The Wellington Phoenix dropped points to last-placed Brisbane Roar in a 1-1 draw at Sky Stadium on Waitangi Day a result that could provide issues down the track.
Wellington could have climbed to within three points of sixth-placed but despite taking the lead through Isaac Hughes’ first senior goal succumbed to a Henry Hore equaliser as Brisbane claimed just their sixth point of the season.
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The hosts had a Hideki Ishige strike correctly ruled out for offside in the first half before a contentious penalty no-call just before the break.
Ishige had gone down in the box under contact from Brisbane’s Walid Shour but referee Jack Morgan elected to uphold his original decision not to award a spot kick, despite reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor on recommendation from VAR.
Having taken just one point from the Roar draw, Wellington remain in 10th spot on the Isuzu A-League table, six points adrift of the top six.
Brisbane were the surprise front-runners in the first half at Sky Stadium. Ruben Zadkovich’s side supplied all the early pressure and should have gone ahead when Samuel Klein headed over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box.
Kosta Barbarouses latched onto a Brisbane defensive mistake to put Roar keeper Macklin Freke to the test but couldn’t find score what would have been his 101st A-League goal.
But then, after 16 minutes of play, the ‘Nix did find the back through Ishigebut after a lengthy delay, VAR correctly concluded the Japanese forward had strayed offside before receiving the ball from Corban Piper.
Late in the first half, Wellington had a penalty claim waved away by referee Jack Morgan after Hideki Ishige went down in the box under contact from Brisbane’s Walid Shour in the box.
Morgan was ushered to the pitchside monitor by VAR to review the incident in Wellington’s attacking penalty area, but returned to the field of play to explain his decision to uphold his initial call via live VAR comms.
“There is contact – it is not a foul. No penalty,” the referee said.
The denial of a Phoenix penalty ensured Brisbane got to half-time on level terms but just beyond the hour mark, the hosts did find a breakthrough goal as 20-year-old Isaac Hughes put his side into the lead.
Hughes’ first Isuzu UTE A-League goal came from a corner whipped into the six-yard box by Ishige; the defender was given too much space to attack the delivery and headed back across goal to beat Roar keeper Freke and put Wellington on top at Sky Stadium.
Brisbane almost equalised just minutes after conceding when an outrageous first-time attempt from Jay O’Shea crashed off the post and skidded across the goal mouth.
Then, having come off the bench in the 67th minute, Roar substitute Keegan Jelacic played a key role in getting his side back on level terms, providing a sublime assist for Hore whose magic first and second touch opened space in the box for the 25-year-old to fire past Alby Kelly-Heald.
Hore’s 71st-minute equaliser set the stage for an exciting finish to the contest but neither side managed to find a winning goal as the points were shared at Sky Stadium