31 Mar 2012

Phoenix keep hopes alive

12:19 pm on 31 March 2012

The Wellington Phoenix are through to the second week of the A-League finals after eliminating Sydney FC from the playoffs with a 3-2 win at Westpac Stadium on Friday night.

The game was scoreless at half-time, but minutes into the second half Tim Brown scored a scrappy goal for the home side.

Defender Ben Sigmund provided the next goal in the 78th minute with a header off a Paul Ifill corner to make it 2-0.

Sydney responded with two quick goals off the boot of Joel Chianese to level the score but Ifill came to the party with a goal in the 86th minute.

Whether the Phoenix will have another date at home or travel to Perth will be determined by whether the Perth Glory beat Melbourne Heart on Sunday night.