Playing in the heat, Southern United looked composed on the ball and found the space to get in behind the Phoenix youngsters on a regular basis.
The home team led 2-0 at the break and never looked like losing once it got a goal early in the second half.
It could perhaps have scored more but one does not want to be greedy against a side against which Southern has recorded its share of disappointing results.
Southern United coach Paul O’Reilly said it was a good performance from his side, although he felt Phoenix competed well.
Logan Rogerson, who had played in the A League for the senior side, came on for the visitors early on, while Adam Parkhouse, who also turned out in the A League this season, played the whole game for the visitors, so it was a decent side Southern United had got the better of.
The home team managed to get on the scoresheet early.
Striker Garbhan Coughlan put a top ball down the left to Alex Ridsdale. The Nelson man cut inside his marker and hit the ball into the left-hand corner of the net.It was a great start for United and Couglan almost doubled the lead five minutes later.
Eventually, with 10 minutes left in the first half, Coughlan was provider again.
He swept the ball over from the right and Danny Ledwith met the ball on the volley to power it home.
Phoenix probably shaded the final minutes of the first half but United killed the game off with a third goal early in the second half.
After Ridsdale hit the keeper then the post, from the resulting corner there was a goal-mouth scramble and new striker Nick Treadwell put the ball over the line.
Andrew Ridden scored the final goal in the dying minutes after a nice ball, again from Coughlan.
O’Reilly was happy with the win, beating what he thought was a quality outfit.
"We missed a lot of opportunities and, realistically, it could have been more than four. But it was closer than the 4-0 score suggested," he said.
He praised the defence — "been rock solid all year" — and also felt Ledwith had a good game.
Coughlan impressed in his industry.
"He was probably a bit disappointed he did not take one or two of the chances. But I think he has picked up something like three assists. He is a massive player for us. He is a quality player who we really missed throughout the time he was out."
The side now has three weeks off before its next premiership game, against Hamilton and again at Sunnyvale, on March 10.
O’Reilly said the break was disappointing for momentum but such was the structure of the season.
The players would now have a few days off and the team would play a Southland selection in Invercargill next weekend in a practice match.
Southern v Phoenix Res
The scores
Southern United 4
Alex Ridsdale 13’, Danny Ledwith 36’, Nick Treadwell 51’, Andrew Ridden 87’
Phoenix Reserves 0
Halftime: 2-0
