Phoenix 0
Victory 0
On his arrival in Melbourne on Monday, Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert said he would be happy to return home with four points from his team's two games in four days at AAMI Park.
Last night he left the ground with one of those points after a goalless draw with Melbourne Victory - the fifth draw in 10 meetings with the A-League heavyweights.
In a boxing bout the Phoenix would have been clear winners on points.
They hit the pitch running, and for 15 minutes dominated and - unlike other games this season - gained possession, turned that into a territorial advantage and asked early questions of Victory goalkeeper Michael Petkovic.
After riding that early storm the hosts picked up their game and gave ebullient Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez the chance to display his skills.
But, like his teammates, he was unable to seriously test the re-jigged Phoenix defence which re-united Andrew Durante and Jade North for the first time since their Newcastle Jets days.
Ben Sigmund, pushed wide to replace Troy Hearfield at right back and accommodate North centrally, took time to find his feet but settled to the role.
Petkovic was called on to make four saves from six Phoenix attempts, but his opposite Danny Vukovic was not asked to make a save from four wayward Victory attempts.
In the second half, the hard-working Phoenix midfield, led by former Victory player Nick Ward, continued to hold sway and give their front-runners at least scoring half chances.
The best fell to Tim Brown but he was just wide with his team's 11th shot in the first 70 minutes compared to the Victory's four - well down on their usual average of 14 a game.
After Greenacre and Ifill picked up yellow cards, Herbert went to his bench as he chased a game-breaking goal.
But he had to be satisfied with the one point, and will return to the same ground on Sunday to face league new boys Melbourne Heart and chase the other three he desperately wants.
