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11Feb22
Wellington Records Historic Victory At Last
by Jeremy Ruane
They have been building towards it for a number of weeks, but on February 11, 2022, Wellington Phoenix finally earned their historic maiden Liberty A-League victory, convincingly downing Canberra United 3-0 in front of 957 spectators at Viking Park to leave the beaten team as the only one still without a win to their name in the competition this season.
The scenes of unbridled joy after the final whistle were ones which this young Wellington team has earned the hard way, having endured a mixture of hidings and heartbreaking defeats in this their inaugural campaign.
But this match, the first capital cities clash in A-League history, was one which coach Gemma Lewis and her charges had been eyeing as one in which they could potentially rid themselves of that unwelcome winless tag in their maiden campaign, and so it proved.
What was a frantic first half began brightly for Wellington, newly named Liberty A-League Young Player of the Month Alyssa Whinham wriggling through three challenges on the edge of the penalty area before setting up Grace Wisnewski.
Her shot was mis-timed, affording Chloe Lincoln an easy third minute save, but the 'keeper had to be on her toes five minutes later as Chloe Knott worked a one-two with Whinham before splitting the defence with a scintillating through ball for Ava Pritchard to pursue. Lincoln dashed off her line to save at the striker's feet.
The ball was in the net a minute later at the other end of the park, but Ashleigh Sykes had struck from an offside position - a let-off for Wellington, who pursued the Pritchard option again two minutes later, this time via an Isabel Gomez through ball. Once more, Lincoln was alert to the threat posed by the pace of an attacker who mis-timed her runs on a few occasions in this keenly contested encounter.
Canberra had their own speed merchant in former Matilda Michelle Heyman, and in the nineteenth minute she was unleashed down the left by Grace Maher's probing pass. The striker accelerated past the otherwise imperious Mackenzie Barry before battering the side-netting next to Lily Alfeld's near post with an acute-angled drive.
Further Canberra pressure followed six minutes later, after Kate Taylor gifted possession to Chelsee Washington. The American surged into the penalty area, only to be stopped in her tracks by a quite outrageous tackle by Wellington's vice-captain, who literally flew in to the challenge before dispossessing Washington whilst in a prone position.
Referee Rebecca Mackie made a number of interesting calls in this encounter, few of which favoured the home side. This was one such decision - a goal kick was awarded while Canberra players were howling for a penalty.
Taylor got the ball, however, but had she not done so, and collected Washington instead, not only would the official have been pointing to the spot, but the defender would very likely have received her marching orders, on the grounds of serious foul play - when a player leaps into a challenge with both feet off terra firma … Taylor dodged a bullet on this occasion, no question!
Wellington responded positively to this scare, Knott working a one-two with Gomez before testing Lincoln with a first-time effort. Whinham's quick-footedness then enabled her to bewitch three defenders on the edge of the area before Canberra defender Lauren Keir stepped in to avert the danger - in a beaten team, she hardly put a foot wrong.
Concerted pressure from the visitors followed, Zoe McMeeken picking out Knott, whose shot on the turn was blocked by Keir. Pritchard pounced on the loose ball and played it wide to Jale, whose cross picked out Whinham. She miscued her volley, the ball striking McMeeken rather than the back of the net.
That moment wasn't far away for Wellington, but didn't materialise before Canberra next threatened via a Keir corner, which Alfeld punched off the head of Sasha Grove at the near post.
Four minutes before half-time, the deadlock was broken. Knott delivered a free-kick into the goalmouth which Keir cleared as far as Whinham. She slid a pass to Pritchard, who duly returned the compliment, allowing the playmaker to slip the ball to her right, and into the stride of Knott, steaming up in support after taking the free-kick.
Without breaking stride, she fair slammed the ball towards the target, her fifteen-yarder proving far too hot for Lincoln to handle - 1-0 Wellington, but only time would tell how critical that goal would prove to be.
For first half stoppage time produced a potentially game-changing incident, Taylor landing heavily on her back as she looked to get on the end of a Gomez free-kick from distance. The central defender was in considerable pain after treatment, and Wellington opted not to replace her before the interval, a decision for which they nearly paid a severe price.
With their opponents temporarily numerically challenged, Canberra pressed hard for an equaliser before the break, and thought they had engineered it when Sykes stormed down the right before crossing for fellow former Matilda Heyman. Barry somehow intercepted, a denial which thwarted a certain goal.
There was still time for the home team to mount another raid, with Chloe Middleton this time leading the charge. Her cross picked out Grove, who steered the sphere past Alfeld's left-hand post with the last kick of a lively half of football.
The second spell carried on in like manner, after Taylor, having tried but failed to resume after the interval, needing to be replaced by Mona Walker. Seemingly before she'd even taken up her position, Canberra attacked through Sykes, who evaded two challenges before going to ground under a clumsy challenge from McMeeken in the area.
It looked to be a nailed-on penalty, but much to the disbelief of Sykes, her team-mates and the vast majority of those present, referee Mackie awarded Canberra a corner, rather than a spot-kick - no hometown official, this one!
Maher's resulting delivery was punched out by Alfeld, who then turned an Ally Haran drive to safety as United looked to get back on level terms, a situation which was just seconds away from changing.
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Wellington cleared their lines and mounted a counter-attack, with Wisnewski - a busy game - inviting Knott to lead a fiftieth minute attack. With Jale ahead of her on the left, Knott duly delivered a gorgeous defence-splitting pass which invited the Football Fern to race clear of the covering defence and finish unerringly beyond Lincoln, the ball arrowing into the bottom far corner of the net to give Wellington a two-goal lead.
Canberra had to score next, and they set about the task with a vengeance. Straight from the kick-off, Heyman combined with Washington, who slipped a pass into the stride of Sykes. Her shot sizzled past Alfeld but just past the far post as well - a close call.
As was the outcome of a Maher corner three minutes later, a delivery which deceived Alfeld, who was extremely grateful to see Talitha Kramer well placed to head the ball off the line and maintain Wellington's clean sheet.
United continued to press, but a stray pass from one half-time substitute to another saw Margot Robinne gift possession to Hannah Jones, fresh from picking up a yellow card in bizarre circumstances - it's rare to see the player who earned a free-kick being booked, but referee Mackie punished Jones for inadvertently striking Washington in the face with her hand in the immediate aftermath of the foul committed by the American … go figure!
Jones duly slipped a pass through for Knott to pursue, but Lincoln was quickly off her line to cut off that particular avenue of opportunity for the visitors, who threatened again on the hour via a sumptuous move begun by McMeeken, whose pass to Jale prompted a peach of a through ball which allowed Pritchard to evade the covering defender and pick out Knott at the near post.
Her lay-off was an invitation for Whinham to let fly, but before she could, the offside flag brought play to a shuddering halt. Knott had strayed offside in order to receive Pritchard's pass - a pity, as such a high quality move deserved a goal to match.
Unperturbed, Wellington pressed again, and found themselves in dreamland in the 62nd minute - 3-0! Whinham found Kramer steaming up on the left, from where the fullback fizzed in a near post cross beyond Knott. Pritchard was the beneficiary, but she got her volley all wrong, at least until the ball struck Haran, off whom it ricocheted past the diving figure of Lincoln and into the net via the base of the far post.
Only more fine defending by Keir prevented Pritchard from finding the net herself a minute later, following a fine move involving Kramer, Whinham, Jale and Jones, after which Canberra turned up the temperature - having twice come from 3-1 down to draw in recent matches, this game was far from over from their perspective.
Alfeld, who heads to the USA to join up with the Football Ferns after this match, grabbed a shot from Washington, while a flurry of corners had Wellington's rearguard in all sorts of bother and doing everything physically possible to maintain the current scoreline. A 73rd minute attack opened up the visitors, however, but Canberra only had themselves to blame for failing to capitalise upon it.
Maher sent freshly introduced substitute Holly Caspers galloping down the right, from where she got to the by-line and pulled the ball back, Heyman her intended target. The intervention of substitute Allira Toby directed the sphere away from the striker and across goal to Robinne, who promptly returned the ball from whence it came. Toby duly steered it past the post - a real let-off for the visitors.
Still Canberra pressed, Maher thrashing a twenty-yarder against the crossbar in the 76th minute after another of her teasing corners had only been partially cleared. The same player lashed another effort past the post nine minutes later, with Walker having directed a header, from Knott's pinpoint corner, past the upright at the other end of the park in between times.
Time was running out for United, though, despite their unerring desire to change the scoreline. But Toby's header over the bar two minutes from time was their last realistic opportunity to deny Wellington the clean sheet the visiting victors sought as they closed in on a win which could well have seen the margin of victory increased in stoppage time.
Saskia Vosper had been introduced off the bench by this stage, and her long throw-in has long been one of the best and most effective in NZ women's football - this writer hasn't seen a better exponent of the art in over three decades spent covering the local game.
Vosper's delivery was duly flicked on by Jale for Wisnewski, off whose toes Lincoln grabbed the ball as she looked to wrap up Wellington's win with a finishing flourish. 3-0 was their lot, however, and how they enjoyed it - a first-ever victory for the enterprise, just five months after finally being granted permission to compete in Australasia's only professional women's football league.
As the final whistle sounded, the smiling figure of Lewis turned to her assistant, Natalie Lawrence. It was the look of satisfaction they exchanged, before embracing each other in delight, which spoke volumes for how much this meant to them.
Their charges were understandably cock-a-hoop, the feat they had worked towards for so long, and been denied in painful fashion in a couple of previous fixtures, now a reality, prompting joyous post-match scenes which winning as a team for the first time ever can only bring about.
This was special, and hugely satisfying, a win which has made all the trials, tribulations, sacrifices and setbacks endured along the way all the more worthwhile. And while they've still work to do and more points to play for - three games remain in Wellington's season, the date of 11 February 2022 will forever hold a special place in New Zealand women's football's history, thanks to the efforts of the young women named below.
Canberra: Lincoln; Vidmar, Keir, Haran, Ilijoski; Maher (Karrys-Stahl, 85), Washington (Toby, 69), Middleton (Robinne, 46); Sykes (Caspers, 69), Heyman, Grove
Wellington: Alfeld; McMeeken, Barry, Taylor (Walker, 48), Kramer; Wisnewski (booked, 58), Gomez (booked, 15) (Jones, 46 (booked, 56)), Whinham (Lancaster, 90); Pritchard (Vosper, 79), Knott, Jale
Referee: Rebecca Mackie
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