BILLED AS… Ross Aloisi’s chance to get redemption against his old club. Ross’ disappointment at being released from the Reds has been no secret and a lot of pre-game hype centred on the tough midfielder and whether he’d be going in hard against his old mates...

IN REALITY… He wasn’t a bystander, but Ross was fairly quiet in the encounter with a fantastic game being played out all around him. A see-sawing encounter inside a pumpin’ Westpac Stadium was the end-result but it had more to do with Felipe and Daniel for the Phoenix, rather than Ross. For Adelaide, they looked strong across the park but had worrying lapses that allowed Phoenix back into it deep into the second half.

THE GOOD… Felipe. For the second week running, Phoenix’s new star showed that he has a game complete with passing and individual skill. His headed goal might have been on the lucky side, but it was still pretty impressive considering at 172cms, he had to out-jump United’s taller men to get his noggin to it first. The crowd, which wasn’t the biggest, continued to make plenty of noise too.

THE BAD… Some of Ben Williams’ decisions in the first half were definitely on the dubious side. To his credit though, he did get his act together as time went on.

THE UGLY… Karl Dodd’s bloody head wasn’t the prettiest sight we’d seen on Saturday night! The Phoenix defender looked a little worse for wear after a head clash but, true to form, pressed on regardless.

THEY SAID WHAT… “It is a matter of swings and roundabouts and at the end of the year you tend to get your equal share of luck or no luck. We had some chances, there were some key things from the match that I’ll want to look at again, but sometimes those are the breaks.” Ricki Herbert gets philosophical.

THE FALLOUT… Adelaide suffered more from the draw having still not yet won a game. The Reds are sitting seventh on just four points and Wellington ends the round in sixth (on for and against) with five points. Melbourne, Queensland and Sydney also have five points.

Wellington Phoenix
Glen Moss (gk), Jeremy Christie, Tony Lochhead, Karl Dodd, Ross Aloisi (c), Shane Smeltz, Michael Ferrante, Daniel, Richard Johnson (Vaughan Coveny 86’), Steven O’Dor, Felipe (George Paladini 86’).

Bookings Ross Aloisi 88’

Goalscorers Felipe 64’, Shane Smeltz 87’

Adelaide United
Robert Bajic (gk), Richie Alagich (Isyan Erdogan 74’), Angelo Costanzo, Cassio, Kristian Sarkies (Lucas Pantelis 70’), Nathan Burns, Bruce Djite, Travis Dodd (c), Jonas Salley, Robert Cornthwaite, Diego.

Bookings None

Goalscorers Diego 69’, Bruce Djite 78’

MATCHRATING: 4/5