Phoenix coach stands by decision

Wellington Phoenix midfielder Mandi was not just encouraged by coach Mark Rudan to return home for the birth of his child, he was told it was ‘‘nonnegotiable.’’

With Mandi’s wife due to give birth, the Spanish import was ordered home to Wellington and missed Sunday’s (NZT) 3-0 loss to A-League leaders Perth Glory. That left the Phoenix exposed as they were also without experienced defenders Andrew Durante (suspension) and Steven Taylor (illness).

Despite suffering a heavy loss, Rudan said he stood by his decision. ‘‘There’s no way in hell I was going to let him miss that, being a father myself.

‘‘As much as he wanted to play, he’s a foreign player, he’s on his own with his wife and it was a non-negotiable as far as I was concerned. We missed him today because he’s a quality player as well,’’ Rudan said.

The Phoenix were left to rue a spurned chance in the opening 90 seconds, with David Williams hitting the body of a sprawling Matthew Spiranovic and then the frame of the goal with successive shots after standin captain Roy Krishna intercepted a sloppy pass by goalkeeper Liam Reddy.

From there the in-form Glory took it to the Phoenix’s depleted defence, with Shane Lowry and Chris Ikonomidis scoring through first half headers before Andy Keogh iced the victory in the 64th minute by blasting a lowdriven shot past Filip Kurto, after Jaunde dispossessed Alex Rufer with a brilliant slide-tackle high up the field.

‘‘The plan was to get one early, and we should have got one early but David Williams hits the bar. It’s a different ball game altogether if we get that one but we didn’t and it was one-way traffic in that first half,’’ he said.

Lowry headed home from a corner kick in the 19th minute before returning Socceroos star Ikonomidis doubled the lead in the 35th minute by nodding in the rebound after the initial shot from Diego Castro was saved.

‘‘Good teams punish you, they hurt you. We gave away a silly freekick, there was no need for it on the edge of the box, the goalkeeper makes a world class save but from the ensuing corner the same player doesn’t pick up his man. 1-0 down away from home, the crowd gets behind them.

‘‘Then the second goal the ball goes out, we work a lot on making sure that we push out in unison, but two players stayed in their areas which allowed the rebound to fall to one of their players. Had our players done what we train on then he [Ikonomidis] would have been offside.

‘‘They’re the moments that cost you, particularly against the league leaders at home. They’re a good side and fully deserved to win. I’ve got nothing but praise for them.’’

Durante and Taylor should be back for Thursday’s pivotal match against seventh-placed Newcastle Jets.