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Late Leveller Earns Wellington First Point In Melbourne
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix earned their first-ever Ninja A-League point in Melbourne on December 13, Manaia Elliott's late headed equaliser securing a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory at the Home of the Matildas.
The home team was all over the visitors like a rash in the first ten minutes of the contest, enjoying a startling 91% of possession during that period. Little wonder that they carved out three goalscoring opportunities in that time, the first of which materialised in the third minute.
Beattie Goad enjoyed the run of the left flank before slipping the ball inside to Alana Jancevski, whose fierce drive was turned round the post by Carolina Vilao. The resulting corner was cleared, but only as far as Goad, whose cross was flicked on by Rachel Lowe to Nicki Flannery. Her header was foiled at close quarters by Vilao.
Wellington's defence followed their goalkeeper's lead in the seventh minute, blocking Ellie Wilson's bid to break the deadlock as she flew in to meet Jancevski's corner, while in the eleventh minute, a Lowe-led raid was foiled by Annalie Longo, who promptly turned defence into attack with a storming fifty yard run before releasing the overlapping Lara Wall to take it on further.
Her cross was blocked, but it was the first moment of promise for the visitors, who found themselves on the defensive again in the sixteenth minute when Alana Murphy split the defence with a pass which played in Flannery. Her low cross targeted Emily Gielnik, but Vilao snapped up the ball before the Matilda could get anywhere near it.
Paul Temple's charges started to get a foothold in the contest after this threat, and came close to taking the lead in the 22nd minute. Grace Jale did Wilson a treat to ignite the move, then released Wall down the left to continue it.
Her cross picked out Alyssa Whinham, whose sleight of foot unhinged Kayla Morrison and left the midfielder one-on-one with Courtney Newbon. Her outstretched leg denied the shot, with Football Fern Claudia Bunge nipping in to make sure Whinham didn't get a second chance.
After a cross from Flannery had been overrun by Gielnik, Wellington newcomer Alivia Kelly came under the spotlight in the 36th minute as allowed Wilson's lofted ball downfield to bounce … not the smartest thing to do with Jancevski in close attendance.
The striker stole in but couldn't capitalise on the opening, allowing Vilao to gather the ball … and give Kelly daggers - she was not best pleased, and that's being polite!
Wellington made it through to half-time without any further incident, but were soon under the cosh in the second spell, Gielnik drawing another top save from Vilao after turning Mackenzie Barry.
In the 51st minute, the home team took the lead, Jancevski firing home from the penalty spot - despite Vilao's best efforts - after Wall felled Flannery from behind in the area as Melbourne raided down the right.
Soon after, a cross-shot from Gielnik landed on the roof of Vilao's net, while Wellington's goalkeeper saved well to her right from Alex Chidiac after Jancevski's corner was partially cleared.
Whinham had largely been well contained by Jeff Hopkins' team, but with her final act of the match before being withdrawn from the fray, she showed why she's deserving of such close attention from the opposition, playing a raking forty yard pass into space for Wall to race onto in the 63rd minute.
The flying fullback sent a low cross zooming across
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the face of goal, just in front of Olivia Fergusson, who, too, got little change from Melbourne's rearguard, Morrison policing her particularly well.
While Wellington's substitutes were getting up to speed, Melbourne threatened via another Jancevski corner, this one a near post delivery which picked out Gielnik. Her glancing header was parried by Vilao, with Emma Main completing the goal-line clearance.
Three minutes later, Chidiac was on the charge, before threading the needle with a gem of a pass for Flannery's benefit. The combined efforts of Barry and Kelly diverted her cross to safety, while Barry was again the barrier to Melbourne's progress in the 71st minute, Chidiac the player thwarted after Lowe had done Zoe McMeeken a treat on the left.
Gielnik and Maya McCutcheon exchanged long-range efforts in the next two minutes, before a Jancevski free-kick was flicked on by Wilson to Bunge, whose bid to score against her country-women was foiled by Vilao's parried save, the 'keeper grabbing the rebound before the defender could react.
Wellington counter-attacked instantly, Longo sending Jale storming down the right into the penalty area, from where she pulled the ball back into the stride of Mebae Tanaka. Her shot was wayward, but fortunately picked out Main, whose instinctive strike flashed narrowly past the far post.
A concerted Wellington attack followed moments later, culminating in a Wall cross which arced just over Main's head. Goad headed the ball straight towards the incoming figure of McMeeken, who went for the big finish but came up with an embarrassing air-shot instead.
After Vilao dealt with a Murphy free-kick, her eagerness to launch a Wellington counter-attack saw her clearance fly straight into the back of Tiana Jaber. Melbourne was unable to capitalise on this opening, and the visitors were able to launch their raid, which saw Main's volley, on receipt of Jale's angled cross, lacking the power to trouble Newbon, who hadn't had a lot to do in the match thus far.
Her goal came under siege in the final minutes, however, as Wellington sought a late equaliser. A fiercely struck Tanaka drive was goalbound until it struck Main and looped onto the roof of the net, while after Jale and Longo had combined to retrieve a lost cause, Tanaka saw her shot blocked and fellow substitute Manaia Elliott drilled wide from eighteen yards in the 88th minute.
Stoppage time was imminent when Wellington drew level with a super goal. Longo picked out McCutcheon, who spread play wide to Main, racing down the right. Without breaking stride, she delivered a curling cross to the far post which found Elliott racing in beyond all-comers. From point-blank range, she sent a bullet header crashing into the back of the net to the undisguised delight of herself and her team-mates.
The visitors weren't done, either, and kept pressing for a winner in the dying minutes. Jale's twenty-five yard rocket thundered past the post, however, the closest either side came to claiming all three points in this encounter, a 1-1 draw which Wellington celebrated as if they had won the match. Mind, given it was their first-ever point in Melbourne, such celebrations are understandable.
Melbourne: Newbon; Wilson, Bunge, Morrison, Goad; Flannery, Murphy, Chidiac; Jancevski (O'Grady, 66), Lowe (D'Appolonia, 88), Gielnik
Wellington: Vidal; Jaber, Barry, Kelly (Elliott, 83 (booked, 84)), Wall; McCutcheon, Longo, Brazendale (McMeeken, 65); Jale, Fergusson (Main, 65), Whinham (Tanaka, 65)
Referee: Molly Godsell
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