Wellington Phoenix have recorded a solid 4-0 win over a depleted Newcastle Jets outfit this evening. The New Zealanders stormed into the top six, scoring three goals in the first half to bring the Jets' seven-game unbeaten streak to an end and getting their own season back on track.
Tim Brown headed home in the 17th minute after Paul Ifill was stretchered off with a knee injury but the absence of the Barbadian maestro did not stop the Phoenix pouring on the pressure.
Youngster Marco Rojas opened up his A-League account in the 30th minute to make it 2-0 before Chris Greenacre essentially wrapped up proceedings by adding a third just before the break.
The match was finalised when Dylan Macallister put the finishing touches on a dominant Phoenix performance by making it 4-0 in the dying stages.
A-League Week 19Wellington Phoenix: 4 (Tim Brown 17', Marco Rojas 30', Chris Greenacre 42', Dylan Macallister 88') Newcastle Jets: 0
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington Crowd: 6,053 Referee: Jarred Gillett Yellow cards:WP - nil NJ - Tomislav Misura 20'
Things did not start well for the Phoenix when striker Paul Ifill was stretchered off the ground after injuring his knee whilst shooting at goal in just the 11th minute. Chris Greenacre was his replacement and only six minutes after entering the field of play, he was involved in the opening goal.
GOAL Wellington young gun Marco Rojas made a jinking run into the box before playing in Greenacre who crossed it to the back post where acting captain Tim Brown headed home from close range.
GOAL The undermanned Jets were 2-0 down on the half-hour mark when Wellington took a quick free-kick where Greenacre, again involved, headed back into play from the back post allowing Rojas to volley into the back of the net from six yards.
GOAL And it only got worse for the visitors when Greenacre got himself on the scoresheet four minutes before the break. A corner fell to the Englishman who turned and volleyed past the keeper despite the efforts of the Jest defence who were close to clearing off the line.
Newcastle started the second half with an attacking mindset but the Phoenix were able to keep them at bay, the defence giving goalkeeper Danny Vukovic very little to do.
As the second half progressed, the match really fizzled out as the Jets continued to attempt to push forward but the home side were controlling things and managed to go further ahead with two minutes left in regular time.
GOAL Substitute Daniel released Brown down the left and the midfielder cut it back for Dylan Macallister who curled it around Matthew Nash to give the home side a superb 4-0 win, sending them into the top six.
Starting Line-Ups
WPDanny Vukovic (gk), Manny Muscat, Tim Brown, Leo Bertos (Daniel 67'), Paul Ifill (Greenacre 11'), Troy Hearfield, Jade North, Vince Lia, Ben Sigmund, Marco Rojas (Musa 80'), Dylan Macallister
Subs - Reece Crowther (gk), Chris Greencare (11'), Daniel (67'), James Musa (80')
NJ Matthew Nash (gk), Taylor Regan, Adam D'Apuzzo, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Tarek Elrich, Marcello Fiorentini, Marko Jesic, Ali Abbas, Francis Jeffers (Petrovski 70'), Tomislav Misura (Haliti 46'), Jacob Pepper (Patafta 46')
Subs - Ben Kennedy (gk), Labinot Haliti (46'), Kaz Patafta (46'), Sasho Petrovski (70')
