Jeremy Brockie
Goals for Jeremy Brockie normally come in clusters and
the Wellington Phoenix striker hopes his latest haul doesn't
dry up any time soon.
The 25-year-old has scored four in his last three games -
doubles in the 3-0 defeat of Newcastle last weekend and 4-3
defeat to the Melbourne Victory a fortnight earlier - to sit
fourth equal early in the race for the A-League golden boot.
It came on the back of the 18 he scored in pre-season - an
extraordinary number even though many were against inferior
opposition - and the nine he scored for Newcastle last season
(his best in five A-League seasons).
It's why his barren run at the start of this campaign was a
concern for some. He failed to score in his first four games
before his spectacular strike against Melbourne.
"It was a little bit of a relief to get the first one,"
Brockie said. "I wasn't getting down on myself or frustrated.
I just knew once the first one went in the confidence would
grow and would hopefully flow from there.
"I had pretty big expectations on me after the goals I scored
in pre-season but I made it quite clear they wouldn't count
for much if I didn't carry on in the season. The first couple
of games didn't go to plan, goal-scoring wise, but we got a
good couple of results.
"I knew I just had to bide my time. Normally once the first
one goes in, they come in clusters for me. I just made sure I
kept my head down, worked hard and I'm happy I'm scoring
goals at the moment. Hopefully I can add to that tally this
weekend."
The Phoenix have spent the majority of the week in Perth
where they take on the fourth-placed Glory tomorrow night.
They are in a much happier place after last weekend's 3-0
defeat of the Jets in Newcastle, which snapped a three-game
losing streak.
Many in the Phoenix have talked about challenging for the
A-League title this season, given the stable nature of the
club, squad they have assembled and quality of attacking
players they have. But they fell to the bottom of the table
during their lean run and they head into this weekend's round
of games only two points above Sydney FC in last.
The Perth game at least represents the end of a difficult
stretch that will see them play four of five games away.
After this weekend they can look forward to four of their
next five in Wellington.
It's a place Brockie is enjoying after joining the club on a
three-year deal when his Newcastle contract expired. It's a
move that agrees with him, not least of all because he's
playing and training in front of All Whites coach Ricki
Herbert every day and is closer to friends and family.
But he will largely be judged by goals in the same way the
team is by results.
Wellington are likely to employ against Perth the same 4-3-3
formation and lineup they did against Newcastle, even though
Belgian striker Stein Huysegems has recovered from the ankle
injury that kept him out of last week's game.
Herbert has a history of sticking with a winning formula and
might look to use Huysegems and Solomon Islands international
Benjamin Totori off the bench.
Possible Phoenix lineup for their A-League football game
against Perth Glory in Perth on Saturday (11.45pm NZT):
(4-3-3) Paston; Bertos, Sigmund, Durante, Lochhead; Lia,
Muscat, Smith; Ifill, Brockie, Fenton. Subs (from - one to be
omitted): Moss, Boyd, Huysegems, Totori, Clarke.
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