It may not have had the goals of the Unite Round matchup between Perth and Wellington, but the Distance Derby of last weekend still delivered a hotly contested and close encounter.
The table topping Phoenix travelled west to face the in-form Glory; what would usually be a recipe for a high scoring contest ended up being a showcase of defensive rigidity at both ends of the field.
Interestingly enough, 23 shots were taken in both the 4-3 at CommBank Stadium and in the scoreless draw, but 12 shots on target compared to 4 was just one of the differences from this game compared to last.
The Phoenix came to HBF Park without Kosta Barbarouses and with Oskar Zawada and Bozhidar Kraev on the bench.
The Glory are a much more settled side now and took the fight to the weakened ladder leaders in the early stages.
Riley Warland started proceedings with a long range strike in the opening minute, flashing just wide of Alex Paulsen’s goal.
Chances were few and far between, but when they did pop up it was always Adam Taggart on the end of them.
A brilliant interception in midfield from Jacob Muir and a lovely through pass from Gio Colli looked to have set Taggart through, but Isaac Hughes did just enough to put the striker off and prevent a shot on goal.
Toward the end of the half Bruce Kamau managed to slip it to Taggart on his own and while the shot was on target, Scott Wootton was on hand to block it out for a corner.
The away side had the greater number of shots in the opening period but none were a real test for their former keeper Oli Sail in goal.
The Glory’s defensive structure was the most compact and solid it has been all season, completely suffocating the Phoenix attack whenever they got close to shooting range.
It was only when Kraev and Zawada came on just past the hour mark when the Phoenix began to muster up some scoring opportunities.
An early header of his was cleared away by Aleksandar Susnjar and then a 50/50 went the way of the Polish striker to set up a 2-on-1 break.
Benjamin Old outpaced Daryll Lachman and got a shot away, smashing the near post to spurn what was one of the best chances of the game.
Rounding out the Phoenix’s threats was another Zawada header late on which was saved expertly by Sail and a great opening for Alex Rufer which was cut out by Josh Rawlins at the last minute.
The young right-back has gotten better with each game and has filled the hole left by Johnny Koutroumbis’ injury very well. A couple of crucial clearances and a 100% tackle success rate to mark what so far has been a welcome return to his boyhood club.
The Glory subs didn’t manage to effect the game as they’ve done in previous weeks. Joel Anasmo had a quiet 20 minutes and David Williams wasn’t provided with a heap of service in dangerous areas.
Keeping a clean sheet for just the second time this season was the most positive takeaway from the evening and was well deserved given the effort of the players.
Lachman in particular had one of his strongest outings of the season, misplacing one pass the entire game, leading the way with blocks overall and had the most clearances of any Glory player.
Matildas in Paris
Australia’s most loved sporting side got the job done, finishing their Olympic qualification journey with a resounding 10-0 win over Uzbekistan in Melbourne.
A 13-minute burst of three goals in the away leg put the Matildas in a comfortable position for the sold-out clash at Marvel Stadium.
An own goal inside the first minute set the scene for what was to come and killed off any hope Uzbekistan had of getting back into the tie.
Michelle Heyman completed a hattrick inside 16 minutes andlooks a near certainty to lead the line when the team heads to France in a few months’ time.
She added a fourth in first half stoppage time to secure an 8-0 lead at the break, the same scoreline from the Philippines clash at Optus Stadium in October.
Hayley Raso and Amy Sayer added goals in the second half, joining Kaitlyn Torper, Caitlin Foord and Mary Fowlers on the scoresheet for the night.
The Wrap Up
Taking a point from the league leaders at home is a decent result, not one which will define the season. The next two are hugely important, facing the bottom two sides who are struggling for form.
The first of which is away against Western United, a side we are yet to come up against this season.
They were denied a win late on by Brisbane last Friday and will be buoyed by the return of star playmaker Daniel Penha, a man who caused the Glory plenty of headaches when he was at Newcastle.
Koutroumbis is still out but Mustafa Amini returns to the squad in a boost to the midfield stocks. Colli has been the only recognised central midfielder in the side the last two weeks, although Muir has stepped in alongside him when required.
The gap to sixth is seven points with nine games left to go; if there’s any chance of the Glory sneaking in, games like this have to be won.
About the Author
