Wellington Phoenix

Newcastle Jets head coach Arthur Papas called on his players to use Friday's 4-0 win over Wellington Phoenix as a platform to launch a bid to qualify for ...

Let's look forward now and see if we can back that up." "We know that you can fall away fairly quickly - the league hasn't been kind to a few teams," said Papas, whose side moved up to eighth in the table. Advertisement

With eight players unavailable, last night's game at Newcastle posed the question: How good is the Wellington Phoenix's depth? After a 4-0 loss, ...

Minutes later, he was replaced clutching his hamstring, another addition to the injury list. And in the first half, the makeshift Phoenix held their own against a lacklustre Newcastle that managed just one shot on target. The match turned Newcastle's way with their 51st-minute goal. After a 4-0 loss, the answer appears to be not great. At 2-0, it was game over. But the game turned once the hosts took the lead six minutes into the second half.

Ufuk Talay was forced to make five changes for a range of reasons and his second-string side were beaten comfortably in the end in A-League Men.

Getting anything out of this match would have been a bonus for the Phoenix, in the circumstances. Like elite athletes at their peak, our sports journalists are highly trained in the art of news. This match didn’t provide a resounding answer to the question of who will replace Rufer in their first-choice midfield. Sutton offered plenty on a night when the team as a whole offered little. Boumal’s clever bit of play for his first goal – first making the run infield, then darting into the box in case there was a rebound – meant that went out the window. Arguably months ago, when it was decided the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament would begin outside March’s international window – and that A-League Men wouldn’t break for said window.