League

Wellington Phoenix
Spectators: 8574 (Terracing: 6432, Seating: 1971, VIP seats: 171) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Art Schulze made the kick off which started today's match. Curtis Hilton struck a weak shot in the 3rd minute. Britton Oconnell didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Wellington Phoenix. After having played for 5 minutes, Curtis Hilton managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Wellington Phoenix's supporters crossed their fingers, but Curtis Hilton was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Britton Oconnell was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Art Schulze showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 1-0 in the 7 minute of play. In the 10th minute, Downing Beverly ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Britton Oconnell was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-0. Curtis Hilton blasted a shot towards the goal in the 13th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Britton Oconnell having to make a save. Payton Hamilton scored 2-1 in the 15th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Sabastian Beins, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. The crowd rose to their feet as Wellington Phoenix's Downing Beverly slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Britton Oconnell. That made the score 3-1 after 18 minutes of play. Downing Beverly fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 23rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Britton Oconnell having to interfere. Art Schulze sent away a hard shot on goal in the 24th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. A collision led to Maitland getting a freekick after 27 minutes play. Payton Hamilton hit a great ball. Britton Oconnell didn't succeed to prevent the ball from going into goal when Wellington Phoenix's Art Schulze shot an unexpected shot in the crossbar's under edge and made 4-1 in the ordered_time% minute. 34 minutes in the game, Downing Beverly fired away an excellent shot, which passed to the side of the right post without Britton Oconnell having to interfere. In the 40th minute, Art Schulze fired away a shot on goal. He put a little to much spin on the ball and sent it just wide of the right post. Britton Oconnell showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Art Schulze in the 42nd minute of the match. Britton Oconnell took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Art Schulze, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Art Schulze received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 46th minute. Britton Oconnell tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Britton Oconnell made an important save on a dangerous shot by Curtis Hilton in the 48th minute. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 4-1 at half-time.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Payton Hamilton to strike the kick off in the second half. Curtis Hilton sent away a hard shot on goal in the 54th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After some fancy dribbling in the 55th minute, Art Schulze managed to get in a good position for a shot. Wellington Phoenix's supporters rose to their feet, but Art Schulze was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Britton Oconnell breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Britton Oconnell showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Curtis Hilton, who was totally free with the ball in the 57th minute. Britton Oconnell showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Curtis Hilton, who was totally free with the ball in the 58th minute. In the 60th minute Art Schulze shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Britton Oconnell saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Art Schulze in the 64th minute of play forced Maitland's goalkeeper Britton Oconnell to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The Wellington Phoenix fans' excitement grew in the 68th match minute when Wellington Phoenix's Art Schulze looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 6-1 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. After a defensive mix-up in Wellington Phoenix's zone, Payton Hamilton stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Sabastian Beins came out of the goal and Payton Hamilton tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 73 minutes into the match, Curtis Hilton had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Britton Oconnell. Maitland's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Curtis Hilton was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 7-1. Curtis Hilton might have been able to make a better finish in the 76th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Britton Oconnell. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Curtis Hilton ran back to his position shaking his head. 77 minutes into the match, Wellington Phoenix's Art Schulze sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Britton Oconnell narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 78th match minute, Maitland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Dalton Norman to maneuver through the defense. After some careless play in the Maitland defense, Curtis Hilton kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Britton Oconnell. The Maitland fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Britton Oconnell should have stopped the shot. The audience was convinced that Art Schulze's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Britton Oconnell was relentless in the 85th minute of the game. In the 87th minute, Curtis Hilton hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 91 minutes into the match, Maitland's goal looked a bit too open when Art Schulze came free, but Britton Oconnell reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line.