Nix beat Roar to gain place in Australia Cup
- Dave Worsley
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Wellington Phoenix have secured a place in the 2025 Australia Cup, aflter a disciplined performance to win their playoff and finish their season on a high.
The Phoenix beat the Brisbane Roar 1-0 at Darwin Football Stadium thanks to a 39th minute goal from veteran forward Kosta Barbarouses, who was teed up 17-year-old Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues.
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The Nix defended resolutely and sensibly after taking the lead, with the match kicking off in 31 degree heat with high humidity, and held on despite being reduced to 10 men in the 89th minute.
The result ensures Wellington will be in the last 32 of the Australia Cup which is a key part of the team’s pre-season for the 2025-26 Isuzu UTE A-League.
Head coach Giancarlo Italiano made four changes to the side which started the disappointing 2-0 final round defeat to Perth Glory with Matthew Sheridan, Paulo Retre, Nathan Walker and Sloane-Rodrigues replacing the injured Corban Piper and Isaac Hughes, and Luke Brooke-Smith and Kazuki Nagasawa who were named amongst the substitutes.
The Phoenix made a bright start and created two opportunities inside the first five minutes.
The first fell to Hideki Ishige, but the ball got stuck under his feet and he wasn’t able to direct a shot on target.
Sam Sutton picked out Barbarouses with a pinpoint ball from the left flank soon after and the All Whites forward shot straight at Matt Acton in Brisbane’s goal.
Moments later Nix ‘keeper Josh Oluwayemi made a sharp save to keep out a header from Roar striker Asumah Abubakar.
They should have taken the lead from the penalty spot in the 11th minute when Oluwayemi brought down Roar winger Henry Hore in the Wellington box, but Jay O’Shea blasted his spot kick against the crossbar.
Italiano was forced to make an early substitution in the 36th minute after Walker was injured following a foul from Roar centre back Hosine Bility but ther is no VAR in the Australia Cup.
The Phoenix came close from the resulting free kick, with Acton doing well to keep out a powerful left-footed shot from Alex Rufer.
The Nix took the lead soon after with Sloane-Rodrigues who made a run in field from the left flank and found Brooke-Smith and he returned the ball to Sloane-Rodrigues who delivered a first-time cross-come-shot which beat Acton and Barbarouses made sure of it by heading into an open net.
The Phoenix frustrated Brisbane in the second half with a well-organised defensive showing.
It took the Roar 20 minutes after halftime to register their next shot on target with Oluwayemi making a good save to push a powerful Jay O’Shea shot around his right-hand post.
He made an even better stop 10 minutes later to deny Brisbane substitute Ben Halloran one-on-one after the Nix coughed up possession deep inside their own half.
Acton made a good one-on-one save of his own in the 80th minute to keep out an effort from Brooke-Smith after Barbarouses had slipped the 16-year-old through on goal with a perfectly weighted pass.
The Phoenix went down to 10 men in the 89th minute when Rufer received a second yellow card for a foul on his opposite O’Shea.
The Nix continued to defend well a player down but the Roar came within inches of sending the game into extra time with virtually the last touch of stoppage time. Bility headed a left-wing corner against the crossbar, much to Wellington’s relief.
The Wellington Phoenix will make the long journey home tomorrow and will then part ways before reassembling for the start of pre-season training in July.