The disappointing loss away to Sydney last weekend had left the Wellington Phoenix players hungry to make amends, skipper Andrew Durante said after their 3-0 win over the Newcastle Jets.
The Phoenix dominated for most of the match at Westpac Stadium with goals to Tim Brown, Chris Greenacre and Paul Ifill ensuring a third win of the season and extending the unbeaten run at home to a dozen games.
Wellington could even afford to make it two penalty misses in as many games with Greenacre having his second-half effort from the spot well saved by Jets keeper Ben Kennedy.
“We spoke that each individual had to step up from Sydney and put in a good performance and we showed that tonight. We were hungry to win,” Durante said.
“I think we’re a great team at home, probably one of the most exciting teams to watch at home.
“There was that period when we couldn’t score goals but we were creating a lot of chances. We just said we had to work hard and we kept doing that and now the goals are coming so it’s great.”
The impressive defender was equally delighted the team had bounced back from conceding three goals last weekend to keeping a clean sheet for the third successive game at home.
“It’s fantastic. We let ourselves down against Sydney and copped three silly goals really – all defensive errors.
“The back four spoke about it during the week with Ricki [coach Ricki Herbert] and we put our hand up and said it wasn’t good enough and that we wanted to make it right tonight.
“I think we put in a great performance, a great team performance.
“We pressurised all around the park and we didn’t give them too many chances. It was very good.”
The win lifted the Phoenix up to sixth and Durante said the challenge was now on to maintain a play-off position with Perth next up in the New Zealand capital on Sunday.
“We want to keep climbing the ladder. We’re in the six now and it’s up to us to stay there. Only we can fall out of it.
“We’ve got Perth this week and I think we can jump them if we beat them. It’s very positive in the camp.”
It was a far less positive feeling coming from the Jets, who remain at the foot of the ladder on goal difference.
“Overall it was disappointing. We didn’t take our chances and again we dropped our heads and that’s a real concern,” said coach Branko Culina.
“We thought we saw some light at the end of the tunnel in the last couple of games against the Central Coast and Brisbane away from home.
“Our record away from home has been pretty ordinary. It’s something we need to turn around and make sure we improve if we want to be challenging for better than where we are at the moment.”
Like the Phoenix, the Jets play again on Sunday and Culina felt the short turnaround could work to his side’s advantage heading into the home clash against North Queensland Fury.
“Sometimes when you lose like we did today – badly – it’s probably good that you have a short turnaround because you’re itching to get back into it,” he explained.
“We’ve got to travel back. It’s a critical game and we’re playing against a team we should beat at home.”
