Oxley and Phoenix in Stalemate
Oxley Utd 2 (Jordan 58’, 69’) Brisbane Phoenix 2 (Bright 7’, Handley 87’) HT: 0-1 Played at Dunlop Park The forecast rain held off and the match got underway under blue skies. It was a game of fluctuating fortunes as both teams led before settling for a point. The first five minutes passed rather uneventfully with neither side making any inroads in to the opposition defence. Then a ball from Will Jordan found Kristian Samuels in space on the right with an opportunity to shoot, which he did, but high and wide of the goal. Then, in the 7th minute, when an Oxley free kick was floated into the area and found the head of Jordan, he could only direct it straight to Phoenix keeper, Chris Parsons. Parsons released the ball quickly and a long ball played out of defence caught Oxley napping. Keegan Bright ran onto the ball and lobbed it over the advancing Philip Mealor in the Oxley goal, 1-0 to Phoenix. Oxley had a great chance to level five minutes later when Andrew Stuckey met a free kick from the left but his header sailed over the bar. Phoenix nearly doubled their lead on sixteen minutes when a well worked passing move found Hayden James on the left and his ball to the front post was turned into the side netting by Bright. Phoenix’s Blaise Tshitenga was the next with a chance with a firm shot from the right that Mealor could not hold as the ball was scrambled away by his defence. The match then settled into an end to end affair as both sides were guilty of poor final balls into their opponent’s area. Tshitenga had another chance five minutes before half-time when he met another cross from James but sent his glancing header wide. The best opportunity for Oxley came with a minute to go when Jordan dribbled past two defenders and was through on goal. He appeared to be indecisive as to whether to round the keeper or shoot and in the end dragged his shot wide of the goal from eighteen yards out. The second half continued as the first half ended, with neither side creating opportunities. The closest either side came was in the 54th minute when Tshitenga was again just short of connecting with a cross from the left. Four minutes later, Oxley were awarded a free kick some 25 yards out in a reasonably central position. Jordan stepped up and put the ball around the left edge of the wall and into the net giving Parsons no chance. Phoenix had the next opportunity when a ball into the Oxley area rebounded from a defender to Richard McFaul who fired the ball wide of the right hand side of the goal. Shortly after, Jordan was again through on the Phoenix goal but his chip cleared both the keeper and the goal. Jordan made up for that miss two minutes later when he intercepted a square ball in the Phoenix defence about 30 yards out. He rode a tackle and was through on goal and this time decisively placed the ball to Parsons’ left. The keeper got a hand on the ball but could not stop it going into goal to give Oxley the lead. A nasty head clash in the 79th minute saw treatment to Jordan and Kieran Duligal, with Duligal taking no further part in the match while Jordan was able to continue. Phoenix upped the tempo in their search for an equaliser and it eventually came with three minutes of normal time left through an excellent free kick by Cameron Handley who steered the ball into the top right hand corner of the goal from 20 yards out. Both teams were intent on getting a winner and there was some desperate defending by both teams. The last chance came six minutes into time added on when a cross by Luke Farinazzo just eluded Tshitenga at the far post with the full time whistle coming shortly after. Oxley have certainly improved based on their most recent results and will keep the teams above them honest. Phoenix are still in the hunt for a top four finish and fought to the end to get a result here.
Coaches Reactions:
Will Windsor (Oxley Utd): “We’re still a work in progress, we have a young team and they are just trying to learn how to manage a game, especially in that last five or ten minutes of a half. The players work hard, they really do and from where we started at the beginning of the year to where we are now, we’re now competitive against the other teams” Luke Farinazzo (Brisbane Phoenix): “It was bit disappointing, they nearly had us there for a little bit. Defensive errors really cost us. That was one of our key rules not to play square balls in defence on this field in that back third. It was three points we really needed. We have four of our regular starters out at the moment and they will be back soon. Once they are back we should be right to push on.”
Team line-ups
Oxley Utd: Mealor (GK), Blake, Burt, Grills, Jordan, Martin, Ryan, Samuels, Stuckey, Thomson (61’),Tierney
Subs: Janzekovic (61’)
Brisbane Phoenix Parsons (GK), Adam (61’), Bright, Bwormoi (78’), Handley, James, McFaul, Ngoyi, Richards, Scanlon, Tshitenga
Subs: Clare (82’), Duligal (On 61’, Off 82’), Farinazzo (78’) REFEREE: Paul Eldridge
