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02Jan23
Spoils Shared In Battle Of Cellar-Dwellers
by Jeremy Ruane
The spoils were shared in the battle of the Liberty A-League's cellar-dwellers at Sky Stadium on January 2, as Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers fought out a 1-1 draw to both earn their first point of a campaign in which both have struggled to date.
Wellington stated their intentions inside the first thirty seconds via a Milly Clegg snapshot which flashed past the far post, the age-grade international following that up with great fourth minute pressure to force Wests captain Clare Hunt into a hurried clearance of Saskia Vosper's probing free-kick from deep.
The consequence was a Michaela Foster corner, which Amy Harrison, in attempting to head clear, diverted towards her own goal. Goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer turned the sphere onto the post, off which it rebounded onto the head of Chloe Knott and ricocheted out for a goal kick.
The visitors weren't sighted as an attacking force until the thirteenth minute, and then only by reason of a blunder. The under-pressure Marisa van der Meer passed the ball back to Brianna Edwards, whose poor touch allowed Cushla Rue - once of this parish - to swoop and unleash a first-time drive towards the untended target. Unfortunately for the former Wellington player, her effort crept inches past the left-hand post.
Buoyed by that threat, Wests came again soon afterwards, Harrison's teasing corner being pawed out from beneath her crossbar by Edwards, who looked on seconds later as Sheridan Gallagher butchered a glorious chance to open the scoring in the eighteenth minute.
Hunt's ball forward saw the powerful striker shoulder van der Meer off the ball and burst into the penalty area, where she was confronted by Mackenzie Barry. In side-stepping the defender, Gallagher lost control of the ball, then had to deal with the fast-closing figure of Vosper. Cue a forced pass to Rue, who was thwarted by the terrific tracking run of Knott - the captain was back to her all-action best for the home team in this match.
This was further typified by Knott's closing down of Danika Matos in the 26th minute, industry which engineered an opening for Ava Pritchard. Alexia Apostolakis denied her, but no one was denying Barry two minutes later, as she swooped on a stray pass just outside Wests penalty area. Her ambitious first-time chipped effort was a bridge too far, however.
Wests were struggling to clear their lines, and got away with a handball offence on the edge of the penalty area in the 29th minute, referee Beth Rattray - making her competition debut - having a long look before deciding that it was a case of ball to hand, even though the defending team had gained an advantage from the ricochet.
Four minutes later, Wellington were pursuing a penalty claim, Vosper's ball forward inviting Knott to race after the ball, with Hunt for company. The captains collided, but referee Rattray ruled that Wellington's skipper had prompted the coming together, awarding Wests the free-kick.
The visitors had another free-kick seconds later, further up-field. Harrison's delivery into the danger zone was well dealt with by Edwards, who produced a superb fingertip save to keep out a dipping twenty-five yarder from Sophie Harding seven minutes before half-time.
In between times, Wellington had threatened again, Foster's teasing cross being spilled by Bloomer, who was fortunate to see the ball bisect the incoming Wellington duo of Clegg and Pritchard. Lauren Keir mopped up the danger in her usual unflustered fashion - she's an old head on young shoulders, this lass. Quality defender.
The deadlock was broken four minutes before half-time by Wellington. Foster's corner was punched out by Bloomer to Grace Wisnewski, whose looping header hit the crossbar. Michaela Robertson was first to react, and stabbed the ball home from close range to the delight of her team-mates, who could have doubled their lead two minutes later had Betsy Hassett's snapshot not careered over the bar after she pounced on a poor clearance by Bloomer.
The second half was just seconds old when Clegg set off on a swashbuckling run down the right, taking on all-comers. Her progress was eventually thwarted, but she still managed to get in a cross, Knott the intended recipient. Hunt had other ideas, however - Wests' skipper had a terrific game.
Three minutes later, and after van der Meer had received treatment after landing heavily on her back following a corner, a Foster cross was cleared to Pritchard, who spurned a chance to shoot with her left foot and double Wellington's lead …
This lack of instinctiveness in front of goal is a major shortcoming of Natalie Lawrence's team. Exacerbating the problem even more was the absence of six players - Lily Alfeld, Kate Taylor, Isabel Gomez, Alyssa Whinham, Paige Satchell and Emma Rolston - for various reasons, which further limits the options the coach has available to her.
But you can't blame the gaffer for something which should come naturally to any player when the frame of the goal is within range. As the late, great Liverpool boss Bob Paisley once said, "If you've got the ball at your feet in the penalty area, and you don't know what to do with it, stick it in the net - we'll discuss the other options afterwards".
There's another shortcoming in this Wellington side
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which also needs addressing pronto - passing accuracy. The number of occasions when possession is needlessly wasted by a player's seeming inability to pass the ball to the nearest (in the case of this match) blue shirt defies logic.
"Get it, give it" - the first task of any defender, bar none. Win the ball, then give it to those further forward whose skill set is better suited to creating mayhem for the opposition to contend with. None of this "hoof and hope" nonsense, thankyou - it just invites further pressure, and your opponents can create that of their own accord without any encouragement from you!
On to the creative unit, and again, an easy maxim applies. Paisley again - "It's not about the short ball, or the long ball. It's about the right ball". Often this will entail playing a ball into space for a team-mate to run onto. It will also require the team-mate to anticipate the pass, something which only Clegg and Knott, in this game, did consistently well, as witnessed by their purposeful off-the-ball movement which all too often went unrewarded.
There's a lot of ongoing training ground activity required to establish the necessary cohesion and get these patterns of play running like clockwork, but once Wellington get this sorted, the rewards will be great - goals from open play, for instance, not just from set pieces.
An example of Clegg's movement off the ball was in evidence in the 55th minute, and Foster had the vision both to see it and deliver the sort of pass through the inside-left channel which her fellow Lotto Northern Premier Women's League graduate could utilise. Bloomer anticipated the danger well on this occasion, dashing off her line to save at the striker's feet.
Seconds later, Pritchard and Vosper combined on the right with Knott, who delivered a delicious cross into the near post area, where Wisnewski was arriving on cue. Alas, Hunt was where she needed to be defensively - danger defused.
Wellington kept on pressing, Knott swooping on a rare stray pass from Malia Steinmetz - the Football Fern relished playing against her countrywomen - to work a 59th minute opening with Robertson for Hassett, who went down under pressure on the edge of the penalty area, but wasn't fouled, according to referee Rattray.
Wests swiftly cleared their lines, stormed downfield, and drew level on the scoreboard. Steinmetz was the architect of the move, working a one-two with the hard-working Harding before delivering "the right ball" - an inch-perfect five-yard pass - into the stride of the hard-charging Harrison.
She played in Gallagher through the inside left channel, from where the striker steered her shot past the on-rushing figure of Edwards and into the far corner of the net - 1-1, much to the delight of the visitors, who, like their opponents, have struggled to make much headway so far this season.
The covering run of Keir prevented Clegg from getting on the end of Pritchard's 65th minute cross as the home team looked to regain the lead, but their hopes of doing so suffered a blow two minutes later when Vosper, while chasing Harding, pulled up short - an injury setback Wellington doesn't need, given their current plight in this regard.
Following the fullback's enforced departure, the match became something of an arm wrestle, with both teams treading that fine line between striving to win and desperation to avoid defeat. It wasn't until the 89th minute that the next opportunity materialised, Pritchard's cross being headed past the post by substitute Charlotte Lancaster.
That was the cue for seven minutes of stoppage time, during which both goals came under siege. Lancaster and fellow replacement Mona Walker combined to send Hassett hurtling to the by-line, from where she looked to pick out Knott's near post run with a measured cross. Hunt, of course, had other ideas, and soon after, blocked a volleyed attempt by the ever-industrious Football Ferns midfielder.
Back came Wests, substitute Holly Caspers' teasing cross beating Edwards at her near post, only to find no one in a white shirt coming in beyond her to convert the opportunity. Harding looked to make amends seconds later, her cross being cleared to Bethany Gordon, whose fiercely struck drive was turned round her near post by Edwards - a vital save.
The resulting corner was cleared to Knott, who unleashed "The Betsy Express" upon an unsuspecting Western Sydney side. Hassett stormed over halfway as Wellington mounted a last-gasp raid in a bid to win the match, and her pass found Foster making a lung-busting run from deep and fast approaching the edge of the penalty area.
Matching her stride for stride, however, was Hunt, who capped off a splendid personal performance by intervening once more to ensure neither side would be celebrating three points at the conclusion of this tussle between the teams who are propping up the table.
Wellington: Edwards; Vosper (Cicco, 68), Barry, van der Meer, Foster; Hassett, Knott, Wisnewski (booked, 86) (McMeeken, 90); Clegg (Lancaster, 68), Pritchard, Robertson (Walker, 82)
West. Syd.: Bloomer; Apostolakis, Hunt, Keir, Matos; Harrison (Caspers, 75), Gordon, Steinmetz; Harding, Gallagher (booked, 30) (Price, 75), Rue (Chlastakova, 82)
Referee: Beth Rattray
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