Two goals in the space of three second half minutes helped Wellington Phoenix defeat Central Coast Mariners 3-1 and move into seventh spot on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
The Phoenix welcomed back defenders Manjrekar James and Isaac Hughes into their starting XI but head coach Giancarlo Italiano was dealt a big blow just 11 minutes in, with goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi forced from the field due to injury.
Diving down to his right, the Phoenix shotstopper’s ankle appeared to get caught in the ground whilst he landed on the ball and was he clearly in some discomfort as he received treatment on the bench after being subbed off before then being picture in a moon boot.
Taking Oluwayemi’s place in goal was 18-year-old Eamonn McCarron and the debutant was called into action numerous times in the first half, especially when it came to sweeping behind his defence.
In what was a cagey opening stanza the deadlock was broken care of a mistake from the Mariners inside their own defensive third. Having seemingly played their way out of trouble, midfielder Alfie McCalmont then played a sloppy pass which went straight to the feet of Kazuki Nagasawa, and the away side were then in trouble.
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Now striding towards goal and with the Mariners defence backpedaling, Nagasawa slipped Corban Piper in on goal and the forward did the rest, slotting the ball beyond Andrew Redmayne to make it 1-0.
Despite going a goal down though the Mariners were still confident of clawing their way back into the game and they duly did so with what was the last kick of the first half.
Coming on in place of the injured McCalmont, substitute Miguel Di Pizio soon made his mark as he curled a low effort towards goal which was parried by keeper McCarron, but only into the path of the arriving Sabit Ngor who converted from close range to make it 1-1.
Less than a minute into the second half though and the home side restored their lead from the penalty spot; Mariners defender Will Kennedy penalised for a handball inside the box and defender James stepped up and slammed the ball beyond Redmayne to make it 2-1.
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Just three minutes later the Phoenix made it 3-1 and the Mariners were seemingly dead and buried at Sky Stadium. Caught on their heels at the back, the away side just couldn’t live with the Phoenix attack and Carlo Armiento was in the right place at the right time to slot home the third from inside the box.
The win moves Italiano’s side up into seventh on the ladder, with the Phoenix now just one point outside the top six.
As for the Mariners, Warren Moon’s side now drop to last on the ladder after suffering the fifth loss of the campaign.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Corban Piper opened the scoring for the home side in the 36th minute.
The Mariners levelled on the stroke of half-time through Sabit Ngor.
The Phoenix restored their lead from the penalty spot early in the second half.
Wing-back Carl0 Armiento then put the game to bed just three minutes later.
