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25Nov23
Wellington Come From Behind To Down Perth
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix ensured their only trip to Auckland in this season's Liberty A-League was a winning one at GoMedia Mt Smart Stadium on November 25, coming from behind to down Perth Glory 2-1 in front of 5,532 fans, a record attendance for a Liberty A-League game in New Zealand.
The "home" team - this was just Wellington's second game in the city which is New Zealand's true home of football - set their stall out early, Manaia Elliott unleashing a shot on the run narrowly over the bar from twenty-five yards just two minutes into the contest.
Their neat interchanges were being undone by wayward forward passes, however, but not so in the eighth minute, when Elliott sent Mariana Speckmaier racing down the left. She weaved between two opponents before rattling the near post side-netting.
Perth were just as lively as their opponents, but found Wellington's rearguard to be rock-solid, apart from one instance when a rare Mackenzie Barry error wasn't capitalised upon, with Grace Jale in acres of space on the right - the Football Fern could only look on in frustration as her team-mates failed to exploit the opportunity.
Seventeen minutes in, Chloe Knott worked a one-two with Hope Breslin on the right which saw the midfield maestro cruise into the penalty area before looking to pick out Speckmaier with a chipped cross-shot, a delivery Perth goalkeeper Morgan Aquino acquainted herself with before the striker could do so.
Three minutes later, the visitors responded through Hana Lowry, whose through ball put Millie Farrow in on goal. Rylee Foster saved at her feet on this occasion, but sixty seconds later she was fishing the ball out of her net as Perth opened the scoring.
Sofia Sakalis pounced on a Michaela Foster pass and slipped a pass into the stride of Farrow. Her shot on the turn took a deflection off the covering figure of Hailey Davidson and arced beyond Rylee Foster into the far corner of the net.
The visitors repelled Wellington's efforts to get back into the game for a decent period after the goal, but after Aquino had smothered a twenty-five yarder from Knott in the 33rd minute, Wellington, sporting their change kit, piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser before the interval.
Kate Taylor won the ball well in midfield and linked with Annalie Longo, who was making her first start of the season in this match. The skipper worked a one-two with Elliott before playing in Michaela Foster on the left.
Her 38th minute cross sizzled across the face of goal, but upon being picked out by Speckmaier sixty seconds later, the fullback picked out Longo with another cross, prompting a shot on the turn which was blocked by Lowry. The ball broke kindly for Elliott, who sent a twenty-yarder sizzling over the bar.
After Jale had drawn a save from Rylee Foster, who kept out the striker's deflected twenty-yarder, Wellington twice came close to levelling the scores in the shadows of the half-time whistle.
Speckmaier roamed down the left once more, ignoring Elliott's positioning in favour of a cross which invited Knott to let fly. Her shot lacked the power to unduly trouble Aquino, an effort for which Wellington's record appearance holder looked to
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make amends by combining with Elliott seconds later.
The duo's contribution saw Breslin benefiting on the left flank, from where she fired in a cross which Speckmaier, sliding in on the far post, only just failed to reach - it was a real let-off for Perth, but boded well for Wellington if they could carry this form into the second spell.
Could they ever! Within two minutes of the resumption of play, Paul Temple's charges were on level terms. Elliott caught Liz Anton in possession and instantly picked out Knott on the right, where she teamed up with Longo to pick out Breslin, who picked out a beauty - an unerring finish beyond Aquino which delighted the gathered throngs.
Within five minutes, Perth looked to regain the lead via a Lowry free-kick. Rylee Foster's attempt to punch clear saw the ball ricochet to safety off an opponent, a let-off which Wellington exploited to the full on the hour mark, seconds after Elliott unleashed another twenty-five yarder which Aquino tipped over the bar.
The resulting corner was cleared to Barry, who lobbed the ball into the danger zone. Perth failed to clear the sphere, allowing Speckmaier to dart in and direct a looping header onto the bar. The ball dropped down and Knott, following in, sent a header into the net via the despairing efforts of Anton - 2-1 Wellington, a goal which proved highly significant for the scorer, given Knott was to announce her departure from the club a few days later, citing a variety of reasons.
There was still thirty-odd minutes to play in this contest, however, and in the 68th minute, Breslin and Knott combined on the right, the goalscorer delivering a delicious pass into Speckmaier's stride as she surged through the inside right channel. Her angled shot flew across the face of goal.
The game lost a great deal of momentum around this time, with substitutions and lengthy stoppages doing much to disrupt the flow of what, to this point, had been a captivating encounter.
Perth's pursuit of at least a share of the spoils continued despite the disruptions, however, with substitute Isobel Dalton drawing a superb save by Rylee Foster in the 76th minute, as she tipped the thirty yard drive over the bar. But they found the home team's rearguard in imperious form, no one more so than Marisa van der Meer - she had a monster game!
Four minutes from time, Jale was picked out by Quinley Quezada, and skipped past a challenge before thrashing an angled drive narrowly over the bar, an attempt which proved to be Perth's last of the game.
For after the back-pedalling Aquino kept out a thirty-five yard attempt from Speckmaier in stoppage time, the final whistle blew, Wellington's come-from-behind 2-1 win cementing their third placing on the table, a point behind Perth, whose long flight home from this "distance derby" gave them time aplenty to ponder what might have been.
Wellington: R. Foster; Davidson, Barry, van der Meer, M. Foster (McMeeken, 71); Longo (Lake, 71), Taylor (booked, 31), Knott; Breslin (Main, 78), Speckmaier, Elliott (booked, 51 (Brown, 78))
Perth: Aquino; Rigby, Mihocic (Johnston, 50), Cowart, Anton; Phonsongkham, Lowry, Cassidy (Dalton, 65), Sakalis (Quezada, 65); Jale, Farrow
Referee: Bec Mackie
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