Phoenix sees off Jets

Brilliant Englishman Paul Ifill buried a decisive goal midway through extra time, after the score was deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of the regulation 90 minutes - to carry his team into next Saturday's preliminary final across the Tasman.

The winner of that game - against the loser of the major semi-final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory - will advance to the grand final.

Victory will have to come away from Westpac Stadium, which Phoenix on Sunday farewelled for the season in front of a delirious club record crowd of 32,792, where it has not been beaten in 19 matches since October 2008.

The host side defied a heavily disrupted buildup to pull off a memorable win, dominating large chunks of the match and appropriately sealing the result through Ifill after Jets captain Matthew Thompson and inspirational Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown had struck in the first half of regular time.

Substitute striker Eugene Dadi ensured the match wouldn't go to a penalty shootout with a third goal five minutes from the end of extra time, tapping home a Diego cross as the Jets went in search of an equaliser.

At times the match resembled the Ifill show, his teasing skills on the edge of the box at the heart of Wellington's many attacks, either creating chances for himself or others.

Ifill's goal came via a neat Brown pass and was his 13th of the season, rifled past goalkeeper Ben Kennedy after he deceived yet another defender.

Phoenix had a mortgage on possession and created seven shots at goal to two by halftime, a statistic that had more than doubled after 90 minutes, while it also won nine corners to one.

The Jets were most dangerous on the counter and that was borne out in the 20th minute when Thompson blasted his team ahead with a left-footed bullet that left under-employed Phoenix goalkeeper Liam Reddy with no hope.

Brown's eighth goal of the season was his most important, taking advantage of typically elusive Ifill buildup with a first-time left-footed strike from 10m out in the 33rd minute.

Phoenix had a far from ideal buildup for the match, with their four starting All Whites - Brown, Ben Sigmund, Leo Bertos and Tony Lochhead - all heavily involved in the international against Mexico in Los Angeles last Thursday.

All but Bertos played out 120 minutes despite they and coach Ricki Herbert arriving home only Saturday morning, having left assistant coaches Jonathan Gould and Luciano Trani to prepare a depleted squad.

Brown popped up all over the park in a mammoth display, while Bertos joined Ifill in posing countless problems down the flanks.

The back four was largely sound while Vince Lia anchored a midfield that comfortably won the battle for possession.

Defender Sigmund could easily have registered a goal after just 75 seconds but his low, diving header was cleared off the line by Ali Abbas.

Another clear chance came when midfielder Manny Muscat was clear on goal but his strike was blocked by a sprawling Kennedy.

It was mirrored at the other end soon before halftime when Newcastle defender Tarek Elrich fluffed a clear one-on-one with Reddy.

Phoenix had the edge through most of the second half although a clear chance was squandered by the Jets' best player Thompson, who failed scuffed a low, hard cross in front of an empty net.

Wellington controlled the last half hour and Elrich nearly conceded an embarrassing own goal, needing Kennedy to stretch and tip a looping header over the bar.

The arrival of Dadi saw the Phoenix lay siege on goal and the crowd was breathless in the final minute of injury time when Ifill rounded Kennedy but his touch was too heavy and he was closed down.

Newcastle coach Branko Culina praised the effort and endeavour of his troops.

“Absolutely smashing effort by the Newcastle Jets players,” he said. “We were undermanned, we had players that couldn’t walk let alone run but they stuck it out and we gave them a run for their money.”

“Had we taken our chances early on through Tarek and Thommo it would have been a different ball game but it wasn’t to be so congratulations to Wellington, well done and good luck.”

Wellington Phoenix: 40.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Tony LOCHHEAD, 6.Tim BROWN, 7.Leo BERTOS (11.DANIEL 66'), 8.Paul IFILL, 9.Chris GREENACRE, 13.Troy HEARFIELD (15.Eugene DADI 74'), 17.Vince LIA (5.DIEGO 109'), 18.Ben SIGMUND, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c).

Newcastle Jets: 1 Ben KENNEDY (gk), 3.Adam D’APUZZO, 4.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5.Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 7.Jin-Hyung SONG  (25.Labinot HALITI 80'), 8.Matt THOMPSON (c)  (9.Sasho PETROVSKI 85'), 11.Tarek ELRICH, 12.Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 15.Sean ROONEY  (29.Mirjan PAVLOVIC 68'), 26.Ali ABBAS.