Football 101: How to fix the Phoenix Central in control as Patels spin a web

Resilience. Leadership. Desire.

Three things which two Wellington Phoenix club stalwarts say need to be brought back if the club is going to return to finals football.

And that’s not from two former players on the outside looking in. That came from captain Andrew Durante and interim head coach Chris Greenacre.

At this point of the season, a forensic examination of their 13th loss of the season at Spotless Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night is not really needed. They competed well with the Western Sydney Wanderers in the first half, going into the sheds at 1-1, but were a clear second best in the second to lose 4-1.

What does need to be examined is where to from here?

Greenacre, who played for the club from 2009-2012 before becoming an assistant coach, said after the loss a harder edge was needed in the squad.

‘‘I was part of a team that made the finals three years consecutively and the togetherness and desire we had as a group of men together - we probably didn’t have as much ability as teams around today - but we had an inner desire to turn results around.

‘‘There were certain results looking back that we really needed.

‘‘[There were games] we really needed, we must win it to keep our finals hopes alive and we had a resilience to dig in and be able to do that.

‘‘I’m sure with the right guidance

and the right personnel there is no reason why we can’t get back to that.’’

Durante has been at the club for 10 years, with this season their worst for on-field results.

On Friday, he spoke about what made the Phoenix special back in Greenacre’s playing days.

‘‘I think back then it was a group of men, it was a group of hardened professionals that knew their place in the game and knew their roles really well.

‘‘We probably weren’t the easiest on the eyes at times, but we were really difficult to beat and we had a really strong culture.’’

He also talked about what he would like to see improved next season, hinting that he might be back for another campaign, even though he will turn 36 in May.

‘‘We’re probably at a transitional stage now, there are a lot of younger players inside the group, I think maybe there are only three players over 30, where before we had a lot of really senior players in the squad that knew the game and were quite hardened professionals.

‘‘We’re trying to build that. There are some good young players coming through that we’re trying to get the culture to carry on through.’’ A record-breaking opening stand was about as good as it got for the batsman during yesterday’s Plunket Shield action as spin dominated at two venues.

Central Districts moved into a commanding position against Auckland at Eden Park Outer Oval, enforcing the follow on after left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel made light work of their tail on his way to a five-for.

At University Oval in Dunedin, Wellington spinner Jeetan Patel did the damage, taking 7-105, although he was unable to prevent Otago establishing a handy first-innings lead.

And at Cobham Oval in Whangarei, Northern Districts openers Daniel Flynn and Henry Cooper went massive, putting on 278 for the first wicket to have their side well placed against Canterbury.

But Central are the side closest to getting a result.

The Aces had started day three at 144-5, but Patel had them all at sea, picking up four of the last five wickets as Auckland crumbled to be 204 all out. Patel’s final figures were 5-42.

Central skipper Will Young enforced the follow on, which looked a good decision when Patel picked up another three wickets, alongside Blackcap Ben Wheeler also picking up a pair of wickets to have Auckland precariously placed at 152-5 at stumps.

Flynn and Cooper had a day out to remember in Whangarei. They resumed on day three at 81-0, but were quickly into their work as they put on another 197 runs in quick time before Flynn was dismissed for 157. Cooper followed seven overs later for 136, their 278-run stand breaking

Canterbury 193 and 141-2 (Chad Bowes 93) met Northern Districts 409-4 dec (Daniel Flynn 157, Henry Cooper 136, Bharat Popli 65no).

Wellington Firebirds 194 and 107-1 (Luke Woodcock 47, Michael Papps 45no) met Otago Volts 289 (Jimmy Neesham 93, Anaru Kitchen 64, Neil Wagner 40; Jeetan Patel 7-105).

the Northern Districts record for highest opening stand by four runs.

Opener Chad Bowes steered Canterbury out of trouble, stroking 93 before getting out caught behind down the legside. His side reached 141-2 at stumps, trailing by 75 runs.

Day two at University Oval was a back-and-forth affair between Otago and Wellington.

Otago resumed at 80-2. Wellington had Otago struggling somewhat at 153-5, but 93 from 111 balls from Jimmy Neesham meant Otago would eventually get to 289, a lead of 95.

The evergreen Patel took his seven wickets as his side bowled 56 overs of spin in the 84-over Otago innings.

Wellington openers Michael Papps and Luke Woodcock then set about reducing the deficit, getting through to 100-1 at stumps with only the loss of Woodcock for 47.