. They couldn’t hold that lead away to Melly Victory two weeks ago but here against a weaker opponent they were able to do so. For reference, the Nix held the lead for six total minutes through the first four games of the season. They’ve led for 141 of 180 minutes over the last two.
One thing that’s really helping this Nix team settle into things is the consistency of selection we’ve see from Uffie. Some of that is down to a lack of depth but it’s also about keeping guys fit and fighting. Keeper Marinovic, centre back partnership of Taylor and DeVere, midfield combo of Rufer and Steinmann, and also key attacking forces Davila and Ball have all started every single game. Callum McCowatt and Jaushua Sotirio have started five of six and were subbed on at half-time of the other one. Libby Cacace only missed two games because of suspension. And even Ben Waine, shout out to the young fella, couldn’t trade his double for the WeeNix into a start here but he’s sneakily come off the bench in every single game so far.
But yeah there were some sloppy moments for sure and if Stevie T’s goal was a bit of a sitter for somebody of his quality, his goal-line clearance soon after was brilliant and worth a goal in itself. The Roar should have broken that first half scoring duck and then some and that’s a bit of where the Nix were feeling that pressure. Chuck in some poor finishing from the Roar and it was clear that, just like last game, it was imperative that the Nix scored a second goal if they were gonna win this thing. It took a little while but finally Ulises Davila slammed in a beauty early in the second half and the Nix only had to close this one out.
That task got tricky as Stefan Mauk put one away with five minutes to go but out came the time-wasting techniques, David Ball showing great awareness to take the ball into the corner and keep it there, eating up a chunk of that stoppage time, and while there wasn’t a highlight reel stunner of a save from Big Stef in this one his command of his penalty area was as good as it’s been this season. Those combinations, that communication, those partnerships really beginning to flourish at both ends. The Nix got home 2-1 and you can breathe again. Three points and the Nix are immediately up into that chunky battle for sixth place, no harm done (too early to put much focus on the table though).
Right, so what have we learned from all that? The main lesson is that thing about continuity and combinations. This is almost a completely new squad with a new manager but already we’ve seen a core group of players emerge as leaders on the field. We’re a long way from that hypothetical perfect ninety minutes yet you can see how things are taking shape. The way that front four were able to combine in little moments was extremely exciting... the kind of exciting footy we had high hopes for from this group of players but hadn’t seen enough of prior to the bye week.
Guys like Ball and Sotirio desperately need a goal to show for it all but their build-up play was pretty great here. For Ball, I still suspect we won’t see him at his best until he’s got Gary Hooper (unused sub here, no need to risk him with the lead) next to him as a focal point, allowing Ball to be more of a secondary guy. At the moment he’s playing with Sotirio who is a wonderful player outside the penalty area and a terrible one inside it – bit awkward for a striker but you can’t hate on his final ball or his poor finishing without appreciating his superb work in getting into those positions. Maybe he’ll get in on that Nathan Burns secret sauce and when one goes in he’ll get on a roll. His career numbers don’t suggest prime goal-scorer potential but that’s fine because he’s also a bit of a placeholder with still Hooper to come back into prominence – Super Hoops has only played 59 minutes since he signed – and there shall be no sleeping on the potential of Ben Waine either. Let’s not ignore that Reno Piscopo recently did a bit of this for the Aussie U23s either, matey...
Callum McCowatt was subbed off pretty early against Brissie which was almost certainly to do with preserving him after the All Whites trip. Tim Payne has been on a few more of those tours than CMC though, he’s a bit more of a veteran at that level (definitely by current All Whites standards) so no need to rest and he threw down another challenge to Louis Fenton’s incumbent status with a damn fine effort at right back. He defends so well for a guy who wasn’t even a defender until recent years. Both in one on one situations, crucial for a wide defender obviously, and also as part of a unit. The latter still needs work and there were a few times he was too keen to drift inside and leave his areas unguarded but Fenton has his issues defensively too. Like I’ve written a few times, there’s no right answer between Payne and Fenton. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. But Tim Payne has definitely made it a question - at international level as well as A-League level. Danny Hay’s raved about him and now Uffie’s raving about him.
This was also the best that Alex Rufer has played all season. He was superb in disrupting that Brisbane midfield and also being a conduit in the Nix attacks. Still can’t shoot as we saw a couple times but he was a little bit of everywhere against the Roar which is what we wanna see from Roof - you shouldn’t even need to ask who it was that played a brave ball forward through the lines to Davila’s feet leading to the second goal. Steven Taylor also had an excellent first half, while David Ball seemed invigorated by the extra week of training as his movement and decision making was back up where it needs to be for an import striker – just a shame he isn’t a yard quicker or he’d be an absolute nightmare. Without that pace his effect is more limited... but a solid game from him all the same.
But the star of the show was Ulises Davila. Considering how piss poor he was in the opening game of the season, looking like he might need a few weeks to settle into this league as a new import, he then immediately figured things out and has been the Nix’s best attacking player probably every week since. He’s scored in four games already. Two were penalties, sure, but four goals in six games for a team that has only scored seven in total is amazing. Davila’s more than a goal-scorer though, he’s pulling strings and everything. They were doing that thing again with Davila defending further forward, effectively swapping roles with Sotirio when the ball is in the Nix’s half which has the intention of protecting Davila’s sketchy defence (and exploiting Sotirio’s immense work rate) but it also means Davila can come looking for the ball when the Nix transition into attack and he can do so with players running past him. It’s beautiful. It’s a work of art. Just wait ‘til the Nix eventually get to the stage when they can exploit teams on the counter.
This game also saw a return of the legendary Shirts Off in the crowd. The Nix made things sweaty even without the extra layers on by conceding late but when you’re not used to that winning habit those are the things that can happen. And the Nix wasted more than their share of chances to have killed the game off ages before that. That doesn’t matter though. What matters is that they won, regardless of how, and now the season can truly begin.
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