Plenty at stake as Nix head towards playoffs
Wellington Phoenix travel to Gosford to play defending A-league Men champions Central Coast Mariners in the biggest game of the season tomorrow night.
In fact, this might just be the biggest game in the football club’s 17-year history, other than finals fixtures.
It is the top-of-the-table clash and with only four rounds remaining, it could determine who wins the Premiers Plate at the end of the regular season.
If the Phoenix win, they will take a six-point advantage into the final three rounds, making them red-hot favourites to win their first premiership.
Lose, and Central Coast will overtake them as they would have won one more game and wins, not goal difference, is now the first tiebreaker when teams have the same number of points.
The Phoenix occupy No 1 spot but have the tougher run home of the two teams, rounding out the regular season with matches against Melbourne Victory (3rd), Newcastle Jets (11th) and Macarthur (4th).
Central Coast’s final three games are against Western United (12th), Adelaide United (9th) and Newcastle (11th) so it is imperative that the Phoenix don’t lose tomorrow.
This is nose-bleed territory for the Phoenix, who have never before held first place this late in a season, let alone finished top of the table or won a major trophy.
Their highest-ever finish was third, but that came during one of the Covid-19 seasons, in 2019-20, which meant they were not rewarded with a home playoff.
2009-10 remains the club’s most successful season. The Phoenix finished fourth that year and went on to win two matches in the finals series, only to be eliminated one match short of the grand final.
They have not hosted a home playoff since 2014-15.
New coach Giancarlo Italiano has been a miracle worker.
Nobody expected the side to finish this high after losing coach Ufuk Talay and key players like Oli Sail and Clayton Lewis.
In fact, most people predicted the Phoenix to contend for the wooden spoon after prioritising youth development.
The biggest reason for the Phoenix’s success this season is they have become an extremely tough team to beat, home and away.
No team has won more games (13) or lost fewer games (3) than Wellington this season. They also have the best defensive record, having conceded just 23 goals in as many matches.
A key factor has been the arrival of new assistant coach and former Socceroos defender Adam Griffiths, who oversaw a rock-solid defence at Western Sydney Wanderers last season too.