wellington phoenix v newcastle jets, a-league minor semi-final (7 march 2010) »
The last Phoenix home match of the season, no matter the outcome, and the biggest crowd ever for an A-League match in Wellington: 32,792.
And, appropriately, it was a tense yet ultimately satisfying match between the visiting Newcastle Jets and the home lads. Billed as the "Minor Semi-Final", the winner of this match goes on to face Sydney FC next weekend, with the winner of that match going through to the grand final against Melbourne.
Despite dominating for most of the match and looking the more likely team, the Phoenix were held to 1–1 after normal time by a determined Jets team. The Phoenix, however, pulled away in overtime to win 3–1 and ensure a fairytale end to what's been a fantastic A-League season in Wellington.
40 photos
wellington phoenix v perth glory, a-league semi-final c (21 february 2010) »
For the first time in the Wellington Phoenix's short history they have made the finals of the A-League competition.
This match was a must-win for both the Phoenix and their opponents, the Perth Glory. Consequently it was a hard hitting match and not for the faint-hearted.
Locked 1–1 after both ordinary and extra time, the Phoenix finally prevailed in a penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper Liam Reddy proving to be the game's hero, saving two Glory penalty attempts.
44 photos
wellington phoenix v central coast mariners, a-league round 27 (12 february 2010) »
Needing a win to cement fourth place in the A-League and gain a home semi-final, the Phoenix came out firing on all cylinders, their unlucky opponents being the Central Coast Mariners.
A first-half goal to Tim Brown and two second-half goals to Paul Ifill meant that the 3–0 win was enough to book them a home semi-final against Perth Glory on Sunday, 21 February.
27 photos
wellington phoenix v north queensland fury, a-league round 23 (15 january 2010) »
The weather couldn't have been much worse, but for the Phoenix, the football couldn't have been much better.
Needing to win to establish themselves in the top six, the Phoenix did that by beating the North Queensland Fury 3–0.
33 photos
wellington phoenix v brisbane roar, a-league round 22 (9 january 2010) »
In their first home match (at Westpac Stadium) for over a month, the Wellington Phoenix looked to push their finals aspirations with a win over the Brisbane Roar.
Thanks to the inspired mid-season signing of ex-Perth Glory and ex-Côte d'Ivoire player Eugène Dadi and the two goals he scored, the Phoenix achieved their win in style, 3–1.
23 photos
wellington phoenix v melbourne victory, a-league round 17 (4 december 2009) »
The Wellington Phoenix were looking to make it a record-equalling fourteen home matches unbeaten when they took on the Melbourne Victory at Westpac Stadium.
It wasn't going to be easy for the Phoenix. They were coming off a loss the previous week, 4-1 to the Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium. And it didn't help matters that this week's opponents were top-of-the-table.
Helped by the Victory being reduced to 10 men (after defender Nick Ward was sent off for his second yellow card near the end of the first half), Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown scored in the 57th minute to take the Phoenix to a 1-0 lead.
Despite being a man down, the Victory fought hard, and had the upper hand in the last 20 minutes, eventually managing a well-executed equaliser in the 86th minute. The scores stayed 1-1 to the final whistle.
The Phoenix will be pleased with their unbeaten home run, but they really let this one slip from their grasp.
31 photos
new zealand v bahrain, asia/oceania world cup qualifier (14 november 2009) »
For the first time since 1982, New Zealand had the chance to make it through to the biggest sporting event in the world, the Football World Cup.
Standing in their way was Bahrain, looking to become the smallest country ever to reach the finals. In this home and away series, the All Whites travelled to Bahrain to eke out a 0–0 draw in the first match, mainly thanks to Bahrain's inability to score goals despite a rash of opportunities.
The permutations, due to the 0–0 draw in the first match, the away goals rule and the raw Wellington weather, made for a fascinating match: if New Zealand won, we were through; if Bahrain scored a goal and drew or won, that's it, they were through; a nil-all draw got us to extra time and penalties.
In the end, a powerful header by All Whites striker Rory Fallon just before half time made it academic. Although it did take a miraculous penalty save from 'keeper Mark Paston to keep Bahrain scoreless.
New Zealand's 1–0 victory means they will travel to South Africa in 2010, and Bahrain will travel back home wondering what might have been.
98 photos
wellington phoenix v perth glory, a-league round 14 (8 november 2009) »
Fresh (or maybe not so fresh after a quick turnaround of four days) from their 3–0 drubbing of the Newcastle Jets, the Phoenix hosted the Perth Glory for the second time this season.
The Glory were just one place above the Phoenix on the league table (fifth v sixth). A win by the Phoenix would put them comfortably within the top six.
Unfortunately, despite a number of opportunities, the Phoenix found themselves a goal down after 70 minutes, and were staring down the barrel of their first home loss in twelve matches.
But the goal against them just goaded them on, and they finished much the stronger team: brilliant midfielder Paul Ifill equalised in the 82nd minute, and they continually peppered the Glory goal with shot after unsuccessful shot.
The match ended at 1–1, with the Phoenix knowing they were this close to another win.
32 photos
welllington phoenix v newcastle jets, a-league round 10 (4 november 2009) »
It's just like me to miss the Labour Day six-goal annihilation of Gold Coast United. I'd be happy with seeing even half that number of goals at a game.So I was pretty happy I got to Wednesday night's 3-0 thumping of the Newcastle Jets. Even though it probably should have been 4-0 but for a great penalty kick save by the Jets' goalie.
This game was actually from round 10 of the competition, even though the next match for the Phoenix is a round 14 match. Some vagaries in the timings of the rounds have meant that there will be a few games played out of sequence like this by a number of the teams.
24 photos
wellington phoenix v central coast mariners, a-league round 8 (27 september 2009) »
For the second week in a row, the Westpac Stadium hosted a Phoenix home match, this one against the Central Coast Mariners. And for the second week in a row, a draw was the result. No goals were scored by either team, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Oh, and I managed to have my camera set to the wrong settings for over half the match. D'oh! So, most of these photos you see here have quite a bit of motion blur in them. Not that that's a bad thing — it may even be a good thing — but I thought I'd let you know.
48 photos
wellington phoenix v north queensland fury, a-league round 7 (20 september 2009) »
Photos from the Wellington Phoenix vs North Queensland Fury at Westpac Stadium on Sunday 20 September. Finally, I get to photograph something in good light. (Well, it was good until about 20 minutes to go when the stadium shadow crossed the pitch.) For 93 minutes the Phoenix looked good for another home win. But then, with seconds remaining, the Fury snuck a set piece through the Phoenix defence for the draw, 1-1. The Phoenix looked like they'd lost the match afterwards.
49 photos
wellington phoenix v perth glory, a-league round 2 (16 august 2009) »
Photos from the Wellington Phoenix versus Perth Glory match at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The Phoenix won the match 2-1 in drizzly conditions.
40 photos