WANDERERS 2 PHOENIX 1
Matchwinner: Wanderers striker Mark Bridge scores from the penalty spot. Photo: Getty Images
Five points clear on top of the league, a record-breaking ninth-straight win and a place in next year's Asian Champions League seemingly assured. There's only one thing left for the Western Sydney Wanderers this season.
This remarkable fairytale, unequalled in Australian football, perhaps in Australian sport, just keeps rolling. It's developed its own momentum, not only on the pitch, but in the stands.
Even though the NRL season is back, Parramatta Stadium has transformed into ''Wanderland''. The 15,809 attendance comfortably eclipsed the 13,351 present the day before for the Eels' season opener.
Tight tussle: Ben Sigmund of the Phoenix, left, competes for the ball against the Wanderers' Labinot Haliti. Photo: Getty Images
Interestingly, the visitors were the last-placed team. Yet Wanderers home matches have transformed into legitimate events. It's the hottest ticket out west.
''We've secured a top-two spot today and that's a great achievement for this club. We're very proud of that,'' coach Tony Popovic said at full-time. ''That secures us a home semi-final for these fans, and they thoroughly deserve to have a big game at this stadium.''
However, there wasn't more than a peep from fans early in the game as the Red and Black Bloc staged a silent protest against active fans being targeted by the FFA-employed security company, Hatamoto. With FFA chairman Frank Lowy watching - next to Bahrain's contender for the AFC presidency, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa - it was a good time to send a message.
In the seventh minute, instinctive cries for a penalty broke the silence as Tony Lochhead brought down Youssouf Hersi.
Replays confirmed that the All Whites' defender was unlucky as the pair appeared to reach the ball at the same time.
Nevertheless, that provided Shinji Ono with a chance from the spot. He sent Glen Moss the wrong way to put his side in front.
The quiet resumed, however, and it wasn't until the 20th minute that the noise returned. When it did, the whole of Parramatta would have felt the rumble.
It was a wonderful, spectacular sight - and a stark reminder of why the FFA must work with active fans. They are the A-League's greatest asset.
A minute later, Jeremy Brockie equalised at the other end, exploiting some slack marking from Nikolai Topor-Stanley to turn home Leo Bertos's low cross.
The ball movement from one end to the other was swift. Topor-Stanley even had to clear Ben Sigmund's header off the line at one point, indicating the Phoenix's appetite for the contest. In fact, the more time elapsed, the more the visitors looked comfortable. They strung together passes with an ease that wouldn't have impressed Popovic, while also finding room out wide. He substituted Ono at half-time for Dino Kresinger, asking the Croatian striker to use his physical presence up front.
''It was just precautionary. He had a bit of [hamstring] tightness,'' Popovic said of his Japanese international. ''He wanted to continue but you've got to trust the medical staff. We didn't want to risk anything.''
The hosts were handed another gift two minutes after the break when Vince Lia - for reasons only he will know - stuck his arm in the way of a harmless cross.
Referee Strebre Delovski didn't get this one wrong, and nor did Mark Bridge, slamming the penalty into the top-right corner to seal the win.
''All teams now will take a result over a performance, but you always want a better performance,'' Popovic said. ''Today wasn't our best, but in patches you could see some good football there. Hopefully we'll extend those patches of good play and keep that real resilience.''
Wellington plugged away in the second half but hardly threatened - except for one last-minute effort from Brockie, whose superb strike hit the bar.
''I told the players how proud I was of their effort,'' interim coach Chris Greenacre said. ''I'm delighted with the performance, just disappointed with the result.''
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 2 (Shinji Ono 8m pen, Mark Bridge 48m pen) bt WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1 (Jeremy Brockie 22m) at Parramatta Stadium. Crowd: 15,809. Referee: Strebre Delovski.
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