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040125
Wellington Return To Winning Ways In Wind
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix took full advantage of the wind which swept down Jerry Collins Stadium on January 4 to down Perth Glory 2-0 in their Ninja A-League Women's encounter, securing a fourth win in six matches for Paul Temple's team.
Perth enjoyed the elements at their back in the first spell, but it was Wellington who first threatened, Lara Wall racing down the left before delivering a teasing third minute cross which Casey Dumont misjudged. Grace Johnston, racing back in cover, was on hand to clear off the line, then blocked Mebae Tanaka's attempt to turn the ball home from close range.
Four minutes later, an Annalie Longo delivered a corner right into the zone, the ball striking a Perth defender and ricocheting goalwards. Dumont dived to her left to deny the home team the game's opening goal, after which the visitors managed to get a foothold in the game as they came to terms with the blustery conditions.
Perth's first attack of the match came about via yet another wayward pass from Zoe McMeeken, whose inaccurate distribution continues to be a major flaw in her game. This one couldn't be controlled by Alyssa Whinham, and gave Gabby Hollar the chance to power into the penalty area.
But the covering tackle of Maya McCutcheon came to Wellington's rescue, necessarily so, as central defenders Mackenzie Barry and Tiana Jaber had both picked up yellow cards from referee Mikayla Ryan inside the first fifteen minutes, and a mistimed tackle by either of them in this situation would almost certainly have reduced the home team to ten.
Wellington responded to this scare via a Grace Jale-inspired counter-attack, which Longo was swift to join. She took on all-comers before picking out Tanaka with a cross which the attacker met with a diving header at somewhere around ankle height. As the ball soared over the bar, all present were wondering why she didn't look to let fly on the volley … a missed chance.
Longo and Tanaka combined on the half-hour, the latter delivering a near post cross which Olivia Fergusson darted in to meet. She couldn't direct her effort on target, however, unlike Jale five minutes later. Receiving a McMeeken cross, the former Perth player turned Isabella Foletta before unleashing a drive which Dumont smothered at her near post.
Dumont was called upon again three minutes later, this time to deny Tanaka after Longo, Whinham and Wall had carved open Perth's left flank. The visitors responded via Hollar and Natalie Tathem, but both fired shots wide of the mark before the half-time whistle.
Within seconds of the restart, Barry presented Hollar with the chance to break the deadlock via an under-hit back-pass, but Carolina Vilao dashed out to deny the striker the opportunity. Within seconds, Wellington's goalkeeper cleared the ball downfield, the bounce of the ball deceiving Charli Wainwright, much to the delight of Jale.
The statuesque striker set sail for goal from halfway, and when thirty yards out, unleashed an absolute screamer which careered between Dumont and her right-hand post before burying itself right in the corner of the net. Power, precision, perfection. Jale at her irrepressible best.
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Perth's hopes of getting back into the contest were dealt a severe blow in the fiftieth minute, Hollar copping a stray arm from Wall in an aerial duel which left the striker nursing a blood nose. Unfortunately for the visitors, the bleeding couldn't be contained, and Tanika Lala's services were called upon for the duration.
Now with the wind at their backs, and buoyed by Jale's goal, Wellington moved through the gears and dominated the rest of the contest. Dumont just got away with a pass to Johnston with Fergusson bearing down on her on the hour, before grabbing a cross-shot from Longo six minutes later after Wellington's captain had won the ball in Perth's penalty area.
This came after Tanaka had sent the ball blazing over the bar. Another save from Dumont denied Longo in the 68th minute, after Jale and Wall had combined well down the left, and it was the rampaging fullback, sixty seconds later, who set up Wellington's second goal with a beautifully flighted cross which Fergusson met with a powerful twelve-yard header, the ball arrowing past Dumont and into the corner of the net - 2-0.
There was no way back for Perth now, and they should have been facing a penalty in the 82nd minute when Naomi Thomas-Chinnama clattered into Wellington substitute Manaia Elliott after the ball had gone. Referee Ryan ruled out any prospect of a spot-kick, however, a decision she got well wrong.
Six minutes from time, Longo and Jale created more mayhem, with Emma Main this time the beneficiary of the duo's dynamics. As for Tanaka in the first half, so for Main now - why look to execute a diving header at near-grass-height level when a volley or half-volley offered the greater prospect of a goal percentage-wise?
Perth mounted a rare attack in response, and came within inches of halving the deficit. Miku Sunaga played the ball through the inside left channel for Lala, who got the better of Barry, only to be thwarted by the legs of Vilao. The ball rebounded out to Sunaga, who hit a sublime first-time volley on the run which crashed against the crossbar and rebounded to safety.
Wellington looked to respond to this let-off by netting a further goal in the remaining minutes. Main's teasing cross-shot drew a save from Dumont, who then denied Fergusson with a fine save at her near post after Elliott had contrived an opening from the by-line.
Longo then rattled the side-netting from a free-kick in stoppage time, but the damage had long since been done by the home team, whose third successive home win has set them up for a challenging road trip, with games at Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United inside the next twelve days.
Wellington: Vilao; McMeeken (booked, 59 (Elliott, 71)), Jaber (booked, 16 (Kelly, 71), Barry (booked, 11), Wall; Tanaka (Main, 80), Longo, McCutcheon, Jale; Whinham (Brazendale, 80), Fergusson
Perth: Dumont; Foletta (booked, 63), Zogg, Thomas-Chinnama, Johnston; Wainwright (Valetta, 73), Cassidy, Tathem; Wynne (Lincoln, 85), Hollar (Lala, 54), Sunaga
Referee: Mikayla Ryan
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