McGlinchey grabs points

It may not have been as clinical as they would have liked, but the Wellington Phoenix have nabbed three points against the Central Coast Mariners.

The 1-0 win at a wet and windy Westpac Stadium last night started off well as Michael McGlinchey opened the scoring with his side’s first shot of the match, but the lack of finishing which has plagued the Phoenix this season remained.

It was all going so well in the ninth minute when McGlinchey, playing in his first game since November 5 due to injury, cut inside Mariners defender and All Whites team-mate Storm Roux on the left edge of the box before firing his shot past Paul Izzo at his near post.

Unfortunately for the 6061 Phoenix fans in attendance, the clinical finish was not a sign of things to come.

Jacob Tratt had three good headed opportunities from corners that he sent wide or over the bar, while Roly Bonevacia fired wide from 12 metres out just before halftime after getting on the end of a McGlinchey low cross.

Bonevacia may have been poor in that instance, but he looked a changed man filling in for Gui Finkler in the No 10 role.

Moving further up the park freed the Dutchman from defensive responsibilities and allowed him to show his creative flair, but it looks a temporary move only as Finkler gets back up to match fitness again after a week in Brazil for family reasons.

Finkler came on in a straight swap for Bonevacia 20 minutes from the end.

Kosta Barbarouses was another who failed to finish a chance for the Phoenix, ending good buildup play from his team-mates early in the second half with a shot that was comfortably saved by Izzo.

The Phoenix were fortunate that the Mariners offered very little throughout.

They struggled to keep possession in the conditions and failed to create any clear-cut chances, although they were better in the second half than the first. Not that that’s saying much. Mariners winger Fabio Ferreira provided brief glimpses of inspiration with his pace and incisive running, but his determination was not matched team-mates.

One of the highlights of the night was the McGlinchey-Roux battle on the Phoenix’s left flank, with neither giving an inch nor able to by many of his get the upper hand. Adam Parkhouse had the chance to kill off the Mariners with his first touch of the game after coming on for Shane Smeltz with 10 minutes to go, but somehow managed to fire both his first one-on-one shot from 12m out, and his follow up from even closer, straight at Izzo.

In injury time he also missed another one-on-one chance on the counter, although this one was much tougher with highbouncing ball. The misses summed up the Phoenix’s night, one where they should have won by two or three but will be relieved to have grabbed the three points. a