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22Oct23
Impressive Wellington Win Well In "Wanderland"
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix scored a super 3-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBank Stadium, aka "Wanderland", on October 22 to record their first win of the 2023-24 Liberty A-League season, while sending the beaten side to the bottom of the table.
The home team enjoyed the better of the first ten minutes, at which point Kate Taylor and Hailey Davidson combined to unleash Emma Main down the right at pace. Her cross to the far post arced just over the heads of both Mariana Speckmaier and Hope Breslin as both looked to do the delivery justice.
Ten minutes later, an under-hit pass from Davidson put Rylee Foster in all sorts of bother, but the former Liverpool 'keeper escaped the clutches of Sophie Harding and cleared her lines well.
Bolstered by that, Wanderers came again two minutes later, Alexia Apostolakis playing the ball wide to Maliah Morris, whose low cross to the near post found Bethany Gordon darting in to meet it. Under pressure from Foster and the covering figure of Mackenzie Barry - she was her usual rock-solid self in defence - the flank player steered her shot narrowly past the upright.
Both teams rather cancelled each other out during the opening half-hour of play, with both guilty of playing passes into the final third which didn't find their target. Whichever team rectified that element of their play first would likely gain due reward for doing so, and as things panned out, Wellington duly did so.
Five minutes before half-time, they had penalty claims waved away by referee Isabella Libri, who was taking charge of her second game in the competition in 24 hours, having compered one in Brisbane on Saturday. Speckmaier was the player most aggrieved, having got the better of Vicky Bruce in the area, only to be upended by the central defender.
Wests rode their luck, and continued to do so right up until the half-time whistle, a period of play in which Macey Fraser stamped her authority on proceedings. Latching onto the ball inside the home team's half in the 43rd minute, she swept past Amy Chessari, Madison McComasky and Bruce before letting fly from twenty yards.
Wests goalkeeper Kaylie Collins was right behind this effort, but was beaten all ends up sixty seconds later as the playmaker, upon receipt of Breslin's pass, unleashed an angled, dipping twenty-five yard missile which crashed off the crossbar, a feat Main attempted to match in stoppage time, her twenty-five yarder rattling the stanchion after Fraser and Grace Wisnewski had combined to engineer the opening.
The second half saw another controversial moment materialise when Melissa Caceres, who had been booked before half-time, took out Wisnewski in the 51st minute. Referee Libri could very easily have given her her marching orders, but the midfielder injured herself in the process of felling her opponent, and Caceres left the park on a stretcher - she'll probably out for longer than a one-match suspension, so the referee must have considered that sufficient punishment!
Caceres' replacement was Talia Younis, who, upon entering the fray, became the youngest player to ever grace the Liberty A-League. Indeed, when a ball was first kicked in anger in the competition fifteen years ago, she hadn't even been born - another record, one she'll hold forever!
The newcomer's arrival spurred Wanderers on to enjoy their best spell of the match. Only a vital Van der Meer challenge on the edge of the area prevented Gordon from progressing any further in the 57th minute, while Foster kept out a twenty-yarder from the lively flank player seconds later.
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Sophie Harding spurned the chance to open the scoring when stumbling on receipt of an Apostolakis pass soon after, then saw Foster dive to her left to keep out her shot, Gordon, Amy Harrison and Morris having combined to present Harding with the chance on the edge of the area.
Wellington rode out the storm, and responded by opening the scoring in the 68th minute. Breslin delivered a corner to the far post, where Speckmaier beat all-comers in the air to direct a header goalwards, the ball crossing the line before Bruce's attempted clearance sent the ball soaring into the roof of the net.
Cue a stirring Western Sydney response, only for Barry to rebuff it in brilliant fashion in the 74th minute, a stunning, perfectly timed tackle in the penalty area to deny Holly Caspers in the act of shooting after the substitute had been played in by Morris. A split-second later, and this would have been a stonewall penalty.
Three minutes later, Harrison fired in a free-kick from near half to the edge of the penalty area. Caspers turned the ball into the stride of Apostolakis, who invited Danika Matos to unleash a fiercely struck drive. Foster pulled off a fine save at her near post to keep Wellington's noses in front.
Seconds after referee Libri had deemed Van der Meer's challenge on Morris in the area to have been legal and above board, Wellington took the game away from Wests with two goals in a four-minute spell to clinch victory.
Substitute Manaia Elliott pounced on a stray pass and instantly invited Fraser to take charge of proceedings, something she did with aplomb. Sidestepping Bruce's challenge, she unleashed an unerring drive from the edge of the penalty area beyond the diving figure of Collins and into the bottom corner of the net - 2-0 after 83 minutes.
Which became 3-0 in the 87th minute. Taylor, 24 hours after celebrating her twentieth birthday, picked out Fraser's charging run through the middle with an inch-perfect pass, her best of the match. (There were a few which were far less accurate, it must be said!)
Fraser duly turned the ball on to Elliott, whose cross was cleared back to her by Apostolakis. Given a second chance, the Junior Ferns captain wasted little time in despatching it beyond Collins, rifling home from fifteen yards to wrap up the scoring.
Wellington could have had more goals before the final whistle. Taylor beat two opponents and Fraser one before crossing for Kelli Brown, whose looping header was grabbed by Collins. The 'keeper then turned a thunderous twenty-yard first-time volley from Chloe Knott round the post after Fraser and Elliott had combined once more.
The resulting corner saw Brown pick out Taylor on the far post, past which the former Junior Ferns skipper headed the ball. The same upright was rattled by Elliott soon after, Collins tipping her shot onto the woodwork after substitute Rebecca Lake had combined with Fraser to create more mayhem which Wanderers hadn't a prayer of dealing with.
The final whistle came as a blessed relief for the well-beaten side, while their opponents celebrated their sixth win in 34 matches in this competition, two of which have come at Western Sydney's expense, with this by far the more convincing triumph.
West. Syd.: Collins; Apostolakis, Bruce, McComasky, Matos; Morris, Chessari, Harrison, Gordon; Harding (Caspers, 70), Caceres (booked, 34 (Younis, 54))
Wellington: R. Foster; Davidson, Barry, Van der Meer, M. Foster (Knott, 65); Fraser, Taylor, Wisnewski (Lake, 84); Main (Elliott, 60), Speckmaier, Breslin (Brown, 84)
Referee: Isabella Libri
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