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20Mar24
Wellington Wallop Adelaide To Keep Play-Off Hopes Alive
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix scored an emphatic 4-0 win over Adelaide United in their rescheduled Liberty A-League fixture at Jerry Collins Stadium on 20 March to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the end-of-season play-offs.
'Twas the visitors who set out their stall early doors, Rylee Foster twice forced into saves inside the first four minutes to deny Dylan Holmes - a flying save to her right - and Hannah Blake, who was playing against her countrywomen.
Wellington responded with a ninth minute raid, Isabel Cox's deflected through ball being valiantly pursued by Mariana Speckmaier, only for Claudia Jenkins to dash off her line and save at the feet of the goal-hungry Venezuelan.
She was rewarded for her desire with the opening goal, four minutes later. Adelaide had foolishly been trying to play out from the back in the early stages of the match, which is an admirable ploy if you possess players who are technically proficient enough to carry out this strategy.
United don't, to be perfectly blunt, and their shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed when Macey Fraser caught Nanako Sasaki in possession just outside the penalty area. Speckmaier was lurking with intent, and wasted little time in rifling home a shot from the edge of the penalty area to give the home team the start the 612 fans present eagerly sought.
Cox came close to doubling the lead halfway through the half, shooting straight at Jenkins after executing some terrific work on the left, as the well-beaten Ella Tonkin can well testify. United responded through Sasaki, but suffice to say her thirty-eight yard free-kick can most kindly be described as highly ambitious!
Alyssa Whinham had endured a troubled start to the game, culminating in an early booking by referee Mikayla Ryan. When she channels her aggression in the right manner, however, she wields tremendous influence on proceedings, and in the 26th minute this was evidenced by a delicious pass from halfway through the inside left channel for Speckmaier to sprint onto.
She powered to the by-line, beating Tonkin in the process, before unleashing an acute-angled drive which Jenkins parried to safety. Seconds later, the goalkeeper foiled the striker again, Jenkins this time saving at Speckmaier's feet after the striker had been picked out by Michaela Foster's superbly angled pass.
Adelaide came close to levelling the scores on the half-hour, Isabel Hodgson and Alana Jancevski working a one-two which allowed the former to unleash a dipping twenty-yarder which Rylee Foster tipped over the bar at full stretch - a terrific save. Hodgson's resulting corner was headed over the bar by Tonkin.
Back came Wellington, Speckmaier leading the charge with a powerful run through three challenges before inviting Cox to let fly in the 35th minute. Her shot was blocked on the edge of the area, with Michaela Foster's resulting corner picking out Speckmaier, who sent a thumping six yard header inches past the far post.
Fraser and Whinham dipped into their bag of tricks from the resulting goal-kick, a neat one-two bringing Speckmaier into play. She swiftly sent Fraser careering down the left, where she held off a challenge before engineering space to deliver a cross to the near post. Emma Main was racing in to meet it, but couldn't direct her effort on target thanks to a timely challenge by Tonkin.
Another corner resulted, and once more Foster delivered quality, a wicked inswinger which Jenkins did well to punch clear under all kinds of pressure, the last act of note in a half in which the home team was very in the ascendancy against the bottom-placed team.
They turned that dominance into goals in the
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second spell, going close on a number of occasions before the floodgates finally opened. Straight from the kick-off, Cox careered downfield into the penalty area before picking out Main, who failed to capitalise on the opening.
A minute later, Whinham weaved her way through three challenges before unselfishly looking to set up Speckmaier. United's defence prevailed on this occasion, but was soon under the cosh again, this time via a tantalising cross from Foster which was addressed for Main's personal attention. The winger failed to exploit this invitation to score … better is expected.
Fraser's vision was to the fore in the 52nd minute, as Wellington pounded on the door yet again. Aware that three team-mates had strayed offside, the playmaker held onto the ball until she spotted the right opportunity to open up United's rearguard.
The reward for Speckmaier's well-timed run was a scrumptious pass through the inside right channel onto which she strode before slipping a pass inside to Whinham, who deserved better reward than to see her fifteen yard drive rattle the post.
"The terrible twins" tormented the visitors again in the 56th minute, Whinham and Fraser creating mayhem through the middle before the latter stung the gloves of Jenkins from twenty yards. With all this pressure, a goal simply had to come, and it materialised in the 59th minute, following a cleared corner.
Foster was the recipient of the clearance, and delivered an angled cross from the right which was blocked by Holmes. The rebound fell to Michaela Robertson, who had been introduced to the fray just two minutes earlier. She hooked the ball inside to Cox, who laid it back to another Wellington substitute, Kate Taylor. With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, she slammed an eight yard volley into the net - 2-0.
With Adelaide's resistance broken, it was now time for Wellington to dip their bread. Home team players were queueing up to convert a beautifully weighted cross from Fraser in the 61st minute, but the visitors somehow survived.
Their relief was brief, however, for four minutes later, goal number three materialised. Some splendid skill from Cox left Zoe Tolland up a creek without a paddle. The American stormed forward into the space she had created before sending Main surging through the inside left channel, from where she delivered a low cross which Robertson tucked home from close range.
That goal pretty much settled the contest, and prompted a flurry of substitutions which broke up the flow of the game - just four opportunities of note materialised in the final 25 minutes. Cox and Zoe McMeeken combined to create another opening for Main, only for Maruschka Waldus' timely tackle to save the day for Adelaide fifteen minutes from time, while the visitors mustered a rare attack two minutes later, Miley Grigg's cross-shot from the right flying past Hodgson and the post.
Five minutes from time, Robertson raced away down the right at pace before crossing to the near post for Manaia Elliott, only for Tonkin to intervene at the vital moment. But in stoppage time, Wellington finally scored their fourth goal, Robertson racing down the left this time before delivering a cross which flew past all bar Foster, who strode onto the ball and thundered a ten-yarder into the far corner via a defender to wrap up the home team's biggest win of the season.
Wellington: R. Foster; Davidson, Barry, Jaber, M. Foster; Whinham (booked, 22) (Breslin, 64), Taylor (McMeeken, 64), Fraser (Elliott, 77); Main, Speckmaier (Robertson, 57), Cox
Adelaide: Jenkins; Tolland, Tonkin, Waldus, E. Hodgson; Holmes, Sasaki (Morgan, 70), Blake (Grigg, 70); Mullan, I. Hodgson (Panagaris, 78), Jancevski (Condon, 57)
Referee: Mikayla Ryan
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