Wellington Phoenix FC 1 - 1 Perth Glory

Phoenix draws 1-1 with Glory

Updated: November 8, 2009, 7:47 AM UK

Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell says his side showed they've got what it takes to make the A-League finals with their performance in a 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Sunday.

The Glory and Phoenix shared the points in an entertaining match, as Perth came within eight minutes of snapping Wellington's unbeaten run at home.

But the A-League's form player Paul Ifill denied them with an 82nd minute equaliser to stretch Wellington's Westpac Stadium undefeated streak to 13 games.

Both sides had plenty of scoring chances and periods of dominance.

Perth's best moments came late in the first half, while Wellington finished strongly in the dying minutes of the match to come close to pinching all three points.

While admitting a draw was probably a fair result, Mitchell makes the long return trip across the Tasman and Nullabor believing more than ever the Glory can make their first A-League finals series.

The result also snapped a three-match losing streak for Perth, though they remain in fifth place at the mid-point of the season.

"I'm starting to think that the effort we put in and showed today that we'll make the six," Mitchell said from Wellington.

"It's a hard place to come, and to perform as well as we did for as long as we did, it gives us a lot of heart.

"We haven't been beaten 6-0 in any of our games. It's a very compact and competitive league.

"From my point of view, I'm happy with the result, and the good thing is we've stopped the (run of) losses."

The Glory looked on track to take all three points when midfielder Wayne Srhoj cannoned home a 69th minute free-kick from 20 metres out.

But the Phoenix fought back through Ifill, who continued his outstanding season with a goal 13 minutes later.

The Barbados international latched on to a rebound from a good save from Glory goalkeeper Tando Velaphi to find the net for his fourth goal of the season.

That spurred the Phoenix into action as they poured numbers forward in search of a winner.

They were denied by two important Velaphi saves and a brave defensive effort led by centre-half Andy Todd, who was outstanding for the visitors.

Wellington sit sixth in the league's congested mid-section, one point adrift of the Glory.