R9 v Western Sydney | Sat 7th Dec | 7:00pm | Eden Park/SS7

What was the crowd guys?

Indeed. The one about Ball.

All of them?

COYN

We've got lucky there. We'd be spitting tacks if that penalty had been awarded against us. But then a few weeks ago one was, so swings and roundabouts I guess.

Observations.

Cam Devlin looked superb having an extended run, if Rufer is out for any length of time - and I sincerely hope he is not - then we've got classy cover.

Libby's worst game in ages, maybe he needs a week off.

Marinovic? Well it's all been said, he's on course to go down as the best ever Kiwi keeper. Outstanding.

Davila is the best penalty taker in the league, and the best we've ever had. Great passer too.

Finally, why only 10 mins for Hooper? 

My thoughts:

1) First half you could see the Wanderers were up for it but what a come back by the Nix in the 2nd half! 

2) Payne has been solid and I'm not sure I'd put Fenton back into the starting 11. Devlin very solid! Also, we have attacking riches up front, not only in Hooper, but also McCowatt looks very very promising. Both players can make an immediate impact.

3) The rules about handball need to change. Their defender had no chance to pull away his hand...

4) This is a more rounded Phoenix team than last year. We can play a possession game but also counter attack. We also don't concede many.

Victory, here we come!

Sotirio's goal did that.

My Auckland contact said there were problems getting seats - trying to make people take poor seats before opening up new sections - and that quite a few people didn't go in the end because of that. Sounds like some sort of 'management issue'. Am assuming it wasn't anything to do with the Nix - Eden Park management perhaps?

death taxes and davilla scoring penalties.  the 3 guarnatees in life.  

Magic assist from Ball too! He was also poised for tap ins a number of times but the pass never came - Libby....? We need to nail that kind of combination in final attack if we're going to get the best out of Ball and Hooper.

Ya beauty!

Mon the Phoenix!

I don't really feel for the wanderers with that pen. I agree that there is no way that it should be a pen in ordinary circumstances, but how many pens like that have been given so far this season for defenders having no chance to move their hand? At least four or five already. Referees are the judges of football law, and once a precedent has been made I would be more outraged if a ref deviated from what has become the standard and didn't give the penalty. Am I disappointed that this is the way the ruling of handballs in the box has gone? Absolutely. But is it surprising or unbelievable that the ref and VAR gave that as a pen given the current climate? Not at all. Regardless of whether it should or shouldn't be a pen, this exact situation has already been given as a pen multiple times already this season, consistency with calls is crucial 

I apologise for the crap crowd (although putting them all on one side REALLY helped with the atmosphere); for the Auckland summer atmosphere like a hot, wet blanket; and for puking after 4 beers outside the tavern.

Still, what a game. Dude behind me was yelling how Sotirio was useless and he always messes things up all through the first half :D I'd be spewing if I was RBB, we had absolutely no answer to Yerboah and Baccus all through the first half. They were just monstering us in midfield and the ref was letting them get away with just about everything. I was particularly disappointed that Payne seemed to have no idea what to do whenever he got the ball. On the bright side, Devlin was epic once he came on; and... well, I won't even need to talk about my Master Stefan almost singlehandedly keeping us in it through the first half.

I missed the incident which led to us booing Georgiewski every time he touched the ball?

It was obvious they wanted the crowd to look REALLY good on TV, and judging by WSW Twitter, it did. It fooled them into saying we should play in Auckland more often...

A tough first half - Steinmann and Libby had the worst 25 mins you'll ever see. Thought WSW dominated most of the first half and we dominated most of the 2nd.

Got lucky with the pen, but they are the rules now.  How nice is it having a pen taker where we actually expect them to score it every time? Davila, what a man. A draw was probably the fair result, but fudge it; we'll call it an even up for the call against Louis.

Don't really want to talk about the crowd, but Dome and the club will be extremely disappointed with that.

3 wins in a row! Fudge yes. WSW are a very good team, and their last 3 results don't show that. Maybe the best team we've played this year except for City/Sydney. They were tactically spot on and passed the ball around very well.

We have Marinovic to thank agian. Better than Kurto ever was.

We did give one. Fenton said some naughty words.

December in Auckland is always a tough sell. This was significantly up from the 5,000 and change we got the last time we played WSW in AKL.

Another good win for Phoenix. Im not  sure what WS were complaining about, it was a clear pen.Hit him dead on hand. May or may not have been deliberate . Ref will never know for certain . But i dont think it should matter , it was a clear hand ball  therefore an obvious pen.

BTW, some of the chants from locals were just inexplicable:

Oh Auckland. Why do you try.

If you hate Man United clap you hand

Followed by

Are you Tottenham on disguise.

— Dale Warburton (@WarbzFC) December 7, 2019

Also Sotirio is officially off the scapegoat list. That was a great,calm finish - though I get the feeling even he was surprised it went in. He gets better and better every game; credit to him.

I thought Piscopo struggled a bit today, he holds onto the ball 1-2 seconds too long and by then it's too late. You could see Davila getting visibly frustrated at his holding onto the ball too long.

On Davila - he was kicked all game and came through it. He's got a bit of fire in him, not his best work on Georgevski but a big fan of him squaring up to him.

Uffie has been spot on with his subs this year, I have to say. Even when we haven't won, they basically always make some sort of an impact. McCowatt very good when he came on, and Hooper calmed things down towards the end. Even if Hooper is fit, it's hard to see who he comes in for. I'd have to say Piscopo, with Ball dropping deeper.

Agreed that it was a harsh call against WSW, but as others have noted, that's how they're ruling this stuff this year (crap as it is). Not really comparable to the Fenton one, as that one never actually hit his hand - tonight's one definitely did, which can't be argued.

As well as being very quick.

HAHAHAHAHA WSW Twitter is actually convinced there is an FFA conspiracy against them and their coach in particular now

FFA conspiracy? Sounds familiar....

Stressful watch, but fudge me, do this team (and management) have some character about them.  Watched it at home, just as well it was in AKL as the weather in welly was horrific around game time (thanks south island), but that's a really disappointing crowd. Whilst i'm not a fan of them taking games there, I understand why they do and wanted to see a decent crowd.  It's for the greater good. Hopefully Welly stands up on the 21st, i'm certainly looking forward to it.

Marinovic, wow, some epic saves and kudos to Sotirio for his finish.  That was first class.  Subs, spot on and all contributed in their own way.  McCowatt was desperately unlucky with his effort and it took a top draw save to deny him.

Saltiness from the WSW makes for hilarious reading, some folk really need to learn the rules. I don't like the change, but it is what it is. 

Happy Saturday Nixers!

If McCowatt is groomed properly he will become a very, very good footballer. The quality and raw material is there. 

Sydney is currenting tearing Brisbane a new one. Barbarouses is playing very well. 

To be fair to Auckland, unless  the Upper Deck was empty, my guess would have been 12-14k. Certainly more than at our games. Never thought I'd say that. Great weather, a bit humid. Great atmosphere.  Well done. Great result. 

Completely empty.

The crowd may have been disappointing but The Auckland Mitre 10 Rugby team would have loved a crowd that big.

Let's grab a beer next time lad. Pleasure seeing you again 0

U Rsssssss.

While the crowd numbers (total) may have been a tad disappointing, that was one of the best atmosphere Nix games, I have been to. The whole crowd was rocking at the end, and the Nix players clearly enjoyed it too. Any 1st timers to a nix game would (could) have been blown away.

Well done all. A great night!

COYN!

The zone was fantastic and the casuals I was with loved it. It may not have been full house but the zone being under a roof made a big difference. 

Yes the crowd was a tad disappointing, but there is so much on around this time and a lot of people have work functions on. That with the forecast of thunderstorms I am not surprised at the number.

But I have to say ( and yes I am a Aucklander ) what a great night it was. Good seats, no real line for drinks, 5 min wait for food and no line for the toilet. In years gone past it has been the complete opposite. It seems that Auckland seems to be learning. Hopefully next time in Feb we can get a crowd of double that was today.

For me it was the first live game I have seen this year, and it was just amazing. It might not always be the most flashiest football, but the crowd was into it and the team put it on for us fans. 

At the start of the year I firmly thought that this team would finish bottom of the league, I will be the first to admit that. But boy what a job Talay has done. COYN!!!!

To be fair, that was the best entertainment in the first half. 

That is a surprisingly low number. Does show that the crowd for Victory back in Feb, was boosted by a perfect storm of things coming together (team on a roll with a lot of positive press, Victory having some genuine drawcards like Honda, lack of other events in Auckland at that time, worked in well with Super rugby game night before, first Nix match at EP for a few years etc etc).

I guess it means any likely backers of a possible Auckland A League bid, know they will have take a conservative approach on forecasting crowds, once the novelty value disappears.

Still having a Nix game in Auckland, during a bus strike is just plain bad luck. Auckland's traffic can be bad, but the bus network is pretty good - so lack of buses would have put a few casuals off from going.

Anyway sounds like those who attended rated the atmosphere (different if team had lost), and a game played in sunshine is always better for the image of NZ football in Australia - than one played in horrible wind & rain. So on that aspect alone was a winner, just another 2-3K people would have been good.

Hopefully come Feb next year and Melb City game, there is a good positive vibe around, and can be a crowd of more like 12Kish. That will be the kicker. League looks very tight this season, and Nix could as easily be going into that game on say a 3 game losing streak, as a winning run.

also that Krishna and Singh (with David Williams in the wings) were the kind of players people get out of bed and drive through the night to see. Krishna had a big Auckland following already and had been a club legend for a while and was at the peak of his powers. Singh, well, we can see where he's been since. As Rudan said it was a chance to enjoy watching him while he was here.

 The current boys are great- if McCowatt is at the club in 3 years and performing heroics perhaps he'd be approaching that status. 

Like the movies, stars sell tickets and Roy was a much bigger deal in Auckland last year than Hooper or Taylor (as awesome as they are) this year