Phoenix end with loss
Vince Lia has seen plenty in his 10-year Wellington Phoenix career, so his side’s seasonending capitulation would hardly have surprised.
The 32-year-old foundation Phoenix player played his 197th and probably last game for the club in the 4-3 loss to Brisbane Roar on Sunday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The performance summed up a lot of what Lia has experienced through his time in Wellington. A sublime first half had them up 3-1, but they quickly surrendered their lead in the second and switched off defensively to succumb to another frustrating loss.
With centre back and captain Andrew Durante out injured, the Phoenix indicated they would play three at the back on their team sheet, with midfielder Michael McGlinchey coming into the starting lineup. In the end, holding midfielder and stand-in skipper Lia dropped into centre back as they lined up in a 4-1-3-2 formation.
The Phoenix opened the scoring through Roy Krishna in the sixth minute, beating Brisbane right back Cameron Crestani to a Gui Finkler through ball in what was an energetic and slick opening 15 minutes from the Phoenix.
Having weathered the early storm, the Roar started to look likely down the other end.
Lia was forced to clear one chance off the line before being involved in a penalty shout when clipping legs with Jamie Maclaren as the Roar striker went up for a header.
But the Roar could not be held out much longer and it was Brett Holman who provided the highlight in the 21st minute.
He surged out of midfield towards the edge of the box without a Phoenix defender challenging him. The Socceroos veteran didn’t need a second invitation, firing a rocket from 25 metres out which gave Lewis Italiano no chance. After a 15-minute lull, the Phoenix went ahead again with McGlinchey doing good work down Crestani’s right flank before firing a low cross to an unmarked Finkler on the penalty spot to sidefoot home.
McGlinchey was gifted a goal of his own four minutes before halftime from the struggling Crestani, whose muffed clearance of a cross fell straight to the midfielder in the box to finish past a helpless Theo. Brisbane came out of halftime with purpose and were level within eight minutes of the restart.