Tomer Hemed revealed he was not supposed to be on the pitch to score the last-gasp winner that completed a dramatic turnaround in Wellington Phoenix’s 2-1 win over Adelaide United.
The Israel international netted his fifth A-League goal of the campaign from the penalty spot in thrilling fashion, seven minutes into stoppage time, to seal all three points at WIN Stadium – but he had to twist head coach Ufuk Talay’s arm to do so.
The Kiwi outfit fell behind at their temporary home in Wollongong when Reds captain Stefan Mauk swept the away side into the lead in the 51st minute but, seven minutes later, teenage attacker Ben Waine netted for the fourth straight game to level the scores back up.
It was around the hour mark that Hemed had originally agreed to be substituted, having missed the last four games to injury, but the marquee striker explained that he persuaded Talay to keep him in the game and the 33-year-old repaid his coach’s faith in the best possible way.
"At the start we said that I would play only 60 minutes because I am just coming back but I told the manager at half-time, I feel good, keep me on the pitch, I feel that I will score the winner," Hemed revealed to FOX Sports.
"That’s what happened and I am so happy. The people in the Jewish community came to see me and it is the best feeling ever."
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Hemed paid tribute to 19-year-old sensation Waine, who wrote his name into Wellington Phoenix folklore by becoming only the fourth player in club history to net in four consecutive games after Jeremy Brockie, Roy Krishna and Ulises Davila.
A searching pass from the Mexican marval, Davila, put Hemed through on goal and he was able to nudge the ball towards Waine, who went around goalkeeper Joe Gauci's challenge and slotted the ball into an unguarded goal.
"We are fighting for every ball, that’s the only way to win games," Hemed added.
"I am happy that I helped in this way as well for the first goal, and Ben Waine, amazing player, I am happy for him. He is doing an amazing season.
"He was there, at the right time, in the right moment to score for 1-1 and from there we thought we were going to win the game.
"We fought until the last minute and we did it in the last second."
Adelaide captain Mauk could not hide his frustration after the third-placed Reds missed the opportunity to overtake Melbourne City and the Central Coast Mariners and go top of the A-League for the first time this season.
"We’re deflated of course. We were 1-0 up and when you go 1-0 up and we had a lot of good chances to probably put the game at 2-0," Mauk said.
"We didn’t take them and you get caught like that at the end when you’re going for the win.
"It’s just disappointing because we’ve become accustomed to winning so losing is not a nice feeling."
Next fixtures – Matchweek 19
Adelaide United v Western United
Friday, 30 April 2021
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Kick-off: 7.35pm AEST
Match Centre
Brisbane Roar v Wellington Phoenix
Saturday, 1 May 2021
Venue: Moreton Daily Stadium
Kick-off: 5.05pm AEST
Match Centre
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