Bertos secures Phoenix a crucial win

A thunderous long-range strike from Leo Bertos secured victory for the Phoenix and kickstarted their season.

What a time to hit the back of the net.

Leo Bertos hasn't score many goals but you'd go a long way to see a better strike under pressure than the 30-metre thunderbolt that handed the Wellington Phoenix a crucial 2-1 win against Perth Glory at Westpac Stadium last night.

Just when it looked as though the Phoenix had dropped two points at home, Bertos stepped up to smack an 85th-minute freekick to seal three points for the Phoenix.

More importantly, it got their A-League season under way after a disappointing first-up loss at Newcastle, and takes some pressure off with difficult away assignments looming against Brisbane and Sydney in the next fortnight.

"I had a little think to myself `yeah, after the last few years shooting, is it wise to have a crack now?'," Bertos said of the strike.

"But I looked at the set up and thought `it's wet, anything can happen', and just had a whack. It took a slight deflection and just went in."

There were also positive signs for new import Paul Ifill, who capped an impressive first match at Westpac Stadium with a well-taken goal in the first half to get the home side on level terms after Victor Sikora had stunned the Phoenix early in the match.

"It was a very important game, especially at home," captain Andrew Durante said.

"The boys were gutted losing last week and if we didn't get three points here, pressure would've built, but this win will hopefully kickstart our season."

Coach Ricki Herbert was delighted to have got an early win under their belts, remembering the Phoenix took six rounds to get a three-pointer last season.

"Can performances be better around the park? I think so. Did we make mistakes? Yeah, we probably did. But we got the three points and it keeps the season moving on."

This was a much more composed and entertaining performance from the Phoenix than what they dished up against Newcastle, and going to a 4-2-1-3 formation gave them more attacking options with greater numbers getting forward and into the box.

They made the worst possible start, however, with the good crowd of 10,024 silenced in the fourth minute when Michael Ferrante was dispossessed and Sikora found himself through on goal. He comfortably slotted the ball past goalkeeper Mark Paston.

It stung the Phoenix into action with Bertos, Diego and Jon McKain looking lively in the middle of the park, and it was Bertos who provided the thrust to deliver Ifill with his first goal when the former Crystal Palace striker nipped in between defenders to power a header past goalkeeper Tando Velaphi.

Ifill had earlier had a thundering shot saved by Velaphi, and the Perth custodian was again called upon to save a rifling Ifill shot just before the break.

Perth had just as many chances as the Phoenix, mainly on the counterattack, but they lacked a killer punch.

There are still question marks over the Phoenix defence, which was opened up at times in the second half, and the scoreline could easily have been different had Perth not twice been denied by the crossbar.

In other second-round matches at the weekend, Shane Smeltz scored four goals in Gold Coast's 5-0 win against North Queensland, Melbourne and Brisbane drew 3-3, and Newcastle held Central Coast to a 1-1 draw.

- © Fairfax NZ News