The Wellington Phoenix have become the first A-League club to be defeated by member federation opposition on three separate occasions.
A young Phoenix side allowed an early goal and could not make any impression as South Melbourne secured the 15th 'Cupset' in Australia Cup history, winning 1-0 at Lakeside Stadium on Tuesday night.
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The winner came in the fourth minute as Zak Spiteri slipped in talisman Harrison Sawyer into the left channel of the box. The forward steered in a smart first-time effort past debut Wellington goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald.
While the Phoenix dominated possession for the rest of the match, the home side were resilient and restricted their opponents to just one shot on target.
Giancarlo Italiano's starting XI had an average age of 20.7, with a number of Phoenix Academy players making their debuts, while stand-in captain Scott Wootton and midfielders Mo Al-Taay and Oskar van Hattum were the only regulars.
The Phoenix were without regular captain Alex Rufer, along with new signing Paulo Retre and Tim Payne, while Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas only entered the match in the 66th minute.
Including the off-season transfers of young Kiwis Alex Paulsen, Ben Old and Finn Surman, and depatures of imports Oskar Zawada and Bozhidar Kraev, plus Nic Pennington, and it was a very different Phoenix lineup that lost in last season's preliminary final.
Kelly-Heald and Nathan Walker were in the starting XI, while fellow Academy players Tze Xuan Loke and Lachlan Candy also made their first-team debuts, entering the game in the 77th minute.
The Phoenix open their 2024-25 A-League season at Wellington's Sky Stadium on Sunday, October 20 against Western United.
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