Newcastle Jets 0-1 Wellington Phoenix: Ifill Sinks Sorry Novocastrians

It was another goal for the former Palace man - and another poor performance by Culina's side.

Nov 22, 2009 8:01:03 AM

Paul Ifill, Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix (Getty Images)

A Paul Ifill goal was enough to give the Wellington Phoenix a 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia Stadium this afternoon, a result that leaves the latter in second-last place on the A-League table.

A record low crowd added to an inept attacking performance by Branko Culina's side, while many of Ricki Herbert's men backed up from their World Cup heroics in Wellington last week.

Indeed, the Phoenix took the lead after a sharp start to the game, their resident All White representatives perhaps carrying momentum from their historic qualification.

It took the visitors just 14 minutes to open the scoring through irrepressible striker Paul Ifill, who got ahead of marker Ljubo Miliecvic to stab home Tony Lochhead’s cross.

In truth it was perhaps the only notable highlight of a first half in which Newcastle failed to break down their opponents at all, despite having possession at regular intervals in and around the Phoenix penalty area.

Too often though they were met by a rock solid central defensive pairing consisting of Andre Durante and Ben Sigmund, the latter particularly impressive.

Even the invention of Korean playmaker Song and the fielding of a three-man strike force consisting of the aforementioned import and Labinot Haliti and Sean Rooney wasn’t enough to fashion a clear-cut goal-scoring opportunity for the Jets.

They were fortunate not to have fallen two goals behind just after the restart as well, Ifill again proving too sharp for his markers.

The former Crystal Palace striker again got in front of Milicevic, this time meeting a Leo Bertos cross a wonderfully deft flick that forced goalkeeper Neil Young to tip the ball smartly over the crossbar.

Bertos then tested Young again on 62 minutes with a low, bouncing effort from outside the box that the ‘keeper did well to divert past the post, before Haliti forced a rare save from Paston, though it was a comfortable one at his near post after the striker was released by a clever Fabio Vignaroli ball.

It was the type of service that simply wasn’t consistent enough from Branko Culina’s side, who were equally ineffective from set pieces.

Credit though must go to a hard working Phoenix side who made good on their promise not to allow World Cup hangover to affect their performance, though they survived two late scares to grab a precious three points as they continue to shape up as genuine finals football contenders.

Paston first produced a save on the line from a relatively weak Haliti header from an 89th minute corner, before marquee man Fabio Vignaroli somehow contrived to miss the chance to rescue a point for his side in the final minute of injury time.

Substitute Kaz Patafta produced a sublime reverse pass to release Matt Thompson in the area, his square ball across the face of goal cutting out ‘keeper Mark Paston, Vignaroli sliding in but diverting the ball past an empty net.

Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com

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