Merrick magic in Phoenix glory

Somewhere in the great Australian state of Victoria will be a relatively chuffed Scotsman.

Former Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick was known to relish every defeat of Kevin Muscat and his Melbourne Victory side.

What would have made his former team’s 3-0 win at AAMI Park on Sunday even sweeter was it was done using a variation of the gameplan he was trying to implement in Wellington before resigning in December.

Phoenix co-coach Des Buckingham said it was minor adjustments to the 4-2-2-2 formation and gameplan, and a touch of class in front of goal, which has seen them play the Victory off the park and hammer the Newcastle Jets 5-0 the week before.

‘‘We just tweaked a couple of things in the front two and we’ve asked the fullbacks to do a slightly different role,’’ Buckingham said.

‘‘We were playing this way at the start of the season, we were creating the chances but they just weren’t going in. That got us off to a poor start.

‘‘We’ve not gone back to it, but the players that we’ve got through the middle now with Michael Mcglinchey being fit and the four midfielders who have started the last two games, that’s our real strength in there.’’

What also helped was Roly Bonevacia firing in two wonderful strikes from outside the box in the first half. That made Melbourne chase the game in the second, leading to chances on the counter for the Phoenix.

Melbourne defender Alan Baro picked up a red card trying to stop one such counter and the Phoenix should have banged in two or three more late on, but had to settle for Shane Smeltz’s tap-in in the final minute.

Bonevacia’s up and down campaign is expected to end with him leaving the club at the end of the season, but Buckingham was understandably happy to have him hitting form at this stage.

Buckingham said as good as Bonevacia’s goals were, they came about because of the work done by the players around the Dutchman.

‘‘The workhorses if you like, Vince Lia, Alex Rodriguez and Gui [Finkler] in front of him, they allow him to be a bit more fluid and attack-minded, which is a role he enjoys more than the defensive side of it, although he’s done his defensive role very well the last couple of games.’’

The coaches have given goalkeeper Lewis Italiano something to ponder as the end of the season nears. The Australian’s contract is expiring and he was expected to leave the club to pursue first-team football elsewhere, but he started ahead of incumbent No 1 Glen Moss, who is also off contract and has been rumoured to be moving to a South African club in the offseason.

For Buckingham, it was a case of giving him a chance to impress after four years at the club.

‘‘Last week he stepped in and made a couple of good saves and we felt it was the right time to give him an opportunity on a bigger stage if you like, away to Melbourne Victory, to show if he could back it up, and he has.

‘‘I thought he was very good, I thought he gave us a good option with ball to feet playing out and he diffused some crosses in and around the 80th minute which relieved a lot of pressure on the backline.’’

There was also positive news on the injury front, with Buckingham saying claims from broadcaster Fox Sports that right back Matthew Ridenton had injured his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee appeared to be wide of the mark. ’’He’s jarred his knee.’’

The Phoenix are four points off the top six with two games to play and will play league-leaders Sydney FC at home on Saturday.