Phoenix chase second away win
‘‘There’s always a stat you can draw up to dampen the mood. The season is at a critical juncture, so I reckon it would be a good one to put right.’’ Tim Brown
Having addressed one frustrating deficiency with a last-gasp triumph on the Gold Coast, the Wellington Phoenix now confront another damning statistic as they plot to complete their A-league road trip with a historic victory in Newcastle on Friday night.
Relieved after securing their first away win of the season, courtesy of Tim Brown’s 88th-minute header at Skilled Park on Sunday night – the club’s only success on Australian soil since Adelaide United were also beaten 1-0 last February – Ricki Herbert’s squad now has a prime opportunity to remove a longer-standing blight on its record.
Since the Phoenix joined the A-league in 2007-08 the side has never recorded consecutive wins across the Tasman and breaking that sequence looms as a priority for the fourth-placed side, given they play six of their 10 remaining regular season matches far from the security of Westpac Stadium.
A foundation member of the club and its solitary centurion, Brown did not have long to bask in the glory of his match-winner against bottom-placed United before the squad set up camp in Sydney ahead of the round 16 meeting with the Jets at Ausgrid Stadium.
‘‘There’s always a stat you can draw up to dampen the mood,’’ the midfielder mused. ‘‘The season is at a critical juncture, so I reckon it would be a good one to put right.’’
Newcastle arguably present the plumpest target, considering future road trips feature runaway league leaders Central Coast and then Sydney FC next month, then a doubleheader in Melbourne against the Victory and Heart in early March before the Phoenix round out the regular season against the Mariners in Wellington.
The Jets languish second-last in ninth spot but are only three points shy of fifth-placed Perth Glory, underlining the slight margin for error.
The Jets, thrashed 5-2 when they visited Wellington on December 23, should be buoyed by a 1-1 stalemate with the Central Coast in their latest outing, ramping up pressure on the pre-game favourites.
‘‘If you’re serious about getting where you want to go,’’ Brown said, ‘‘it’s a game you need to get something out of.’’
Fortunately, Brown said, the squad, which left the Gold Coast without any fresh injury concerns, had the benefit of basing itself in Sydney before the short bus ride north to Newcastle on Thursday.
Training will be carefully managed during the Sydney stopover after a sequence of games against the Jets, Adelaide and Perth over the holiday period took its toll.
Those exertions saw workaholic Brown succumb to illness in the lead-up to the Gold Coast game and he revealed he almost didn’t have the energy to position himself for Daniel’s pinpoint free kick.
‘‘I was absolutely stuffed and the thought crossed my mind not to go up for it.
‘‘Then I thought about a television programme I had watched earlier in the day in which [Manchester United manager] Alex Ferguson talked about the importance of winning.
‘‘That made me get up there, and thank goodness I did.’’