A first-half hat-trick by former Southern United member James McGarry condemned Southern United to a ninth straight ASB Premiership loss, in Wellington on Saturday.
The Wellington Phoenix striker scored three goals in the first 33 minutes of the match to set up a 4-3 win and move his team four points clear of Southern United at the bottom of the ladder.
He opened the scoring a couple of minutes into the match and set the tone for what Southern United coach Mike Fridge called the ‘‘worst 45 minutes of football'' his team had played all season.
While Southern United striker Sam French scored his first goal of the season to tie the game up after 12 minutes, it was the only positive moment in an otherwise forgettable half for the visitors.
McGarry made it 2-1 after 22 minutes and completed his hat-trick shortly after, when he beat his marker and curled a shot inside the left-hand post.
Cherbel Khouchaba made it 4-1 five minutes later but it would have been much worse if McGarry had not been denied by the woodwork a couple of times.
However, after a few ‘‘harsh words'' at halftime, Southern United found the back of the net early in the second half through Alex Williams.
French then headed home his second a few minutes from time to give his team hope of salvaging a point, but it was not to be.
‘‘I thought we were by far the better team in the second half,'' Fridge said.
‘‘But it was just a really poor first-half performance and a really good second-half performance.
‘‘If we got that third goal earlier in the game, we might have had them on the back foot. We probably had more shots on goal in the second half as we had all the rest of the season, to be honest.''
Southern United did at least score three goals, half as many as it had scored through the first 11 games of the season.
It has now scored nine goals and conceded 35 this season.
The Dunedin-based team faces a short turnaround before its next match, a daunting match-up against league leader Auckland City at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Thursday night.
Southern United, which has all but locked up the wooden spoon for another season, will face Canterbury United in its final game on February 28 in Christchurch.
ASB Premiership
The scores
Wellington Phoenix 4
James McGarry 2, 22, 33; Cherbel Khouchaba 37
Southern United 3
Sam French 12, 87; Alex Williams 48
Halftime: 4-1
