A late double to youngster James Meyer has helped Brisbane to a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix at Skilled Park on Australia Day, which extended the Roar’s winning streak to a record-equalling 22 games.
In the Roar’s first game in Queensland since the floods that ravaged their city and stadium, the league leaders struggled to come to terms with a stubborn Wellington side for long periods of the game but thanks to a late brace James Meyer, they eventually reigned supreme.
In the 83rd minute, substitute Meyer launched a drive from the edge of the penalty area that caught a fortuitous deflection off Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante, wrongfooting goalkeeper Danny Vukovic as the ball trickled into the back of the net.
Just five minutes later he found himself with the rub of the green again, with Thomas Broich’s shot colliding with the crossbar and putting the ball on a silver platter for Meyer to fire home a quick-fire brace past a stunned Vukovic.
The victory equals A.P.I.A. Leichhardt’s run of 22 games without defeat that ended in 1987, with Saturday night’s match against Melbourne Heart at Robina doubling as the Roar’s opportunity to make history.
But until Meyer’s dramatic late double, it was looking like they would have to share the spoils with a Phoenix side that held Brisbane for most of the match despite Ange Postecoglou’s men holding the lion’s share of possession.
The best early chance fell to Wellington’s Dylan Macallister, who turned Roar defenders Matt Smith and Luke DeVere inside out in the penalty box and wheeled onto his right foot, but he wasted the chance with a limp shot straight at Michael Theoklitos.
As Brisbane started to take control, some Jean Carlos Solorzano trickery set up another chance a few minutes later, unleashing Kosta Barbarouses along the right flank and he fired in a dangerous cross that was cleared by the Phoenix defence – but only as far as Ivan Franjic, whose attempt at chesting home the scraps was thwarted by a top save from Vukovic.
Brisbane continued to create chances but couldn’t pull the trigger when it counted and at the start of the second stanza another opportunity went begging. Barbarouses made an incisive run into the box and sent a teasing ball across to Solorzano, but the Costa Rican couldn’t manage the touch needed to open the scores.
The quasi-hosts piled on the pressure past the hour mark but were unable to make their dominance count on the scoreboard, breathing a sight of relief when Theoklitos failed to claim a Phoenix free kick that Chris Greenacre managed to sneak a head onto, but his shot only just evaded the empty net.
But eventually Wellington’s resolve broke, with Meyer’s two goals in the shadows of full time giving Korea-bound defender DeVere a happy farewell in his last game in orange and maroon.
Brisbane Roar 2 (Meyer 83, 88)
Wellington Phoenix 0
Crowd: 3522 @ Skilled Park, Robina
