Steve Bell/Getty Images
Wellington Phoenix midfielder Nicholas Pennington competes for the ball with Toby Barton of the Devonport City Strikers during their Australia Cup match.
At Valley Road, Devonport, Tasmania: Wellington Phoenix 4 (Ben Waine 9’ 64’, Oskar van Hattum 61, Bozhidar Kraev 76’) Devonport CIty Strikers 0. HT: 1-0
The Wellington Phoenix men eased to a 4-0 win over Tasmanian club side Devonport City Strikers in the Australia Cup round of 32 on Wednesday night.
Their reward was a round of 16 clash with fellow A-League side Melbourne City, which will take place in Melbourne between August 10 and 17.
Ben Waine nabbed a brace, while there were also first Phoenix goals for Oskar van Hattum and new signing Bozhidar Kraev.
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Waine’s first goal came after just nine minutes, after he was played in by Kosta Barbarouses down the right and finished neatly past former Phoenix player Keegan Smith, who was in goal for the Strikers.
The Phoenix dominated possession, but the home side at Valley Road did have their moments, most notably when Roberto Fernandez-Garrido went close before the visitors’ opener.
It took until just after the hour mark for Wellington to double their lead, through van Hattum, who headed home an inswing cross from Lewis on the right.
Waine then kept his composure to finish past an onrushing Smith, after Scott Wootton played him in with a long ball down the right three minutes later.
Kraev came off the bench to replace Joshua Laws with just over 20 minutes to play and the Bulgarian international was gifted a free header at a corner to open his account for his new club in the 76th minute.
The Phoenix were without new signings Steven Ugarkovic and Lucas Mauragis as they played in Australia Cup playoff matches for their old clubs at the end of the last A-League Men season.
Forward David Ball and midfielder Ben Old were also ruled out with injury, which meant four uncontracted academy players – Riley Bidois, Noah Karunaratne, Marco Lorenz and Jackson Manuel – were on the bench.
Bidois, who made a handful of A-League appearances last season, was the first to get on, replacing Waine, while teenagers Karunaratne and Lorenz replaced Elliot and van Hattum to make their Phoenix debuts as the match entered stoppage time.
The Australia Cup match was just the Phoenix’s second hit-out since the start of pre-season at the beginning of July.
They made it to the final of the knockout competition last season, but were well-beaten by Melbourne Victory in the decider.
Their A-League campaign is due to begin on Sunday, October 9, with a home match against Adelaide United at Sky Stadium.
