Phoenix win Taylor-made

Wellington Phoenix have won for the first time this A-League season, and they have captain Steven Taylor to thank for it.

Taylor’s double act, scoring one and saving one, proved crucial as the Phoenix hung on to beat Brisbane Roar for a deserved 2-1 victory in Wellington last night.

The Phoenix were desperate a win after picking up just one point from their first five games, so much so that coach Ufuk Talay billed yesterday’s match as a final.

But while there is no silverware for beating Brisbane, the Phoenix will be relieved to get their campaign up and running, particularly after surviving a late rally from Robbie Fowler’s Roar.

Leading an unchanged starting 11, Taylor gave the Phoenix the perfect start on a gorgeous Wellington evening, climbing high to thump the ball past Roar’s Kiwi keeper Max Crocombe.

It was an extremely soft goal for the Roar to concede as captain Tom Aldred opted to put the ball out for a corner instead of clearing under pressure from Jaushua Sotirio.

It cost them dearly. Ulises Davila took a short corner, played a one-two with David Ball before whipping in a cross for Taylor, who headed home from closerange.

It was Davila’s first assist of the season, but there was more to come from the Mexican who thrived in a more central role behind lone striker Ball.

Davila doubled the Phoenix’s lead four minutes into the second 85’). HT: 1-0.

half, dribbling across two defenders before launching a fierce low-driven shot into the bottom right corner.

He was denied a second midway through the second half as Ball was offside in the lead-up but it was still a stellar performance from a player tasked with replacing Sarpreet Singh.

Moments after putting the Phoenix in front, Taylor was called upon at the other end of the field, producing a crucial goalline clearance to deny Jordan Courtney-Perkins after the 17-year-old’s shot had Stefan Marinovic beat. Given the narrow scoreline, it proved to be a crucial stop.

The Roar pulled one back with five minutes remaining, Stefan Mauk tucking away Brad Inman’s cut back pass but it was too little, too late.

Gary Hooper, who was included on the bench after returning from injury, was not risked. Instead Talay brought on Cameron Devlin, Ben Waine and Liam McGing to help the defensive effort.

The win, their first in six games, clearly meant a lot to the Phoenix players, who embraced one another on fulltime.

Wellington Phoenix 2

Brisbane Roar 1