Fans on their feet as Phoenix take flight

ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post

HEADSTRONG: Phoenix player Daniel and Melbourne's Matthew Kemp.

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If there are indeed 90 emotions, more than 14,000 Wellington Phoenix fans weaved their way through all of them at Westpac Stadium yesterday as the home side clawed back with two late goals to earn a 2-2 draw with champions Melbourne Victory in a pulsating A-League debut.

The record crowd of 14,421, which was boisterous throughout the match, was on its feet for the final 10 minutes, and gave the Phoenix a standing ovation after they flew home to share the points with the defending A-League hotshots.

"I've played in some fairly big games with some pretty big crowds but to play in front of a bunch of Wellingtonians singing for their side, I'll be honest with you, it sounded like we were in England," Phoenix captain Ross Aloisi said.

"It was the same atmosphere as an English Premier League game."

The fans first had to deal with a hesitant and nervous start from the Phoenix, who gifted possession away with needless long balls then struggled to contain Victory strikers Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp, who could have easily put the visitors out of reach after opening up the defence in the first 20 minutes.

The opening goal for Victory came in the 19th minute, a penalty to captain Kevin Muscat after Phoenix's Brazilian defender Cleberson, who struggled in the first half but played like a man possessed in the second, was pinged for a blatant handball in the box.

Phoenix rallied before halftime and were awarded a penalty themselves after Allsopp handled in the box, but Brazilian playmaker Daniel, who had an otherwise stellar match, hit the bar.

Chances to midfielders Michael Ferrante and Aloisi also went begging.

It was Allsopp, however, who finally found the target after an hour.

The big targetman beat goalkeeper Glen Moss, a late replacement for Mark Paston who was concussed at training on Saturday and will also miss at least the match against Central Coast on Friday, to put the champions in an apparent position of comfort.

But there were plenty of twists left in this one.

Sparked by substitute Brazilian midfielder Felipe, a torrid pre-season fitness regime under trainer Paul Emmanuel, and the crowd, the Phoenix ran Victory off their feet.

Daniel made up for his penalty miss by nodding home a Ferrante corner in the 79th minute, before industrious All Whites striker Shane Smeltz latched on to a Tony Lochhead cross and looped the equaliser past Victory goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos in the 84th minute.

The crowd erupted, and the Phoenix poured forward at all costs in the final minutes as they sought a dream winner.

And how close they came.

Substitute stiker Royce Brownlie hit the post and Smeltz's injury-time header shaved the crossbar.

"No disrespect to Melbourne, they are the champions, but we had the chances at the end to win the game," Aloisi said.

"But all in all it's a very happy day and I think the FFA has made the right decision to keep football here in New Zealand, and in Wellington."

Alosi said credit should go to management for the team's fitness, which played a major part in the final phase.

"I think that towards the end we showed we are a fit side, and mentally tough. I don't mean to compare the two but I think that's the difference between the Phoenix and the Knights."

"We have a never-say-die attitude and we are a fit side – I knew it would go down to the last minute," Aloisi said.

"We did pretty much everything to win the game tonight – that shows the character of the team," Aloisi said.

"We started of a little bit shaky in the first 20 minutes – whether it was nerves or the big crowd or Melbourne were up for a big fight, I don't know, but I thought we finished the game off pretty well."

Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert said the side had earned credibility by showing it could compete with even the best team in the A-League, despite being formed just months ago.

"I'm not sure you could've written a better script, outside of us getting three points," he said.

"If you put the result to one side, you're 2-0 down, you get yourself back into the game, and at the end you probably should've won.

"But I look at the response from the crowd, and that makes me satisfied. It is very early, but it shows we have the potential to be competitive."

He said he was more relieved than anything else to get the first match out of the way.

"The whole four months has been around the first game, but I think that's dead and buried now. We're going to wake up tomorrow morning and the start of a very good competition is there."

Victory coach Ernie Merrick was happy to get a point away from home, though disappointed not to have secured the match in the first half.

"To their credit they came back well and were a bit unlucky in the end not to get anything more than a point.

"We had our chances to punish them but we didn't. If we had, it would have been all over."

Muscat said: "They put up an unbelievable challenge. It's certainly not going to be an easy place for teams to come."
-with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News