Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets Player Ratings

It was messy but Mark Rudan is off to a winning start in his debut match as a manager of the Wellington Phoenix as they defeated last season's grand finalists Newcastle Jets 2-1.

WELLINGTON PHOENIX

Filip Kurto - 7

Tipped over an audacious volley from Dimi Petratos to keep the match scoreless while at times he could have caught and held the ball he chose to punch instead. A miraculous save as Kurto tipped Boogard's header onto the bar.

Tom Doyle - 5

Caught out of position as Jair went in one-on-one early in the match, lucky for him the Brazilian failed to hit the target.

Andrew Durante - 6

Gave chase to Jair who went through one-on-one and did his best to put the Brazilian off. It was a solid performance from the veteran skipper.

Steve Taylor - 6.5

Taylor got onto the end of Singh's back post free-kick and headed across goal as Georgievski headed into his own net.

Louis Fenton - 5

Never threatened when hitting the by-line on the right flank as he went up against Daniel Georgievski and when he had the opportunity his deliveries were poor.

Mandi - 6

A lot of hustle in pressing Vargas and closing down his opportunities to turn and face forward. A rather pleasing performance for Mark Rudan from his new recruit.

Sarpreet Singh - 6.5

The flair that Wellington relied on opened up a few avenues to goal for Wellington in the first half. His set pieces to Taylor at the back post caused Newcastle many problems considering the height the Jets have in defence. Out the ball in the end but not before handling it with his forearm.

Alex Rufer - 6.5

Got back in time to block former team-mate Matthew Ridenton's shot off the line on 30 minutes. A decent performance as the tempo raised and Newcastle surged for an equaliser.

Liberato Cacace - 6

A quiet match from the youngster who played out on the left flank. Didn't see too much of the ball and didn't get himself into good positions until moments in the second half saw him deliver some dangerous crosses.

Roy Krishna - 6.5

Smashed a shot into the side netting for Wellington's first meaningful attack around 11 minutes into the match. Used his pace to get in behind Boogard and set up Williams for his shot that lead to Singh's goal that was ruled out by the VAR. Krishna had his penalty saved but followed up on the rebound to make it 2-0 to Wellington.

David Williams - 5.5

Involved in build up play quite a bit however he wasn't in many positions to make an impact to finish some of Wellington's build up. Set up Cacace for the volley but the youngster scuffed the chance. Should have buried his chance in the leadup to Singh's cancelled goal.

Substitutes

Mitch Nichols - 5

Nichols came on for his 220th A-League match taking the field for his 5th A-League club.

Max Burgess - 4

Burgess got his feet mixed up and should have put Wellington two goals up moments after coming on but his hesitation cost him.

Nathan Burns - N/A

Brought on in stoppage time.

NEWCASTLE JETS

Glenn Moss - 6.5

No doubt Moss was getting frustrated by Wellington's encroaching tactics on corners and set pieces although he handled himself well he could do nothing about Georgievski's own goal.A good save from the penalty but couldn't react quick enough for the rebound.

Jason Hoffman - 6

A delightful ball set free Jair who couldn't capitalise early in the match. Hoffman supplied another great cut-back to Ridenton who's poor finish was blocked.

Nigel Boogard - 4

Cleaned up well as Wellington attempted to play direct but his passing deteriorated as the game wore on and was dispossessed a number of times.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley - 5

Provided great cover with the direct balls in behind his defensive partner but got caught in the sunlight as Roy Krishna dashed past and hit the side netting.

Daniel Georgievski - 4

Was doing everything right until he comitted to heading Taylor's cut back which ended up in his own net.

Lachlan Jackson - 4.5

Poor distribution put Newcastle under more pressure once they conceded which was deadly against players like Krishna and Williams.

Matthew Ridenton - 4.5

Lost possession but hustled to win it back and nearly finished the move but his poor finish prevented newcastle going a goal up.

Steven Ugarkovic - 5

Passing play was neither here nor there as Dimi Petratos dropped deep to find some touches on the ball.

Ronny Vargas - 5

Some moments of brilliance freed the feet for Newcastle to drive forward which is something they struggled to do in the first half.

Dimi Petratos - 6

Terrific one touch play with Ugarkovic stretched the packed Wellington defence and almost sent Newcastle a goal up 15 minutes in. Petratos and Vargas were having to come deep to get the ball making themselves work harder to penetrate Wellington's five-man defence. A blistering counter-attack finished with a thundering consolation goal for Newcastle.

Jair - 4

Ballooned his first clear cut chance at point blank range in the sixth minute after being played through by Jason Hoffman. It was overall a poor debut from the Brazilian who looked lethargic.