Garry Hooper’s late goal keep Phoenix in third at A-League’s table

Phoenix needed to battle hard to draw against Brisbane Roar in Newcastle by 1-1. The Nix displayed good football during the clash, but its opponent also had quality to harm the defensive line led by Steven Taylor.

Roar started on top in the match pressing Phoenix, but the New Zealanders also had their spell of possesion in order to balance the encounter. The first good shot of the clash was from the Mexican Ulises Davila that almost surpassed the goalkeeper Jamie Young that was in a great night.

Roar had quality to disturb Stefan Marinovic, that was there to save an amazing finish from Dylan Wanzel-Halls. Both sides crated their chances, had their efforts, but the final result of the first half was 0-0 – something that kept the Nix in the 2nd place in the ladder.

In the second half, in a moment the team coached by Ufuk Talay had most of the ball possesion and created danger to Roar’s defense, it was exactly when former Australian international Scott McDonald hit from the edge of the box a magnificent shot that found the corner of Marinovic to put his side upfront in the scoreline.

Nix needed a goal to keep their place in the standings; imediately Alex Rufer was introduced in place of Matt Steimann in order to help in the build of plays to attack. Gary Hooper lost an incredible chance in front of the goal after a fantastic play by Liberato Cacace, but the same Hooper would equalize for the New Zealand side in the 82th minute of play: the same Liberato Cacace was found inside the area, he headed it to the bar, but in the rebound the Englishman made no chance to Jamie Young to equalize the clash.

Even with few minutes missing, both sides had chances to win the game: the team which got closest was Brisbane, through the effort of the substitute Matthew Ridenton that forced his All-White teammate Marinovic to make an amazing stop to keep the things leveled.

The result make the chances to get the 2nd place very slim for the New Zealand side, but they continue two points upfront Roar in the 3rd spot. Phoenix will have their final match in the regular season against Newcastle Jets next Thursday (13th Aug) to decide its fate in the postseason of the Hyundai A-League.