Harry Ngata: Mature Phoenix ready for finals football

Tim Brown of the Phoenix celebrates his goal during the round 27 A-League match. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

The Phoenix put on a dazzling display in front of a record crowd in Wellington last night that saw them march into the finals with a truck load of confidence.

The Central Coast Mariners were no match for the home side, who booked a home playoff against the Perth Glory with an emphatic 3-0 win.

Westpac Stadium was once again the graveyard of many teams from across the ditch with the Mariners, who had only won one of their last 11 games, up against it from the first whistle.

After 59 per cent of possession in the first 10 minutes the Phoenix opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a customary Tim Brown header. Their tempo and intensity in the first half was in clear contrast to that of the Mariners who were playing for pride and lacked the bite to their game to foot it with a Phoenix squad chomping at the prospect of finals football. So dominant were the Phoenix in the first half that the ball only found its way to Liam Reddy on three occasions.

The Mariners were clearly affected by the loss of key players John Hutchinson, Dean Heffernan, Nicky Travis and Nik Mrdja and had to wait until the 42nd minute to register their first shot on goal.

For the Phoenix, Leo Bertos was preferred to Adrian Caceraes and combined well with Paul Ifill and Tim Brown, who along with Vince Lia and Manny Muscat were given far too much time and space in midfield.

In his last game in charge as coach before moving into an operations role with the club, Lawrie McKinna gave his side a serve at halftime which showed in the opening stages of the second half.

However the substitution of Daniel for Leo Bertos in the 77th minute spelled doom for the Central Coast. It was his alertness, run and cross after a free kick blunder by the Mariners that led to Paul Ifills' 11th goal of the season.

The Brazilian was at it again a minute later. His quick free kick caught the Mariners napping, allowing Ifill to weave his magic inside the six yard box to shoot hard and low past Danny Vukovic for his second goal and send the Yellow Fever into ecstasy.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the park Reddy kept is third clean sheet in a row. His performances in goal since his arrival have been nothing but brilliant, with the four-goal romp in Melbourne in round 19 being the only blemish. His presence has had a clear effect on the back line that were again efficient and rarely troubled last night.

A season record crowd of 14,327 witnessed a display of confidence and hunger that will need to be replicated next week. It's an exciting time for the club and football in this country but let's not get carried away. Yes they are currently one of the form teams of the league but football can be cruel.

A win can bring many emotions to the fore both on and off the park. These must be nurtured and channeled in the right areas if the Phoenix are to advance to the next round. They showed early on in the season that at times they lacked patience and composure to take chances, kill teams off and turn one point into three. One draw in the last nine games has proven that their performances have matured. They have earned the respect of their peers in doing so.

Who would want to come to Westpac Stadium to face a side unbeaten there in 17 games, having won 6 of their last 8 games scoring 14 times, let alone in front 20,000 plus screaming fans?

These stats are part of what make a championship winning club. Let's hope the stats favour the Phoenix next week.