Wellington Phoenix 1 Perth Glory 1
KEY POINTS:
The Phoenix's playoff hopes took a dive after Perth Glory earned their first away point of the season in Wellington last night.
Perhaps it was asking too much of the Wellington team to win a week after they had just suffered a club record 6-1 defeat in Adelaide.
But the Glory had lost all six previous away games this season, scoring five goals and conceding 20.
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert obviously thought last week's team were up to the job, given that he retained nine of the outfield players who started the drubbing in Adelaide last Friday.
The sole change was made only because guest player Fred was back in Brazil due to the death of his father. His team-mates wore black armbands as a mark of respect.
It was a frustrating night for the 6,362 fans at Westpac Stadium, with Wellington lacking the clinical finishing required to take all three points.
When Eugene Dadi gave the Glory the lead from close range with 15 minutes remaining, there were fears the Phoenix may come away empty-handed.
But Tim Brown rescued a point in the 82nd minute. Daniel curled in a shot, keeper Tando Velaphi saved but only succeeded in deflecting the ball up for Brown to head home Wellington's first goal in 262 minutes against the A-League's most generous defence.
That spurred the Phoenix into a frenetic final 10 minutes but they couldn't conjure a winner. Leo Bertos came closest when his 88th-minute shot was pushed on to the crossbar by an outstanding save from Velaphi.
But it seems if Shane Smeltz doesn't score, the Phoenix can't win, such is Wellington's reliance on the striker's goals.
Smeltz squandered a great opportunity early in the second half. You'd have wagered the house on him scoring No 10 of the season when he swooped on a back pass but he blasted his shot against the crossbar from six metres out.
Which was a shame because aside from that glaring miss, he was again Wellington's best player going forward. He's unhurried, almost nonchalant on the ball but almost every time he gets it, he's a danger.
Around the half-hour mark, Smeltz beat three players and fired a shot just wide, which was the closest either side came to scoring in an uneventful first half.
That near-miss prompted chants of: We love you, Smeltzy, we do.
He may be abandoning his admirers in a matter of months but the Yellow Fever faithful can't help but enjoy his skills while they still can.
Too often, his team-mates were not on the same wavelength.
The play on the wings was sometimes over-elaborate or failed to result in a quality cross. Smeltz clearly lacks a midfield foil - a Gerrard to his Torres.
Perth have a quality striker of their own in Nikita Rukavystya but he also deflected his best chance on to the crossbar from six metres out early in the second half.
That was one of the Glory's rare threatening forays and Herbert must have gone home a frustrated man, knowing a win would have taken his team into the top four, even if only for a day.
By tomorrow, the Phoenix could be four points off a playoff spot with six games remaining.
