Western Sydney Wanderers remain on course for the Finals Series after Brandon Hamill’s second-half brace helped secure a 4-1 home win over Wellington Phoenix on Saturday night.
Western Sydney Wanderers remain on course for the Finals Series after Brandon Hamill’s second-half brace helped secure a 4-1 home win over Wellington Phoenix on Saturday night.
Hamill broke open a tight encounter at Spotless Stadium by netting twice from corners in the space of 10 second-half minutes before Chris Ikonomidis added further polish late in proceedings.
Brendon Santalab had earlier his seen his opener quickly cancelled out by Sarpreet Singh in the first match of Chris Greenacre’s third stint as interim Phoenix coach.
But Western Sydney proved too strong after half-time to climb a point above Adelaide United and five clear of seventh-placed Brisbane Roar.
STORY OF THE GAME
- POST: After a cagey opening half-hour, Ikonomidis curls a superb free-kick over the wall and into the post.
- INJURY: Marcelo Carrusca is forced off by a quad problem before half-time, with Alvaro Cejudo his replacement.
- GOAL! Santalab applies the simplest of finishes following fine lead-up play from Mark Bridge.
- GOAL! But the lead only lasts two minutes as Singh immediately responds with his second of the season.
- CHANCE: Roy Krishna fires marginally wide of the far post as the half ends on an entertaining note.
- SAVE: Krishna draws a strong hand from Vedran Janjetovic at his near post.
- CHANCE: Ikonomidis bursts into the area, but his shot is straight at Velaphi.
- GOAL! Hamill heads in a corner to restore the hosts’ advantage in the 68th minute.
- GOAL! The defender makes it a double 10 minutes later, punishing some sloppy marking from another corner.
- SAVE: Velaphi tips a hot Steven Lustica effort over the bar.
- GOAL! Ikonomidis caps off the victory with a deserved goal in the final minute of normal time.
GOALS
Brendon Santalab, Western Sydney Wanderers 40′: 1-0
Josh Risdon’s excellent ball over the top is reeled in by Bridge, who wriggles away from Scott Galloway before squaring for Santalab to tap home.
Sarpreet Singh, Wellington Phoenix 42′: 1-1
Janjetovic denies Krishna at close range after Wanderers fail to deal with a free-kick, but Singh is on hand to smash in the rebound.
Brendan Hamill, Western Sydney Wanderers 68′: 2-1
Hamill rises well to meet Ceujudo’s out-swinging corner and directs an excellent header across Velaphi.
Brendan Hamill, Western Sydney Wanderers 78′: 3-1
Bridge flicks-on Cejudo’s corner to an unmarked Hamill, who makes no mistake with a tidy first-time finish.
Chris Ikonomidis, Western Sydney Wanderers 90′: 4-1
Ikonomidis keeps his cool to finish into a vacant net after Risdon had collected his own through ball and rounded Velaphi.
This article was originally published at: www.a-league.com.au/news/hamill-double-wanderers-put-four-past-phoenix
