Rudan satisfied with point from Jets game
NEWCASTLE: A missed penalty in the dying minutes stung, but Wellington coach Mark Rudan knew a 11 draw with Newcastle was still a ‘‘huge result’’ in the race for the ALeague finals.
And with the Jets facing the added load of the Asian Champions League, the Phoenix was eager to ram home its advantage.
Wellington, still sixth, maintained an eightpoint edge over seventhplaced Newcastle with nine rounds to go in the fight for the top six, with an end-to-end draw at McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night.
Jets keeper Glen Moss stopped a Roy Krishna penalty in the 88th minute but it was one of many missed chances for both sides in a game in which Oliver Sail, a late replacement in goal for Phoenix, was man of the match and his Newcastle counterpart was not far behind.
‘‘It’s a big gap, eight points,’’ Rudan said.
‘‘Knowing that they are in the ACL now as well, it was important.
‘‘We obviously wanted to win the game and could have done so easily, but from a mentality point of view, that’s a huge result as far as we’re concerned because eight points is a lot of points to catch up there.
‘‘We’ve got a better goal difference as well. You could almost add a point on for that, too, if it is the same. So superb by the boys.
‘‘This is the last run home and the boys are eager, eager to get out there. They are fresh, there’s no injuries, apart from Filip Kurto.’’
The goalkeeper was a late withdrawal because of illness but Sail, as he had been in the 31 win over Sydney in round seven, proved an able replacement.
Phoenix and Newcastle now have the comfort of backtoback home games in the ALeague, but the Jets first have an ACL qualifier against Indonesian club Persija Jakarta at McDonald Jones Stadium on Tuesday night before hosting Melbourne City on Friday night.
Postgame, Jets coach Ernie Merrick said the changeroom was ‘‘like a morgue’’ and he questioned how his squad was going to recover for the two games given players were already ‘‘totally exhausted with all these midweek games’’.
He said the ACL commitments would make it hard to catch Wellington in the league.
Wellington hosts Melbourne Victory next Friday in round 19. — AAP