A second-half equaliser from Angus Thurgate earned Western United a hard-earned point in a 1-1 draw away to Wellington Phoenix in the opening round of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The new-look Phoenix had a string of debutants and just four of the same starters from the club’s last starting XI in the 2023-24 Finals Series, but it was business as usual from veteran striker Kosta Barbarouses who put the Phoenix ahead in first-half stoppage time.
Giancarlo Italiano’s side looked set to cruise to an opening-round victory but Western United grew in confidence through the second half and equalised in a period of control through Thurgate in the 76th minute of play.
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The Phoenix came into the new season with new expectations for successs after the club’s best-ever Isuzu UTE A-League finish in 2023-24, when Giancarlo Italiano’s side finished second and reached the Semi-Finals.
Italiano’s chances of repeating last season’s success were impacted by important players leaving the club, headlined by stars Alex Paulsen, Oskar Zawada, Ben Old, Bozhidar Kraev and Finn Surman.
The turnover was evident in Italiano’s team selection for Round 1 of the new season, with only four players from the starting XI that faced Melbourne Victory in last season’s second-leg Semi-Final returning to start the first game of 2024-25: Tim Payne, Scott Wootton, Alex Rufer and Kosta Barbarouses.
The Phoenix XI also featured four players under the age of 21; Finn Conchie (21), Isaac Hughes (20), Matt Sheridan (20) and Nathan Walker (18) all earned starting roles.
After the 1-1 draw, Italiano joined the Sky Sports post-game panel where he was asked about the transitional off-season just gone and the task that lies ahead to get his new-look squad firing on all cylinders.
“That’s probably the hardest thing in football, it’s building that cohesion. It doesn’t come overnight,” Italiano said.
“And you need games; the advantage I had last season (was) that group had been together for a while so I knew exactly what they could and couldn’t do, and I just worked the game model to that.
“This season now, it’s more about how I want to play and putting those players in positions. But you need games, you need fit players playing continuously and if you don’t have that it becomes very clunky.
“They need more time, and the more time they play the more confidence they’ll get in the system. Then I think it’s just more about time than anything… speaking honestly I think 4-6 weeks. I think you’ll start seeing the fruits of what we started in the pre-season.”
But for everything that had changed at the Phoenix in the off-season, one thing remained the same: the inevitable scoring ability of veteran striker Barbarouses who, on the stroke of half-time, put Wellington ahead of Western United in his side’s season opener.
By the hour mark Wellington had taken eight shots on goal to Western’s three – and the majority of the host’s chances had fallen to Barbarouses, who received several chances to double his tally including a half-volleyed chip that missed the target and a bicycle kick attempt that soared over the bar.
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But Western grew into the contest through the second half and as confidence rose, the visitors began to accumulate chances to equalise and, in the 76th minute, John Aloisi’s side found their equaliser through Thurgate’s lethal finish into the bottom-right corner.
Alex Rufer had the chance to put Wellington back in front soon after Western’s equaliser but his rasping effort from the edge of the box missed the target.
