Wellington Phoenix 1 – Melbourne Victory 2
It took four games to score but when they finally did, Melbourne Victory got a wonderful strike from Archie Thompson. The A-League’s all-time leading scorer got things going for the Victory after a difficult first half and led ultimately to a more open and focused attack from the visitors. Dani Sánchez led the way for Wellington at Westpac Stadium, creating chances for himself as well as the likes of Leo Bertos while defender Tony Lochhead again provided fine service, only to see shots by Sanchez and Tim Brown go begging. Despite dominating the first forty minutes, Wellington suddenly found themselves behind after Thompson’s cut-back drive into the box and lifted shot to the far post. Ben Sigmund, who had played admirably in defense for the Phoenix, was sent off in the 66th after taking down Thompson in the box. Carlos Hernández buried the resulting penalty, sending the Victory ahead 2-0. Sanchez pulled one back on a terrific one-touch shot in the 71st but Wellington could not figure out a way past Ante Čović over the game’s final twenty minutes. The Victory could have made it three but another Thompson goal was called back due to Marco Rojas being offside.
Gold Coast United 3 – Newcastle Jets 1
At Skilled Park, Gold Coast United were worthy recipients of three points as Maceo Rigters dominated Newcastle Jets in Gary van Egmond’s return to the touchline. The Dutch recruit scored his first goal for United in the 11th minute before just missing on two more blasts before a half-hour had passed. The Jets had nice chances of their own with Ruben Zadkovich missing just wide and Jobe Wheelhouse stoned by Glen Moss before the 30th minute. Ben Kennedy’s error just before the hour gave the home side the lead as the Jets’ goalkeeper could not hold on to Peter Jungschläger’s free kick, allowing Kristian Rees to score from the rebound. Wheelhouse got Newcastle on the score sheet with a goal in the 68th minute from a Ryan Griffiths free kick, but after Rees hit the post, James Brown scored his third goal of the season to finish off the game for the hosts. Though only 2974 were on hand for the game, United showed again that they may yet have a case for remaining in the A-League, at least based on their on-field performances.
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