This woke up Wellington, who went on to threaten the Jets’ goal almost immediately with a speculative ball lifted over the top of the defence and in to new All White Corban Piper, who sent the ball wide.
Corban Piper continued his fine start to the season by opening the scoring against the Newcastle Jets. Photo / Getty Images
The man of the moment would not miss in his second opportunity, with Kazuki Nagasawa curling a ball beyond Newcastle’s high line that Piper sprinted on to and, with the ball still bobbling, lifted it over the goalkeeper to score Wellington’s 700th A-League Men’s goal.
The Jets felt aggrieved, with the goal initially being discounted as offside and the assistant referee raising his flag before the ball was put in the net, but the VAR concluded the referee was right to let play continue and gave the Phoenix the lead.
Greenacre’s men controlled the middle portion of the opening period, pushing Newcastle deeper into their own half, but the hosts would gradually play their way back into the contest and try to hold the ball away, building up slowly.
A wicked corner left Gray in no man’s land and a header was fired back towards the Phoenix goal, which was cleared off the line by a calm Lukas Kelly-Heald.
The Jets came out of the sheds firing after the break, with quick build-up play and a fierceness neither team had exhibited in the first half.
Vergos had another brilliant opportunity just before the hour mark as the ball fell to him after probing balls created chaos in the Phoenix penalty area, but a sliding block by James McGarry stopped his powerful shot from just beyond the six-yard box.
Xavier Bertoncello should have equalised for the Jets soon afterwards, with rapid passing splitting the Phoenix defence open. The ball was played across the box and trickled towards Newcastle’s No 43, who had most of the goal to aim for, but hit Gray’s hand and was deflected wide.
Both sides were showing clear signs of frustration and small scraps broke out around the pitch, but these flare-ups did not provide the spark for Newcastle to score nor Wellington to play their way out of their own half.
Piper should have sealed the game about six minutes from time when another long ball over the defence had him going one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he took too much time with the ball, allowing the defenders to catch up and smother his shot.
It was Riley Bidois who came off the bench and broke Jets fans’ hearts as Nagasawa, against the run of play, tore the Jets defence apart with a simple through-ball to the 24-year-old, who took all the time in the world to curl the ball into the back of the net.
The Phoenix boosted their goal difference through another long ball to rip open the centre of the Jets defence, this time to Nathan Walker, who placed the ball into the back of the net with a curling effort near the edge of the box.
Next week, the Nix put their 100% record on the line against Auckland FC in the New Zealand derby.
Newcastle Jets 0
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Corban Piper 14, Riley Bidois 87, Nathan Walker 90+3)
HT: 0-1