The game against Sydney FC was basically a freebie. The two best teams facing off but without any decent stakes to the contest. Sydney’s subsequent loss to Newcastle did make that restarter feel even more like a missed opportunity but statements-of-intent aside it didn’t really matter. For Welly Nix Title Quest purposes the proper resumption was this Perth game. Perth’s cheeky 1-0 win over Central Coast meant that they were only two points behind the Nix as the Distance Derby kicked off (at a convenient middle ground in Sydney) so any of the three distinct results would change the Quest pretty drastically. This is where it all got real.

And the Wellington Phoenix won, sweet as. A 2-1 win that is very easily split into two different performances within the same game – it was a weird one like that and I’ve got some theories – but which ultimately puts the Nix in the box seat for that second place on the ladder which will be a club record and also a massive boost in the WNTQ with that first round bye. It doesn’t matter how you get the points as long as you get them and this kind of victory isn’t exactly out of the wheelhouse for Uffie Talay’s Nix... this was their sixth 2-1 win of the season. Four more points from the final four regular season games will guarantee finals footy... but of course the WNTQ has much higher ambitions than merely participating.

The First 61 Minutes

A couple slight surprises to the lineup, with Gary Hooper given the start and Uli Davila left on the bench. Cam Devlin came back in at the expense of Alex Rufer while Callum McCowatt was also preferred to Jaushua Sotirio. Ben Waine dropped out of the squad entirely after starting last time. But as tends to happen with old mate Uffie his apparent gambles turned out to be strokes of mastery as Hooper and McCowatt combined for the opening goal half an hour into things.

A distinct plan very quickly emerged from the fog. Perth had their back three in place while the Nix were back in their familiar 4-2-2-2 with McCowatt and Piscopo on the wings offering them plenty of width to attack in behind those Glory wingbacks. And didn’t they just. This was the best that Callum McCowatt has ever played in a Phoenix jersey, he was incendiary. He’s played well for the Nix before but he’s never played this well, playing like he did for Eastern Suburbs, playing with such pace and directness and a newfound strength on the ball. Not all of it paid off but he was a continual threat. Just because a defender got a foot in at the right time doesn’t mean you haven’t frightened him onto his heels for the next time.

Meanwhile Perth had a lot of early possession but it was mostly all in front of the Phoenix’s lines. Lots of safe passes and keep-ball which very quickly fell to pieces when they got near the attacking third. That first forty-five in particular there much have been at least half a dozen passes that Perth hit directly to Phoenix players. That mass of possession limited what the Nix could do but it was non-threatening, bordering on boring. Then the Nix would win the ball and attack at speed and the game would brighten up.

Take a look at that first goal, so good. McCowatt does great work in defence to win the ball back and to secure possession with a one-two with Steinmann. Then with four purple jerseys – four of them – closing in and looking doomed to lose it... CMC hoofed one deep and over the top to Gary Hooper who ran through to score. This was where McCowatt hit that pass. He set up a goal with his very next touch from this position...

Once that ball hit turf downfield it was only ever a matter of whether Hoops had the pace to get onto it before Alex Grant. Which he did. And at that point it was all over. A big shoulder and a composed finish, the Phoenix with a lead that they’d take into the break.

After which Hooper was replaced by Davila in what was a hundy percent a pre-planned move to balance their minutes. The two fellas who joined the team last and who’ll need a tad more finesse in getting them up to scratch. It backfired slightly putting them both out there late in the Sydney game. But we also missed them when they weren’t there. This way one of the two most potent attackers that the club has would be out there for every moment of the match.

Tony Popovich made two half-time subs too. On came Jacob Tratt and Joel Chianese and hilariously it was those two dudes that David Ball chopped between less than two minutes into the second half to win a penalty which Davila slotted away no dramas. Twelfth goal of the season for him, after a seventh for Hooper and those two lead the way for the Nix (Ball has 6). Two goals up and even though there wasn’t another goal to show for it the next fifteen minutes was honestly some of the most gorgeous footy the club has played in years... perhaps ever. They were knocking it around with so much confidence, just flowing all over the place. Tricks and flicks and everything. It was Harlem Globetrotters footy. They were overflowing with pizazz. Champagne and caviar. *Chef’s Kiss*.

The Final 29 Minutes

Then this happened...

Bit of a deflection on the shot from Dane Ingham, a goal which came against the run of play but which completely changed the course. Immediately it was Perth who were the team feeling confident and the Nix suddenly couldn’t get a foot on the ball... and that’s the way it went for the entire rest of the game. From overflowing belief to clinging on with ten men behind the ball at most times. Eventually Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi came on in place of McCowatt with the Nix switching to a back five which only meant they sat even deeper but at least it meant an extra body between the ball and the goal. TAHW came up with three or four important interventions too, to be fair to him. I quite like him in a back three (been on the record since he was at Auckland City that I think centre-back is his best long term position).

God, it was a scrappy old finish. The game swung so completely in the opposite direction just when it looked like the Phoenix were in victory lap mode. Having said that, Stefan Marinovic only had a couple saves to make. The lads defended very well – sneaky massive performance from Luke DeVere here. Perth had a lot of ball but they didn’t translate that into clear cut chances even if the threat was constantly there for those 29 frisky minutes... helped immensely by the fact that Bruno Fornaroli was pretty average. Defs caught him on an off day... plus the lack of Diego Castro to supply that special touch to proceedings might have been the difference in the end. However you wanna slice it up, the Phoenix got the job done.

But why the drastic finale? Perth got better for one thing and it’s often true that when viewing things from one team’s perspective that the opposition’s context gets ignored. Listen to any grassroots coach doing a post-match speech and you know what I mean. But in this case fitness had to have been the major factor. No football since the middle of March and suddenly there’s a run of six games in four weeks. The entire back four had played ninety minutes on Friday night five days earlier, while Matti Steinmann had played 87 mins then and got 90 here. Even Cam Devlin who didn’t play last game with suspension, it doesn’t get any better for him because he was playing his first proper game in four months. It’s a good reminder that the depth of the squad is going to need to shine over this WNTQ, especially to ensure the lads are peaking for the playoffs – and one more enormous reason why finishing second and getting that first round bye is so important.

Steinmann definitely looked tired. He also picked up his eighth yellow card of the term so he’ll miss the next game and honestly I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was rested anyway. Alex Rufer was excellent against Sydney and couldn’t even get off the bench here. Cam Devlin, shout out to Cam Devlin because was outstanding in the first half and still very good in the second... but he did definitely fade. As you’d expect from a guy who covered as much ground as he did after a four month break. And the Nix in general worked very hard for those 61 minutes. Fullbacks pushing forward, lots of direct runs from the wingers, strikers getting around the place. It wasn’t fun watching them clinging on at the end without even an outlet target man to aim a clearance towards... but, well... *sigh of relief*.

A Few More Notes

Reno Piscopo has never played 90 minutes for the Nix. He’s started the last 12 games he’s been available for (there was that stint away with the Aussie U23s in the middle of that) but has been subbed off each time.

This was the first game all season in which Louis Fenton has been on the winning side. Five starts and five defeats prior to this one.

Cam Devlin picked up a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation in mid-March and ended up missing more than four months. Lol.

Add “Hudson-Wongy” to the list of example of Fox Sports commentators butchering Te Atawhai’s name.

Dangerous Dane Ingham

That’s two goals in two games for one of Anthony Hudson’s favourites... not bad considering he’d only played one game all season before the restart. It’s cool to see for sure although watching this little resurgence from the bloke (who is only 21 years old) did put into perspective just how far he’s slid down the All Whites ladder and just how silly it was that Huddo gave him such a boost in the first place. In fairness, fullback positions were always a mess for Uncle Tony and it’s an unluggy one for him that young fellas like Libby Cacace have flipped that drama on its head since he’s departed but even in those sparse days of yore having Dane Ingham start against Mexico and Portugal at the Confederations Cup looks rather rank in hindsight. And also contemporaneously. Yeah nah that was never a good idea.

Dane Ingham has six All Whites caps, four under Huddo and two under Fritz Schmid, and five of those games were defeats following a 2-0 win over Fiji on his debut. Back then Louis Fenton and Storm Roux were both going through injury troubles while Tim Payne has only recently been converted to right back but all three of those dudes are comfortably ahead of Dingham in the ranks nowadays. Not to mention convertable options like the Boxall Bros or even a bolter like Niko Kirwan. And with Danny Hay’s youth preference it’s possible that Noah Billingsley is ahead of all of them, particularly if he can acclimatise himself at MLS level before the Belgium game. (Dingham’s been playing left wingback for Perth but he’s got even less hope of challenging Libby Cacace, who was predictably superb once again vs the Glory).

No hate on Dingham though, hope he keeps banging them away and pushing his case forward. Mostly this is just a(nother) terrible reflection on Anthony Hudson’s selection madness. He did show big faith in Stefan Marinovic so that was a win for Tony but Moses Dyer’s slipped down the ranks. Clayton Lewis has work to do to stay afloat. Deklan Wynne hasn’t played for the All Whites since the Peru games. Themi Tzimopoulos’ international career is surely done. Kip Colvey has retired. Monty Patterson’s disappeared. To say nothing of the likes of Luka Prelevic, Harshae Raniga, Kayne Vincent, Liam Higgins, or Ben van den Broeck.

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