Jeremy Brockie returned to bite the hand that used to feed him as the Wellington Phoenix burst out of their mini slump to beat Newcastle Jets 3-0 at Hunter Stadium today.
Brockie, who joined the Phoenix from the Jets during pre-season, scored in the 44th and 80th minutes to set his team on the road to victory with Paul Ifill adding the third from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after Benji Totori was hauled down in the box.
It was an outstanding performance from the Phoenix who set out their stall to perfection, denying the Jets room in which to play while creating the goal scoring chances that had been missing seven days ago in the loss to the Mariners.
Brockie had an outstanding pre-season, netting 18 times, and now he has found his scoring touch in the A-League with today-s brace coming on top of a double against Melbourne Victory.
“There has been a lot of new attacking players brought to the club this season and it obviously takes a little time to gell,” Brockie said.
“The boys are starting to get it together now and we are looking forward to going over to Perth and carrying on where we left off today.”
No player has ever scored a hat-trick for the Phoenix, and Brockie thought he was about to break that drought in the final moments of the game when Benji Totori, who created havoc in the Jets defence when he took the field as a substitute, took the ball round the goalkeeper but put it wide of the near post with Brockie waiting on the goal line for a tap in.
“Yeh, it would have been nice to get a hat-trick but I-ll take three points over a hat-trick any time,” Brockie said.
“It was important that we got the points today and I was pleased to help do that in front of a lot of friends.
“I enjoyed being back here and the home fans didn-t give me too much stick which shows there was respect between us.”
The team travels to Perth tomorrow for Saturday night-s game at NIB Stadium.
