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28Jan24
Ten-Woman Wellington Storm Back To Winning Ways
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix stormed back to winning ways in the Liberty A-League on 28 January, accounting for Canberra United 2-0 in front of 1227 fans at Jerry Collins Stadium despite being reduced to ten women for the last quarter of the game after a bewildering decision by rookie referee Molly Godsell.
To be perfectly blunt, the official was so far out of her depth in this match that she was in need of depth charges being dropped from a great height to allow her to return to the surface! Amid a plethora of poor calls, by far the worst came in the 66th minute when, following a Maria Rojas corner, Vesna Milivojevic jostled with Wellington goalkeeper Rylee Foster and went to ground more than a little easily, and in delayed fashion.
After blowing her whistle and pointing to the penalty spot, up to Foster the referee marched, brandishing the red card for violent conduct. The goalkeeper, like all present and those watching, was in total disbelief, and understandably took her time leaving the pitch in the hope that the official would realise what a bewildering decision she had come to and just how wrong it was.
Alas, like another prized prat of days past, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - also known as "the wicked witch of the west" by those of both moral and socialist political persuasion, referee Godsell "wasn't for turning", and off Foster eventually trudged, to be replaced by Brianna Edwards, about whom more later.
For prior to this inconceivable decision, this had been a highly entertaining affair between two teams looking to put their respective seasons to rights, in Wellington's case a four-match losing streak which meant it was prior to Christmas since they'd last earned three points.
Inside the first two minutes of play, captain Annalie Longo's delicious through ball found Zoe McMeeken storming through from deep. She dragged her shot across the face of Chloe Lincoln's goal, to which Canberra responded through Milivojevic, whose delightful ball over the top arced just beyond Michelle Heyman, who was unable to bring the ball under control in the penalty area.
Back came Wellington, a fifth minute raid which saw Isabel Cox link with Mariana Speckmaier. Forced wide by Cannon Clough, the striker gained sweet revenge via the combination of a sharp turn and an exquisite nutmeg which left the defender for dead. Alas for Speckmaier, her snapshot was foiled by Lincoln, and Cox, who was causing problems aplenty on the right early doors, was unable to convert the rebound.
Canberra was next to threaten, a thirteenth minute raid led by Sasha Grove, whose driving forty yard run culminated in a pass intended for Heyman to exploit. Rebecca Lake had other ideas, however - she had another fine game, one made more challenging due to the absence of her usual partner in fighting crime, the injured Mackenzie Barry. In her absence, Tiana Jaber proved a more than able replacement.
The visitors continued to threaten, Clough's shot blocked following a corner, with the rebound falling to one-time Football Fern Deven Jackson. She sent a shot from the edge of the penalty area sizzling inches over the crossbar, while Mary Stanic-Floody was less accurate with a thirty yard free-kick in the 24th minute.
In the 26th minute, Grove picked out Heyman's run through the middle with a scrumptious pass, only for Foster to dash out and save at the feet of the league's most prolific markswoman - in recent weeks, she'd scored her 100th A-League Women's goal, the first player to achieve that tally.
Wellington responded with a counter-attack which resulted in a corner. Macey Fraser's delivery picked out Kate Taylor, who picked out the back of the net from six yards. But the combative midfielder had fouled Lincoln in the process of satisfying her goalscoring desires - 0-0 it remained for now.
The natives produced a super move in the 34th minute which was deserving of far better reward. Taylor fed Fraser, who worked a one-two with Speckmaier before slipping a pass to Longo. Her first-time round-the-corner pass to her Venezuelan team-mate was exquisite, but Speckmaier's shot was blocked by a defender.
This sparked a Canberra counter-attack in which the tireless Grove featured prominently. Down the left she surged before looking to pick out Heyman on the far post, but the ball flew just beyond both the striker and the far post.
Two minutes before half-time, Wellington broke the deadlock. McMeeken invited Cox to storm downfield once more, a sight to which three United defenders succumbed as the striker tore forward at pace.
Cox then slipped a delightfully weighted pass into the stride of Speckmaier, who timed her run
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through the inside left channel to perfection, then promptly beat Lincoln all ends up - 1-0 Wellington, to the undisguised delight of the natives, who would have loved to celebrate a second goal on the stroke of half-time had Lincoln not dealt with Hope Breslin's ambitious twenty-five yarder.
Wellington were swiftly into their stride once play resumed, Cox sweeping past two defenders before lashing a fifteen-yarder inches over the bar just two minutes into the second spell. Seconds later, Taylor and Longo combined to open up the Canberra defence, but the recovering figure of Clough managed to prevent Speckmaier from pulling the trigger.
Two minutes later, McMeeken broke up a Canberra raid and gave the ball to Fraser, whose vision was matched by her perfect execution of a beautifully weighted through ball into the stride of Longo as she hurtled into the penalty area. The skipper shot straight at Lincoln, who was covering her near post.
Wellington were relentless, however, and were rewarded for being so in the 52nd minute, the unmarked Speckmaier turning the ball home from close range upon being picked out by Breslin's corner to the far post - 2-0.
And so nearly 3-0 seconds later, Grove denying the hat-trick-hunting Speckmaier's close-range effort with a superb goal-line clearance. The ball was cleared downfield, and the game was eventually brought to a halt by referee Godsell after an aerial clash twixt Breslin and Tegan Bertolissio left both players prone on the ground. Remarkably, the official allowed play to continue for a good thirty seconds before calling a halt to proceedings - unbelievable!
Breslin was unable to continue, but her absence didn't hinder Wellington's progress in any way whatsoever. Fellow imports Cox and Speckmaier caused chaos in Canberra's penalty area on the hour, the former slipping between two defenders before slipping a pass inside to the latter, who turned one defender then skipped past another before unleashing an acute-angled shot which was thwarted by the outstretched leg of Lincoln.
Cue referee Godsell's incredulous intervention, which left Wellington down to ten and Fraser the sacrificial lamb as Foster was replaced in goal by Brianna Edwards, whose first task upon entering the fray saw her facing a penalty from Rojas.
Incredibly, the newcomer, who had turned 21 a day before the match, celebrated her coming of age with a stunning save to her right, and was duly engulfed by her team-mates. (As an aside, the penalty should have been retaken, as there were so many incidences of encroachment … but referee Godsell was blind to the goings-on behind her, so play continued).
Having the numerical advantage gave Canberra renewed hope of getting something from the contest, and they duly lay siege to Wellington's goal for the duration. Grove was denied a goal due to a foul in the build-up fifteen minutes from time, but generally the home team performed above and beyond, Lake, Jaber, Longo and Taylor in particular, while Speckmaier put in a terrific defensive shift for a player who's a classic number nine.
Occasionally, United breached their opponents' defences, with Milivojevic going close in the dying minutes with one effort, then seeing a shot on the turn blocked by Manaia Elliott following a corner.
In between these attempts, the indefatigable figure of Longo set off on a fabulous run downfield in the face of adversity, earning a free-kick which Taylor delivered into the danger zone. Lincoln punched the ball off the head of the incoming figure of Cox, a denial which prevented Wellington from increasing their winning margin, a character-laden 2-0 triumph Paul Temple's charges richly deserved as they scored their first win of 2024 with a performance of which they can be well proud.
One hopes referee Godsell didn't feel similarly about her personal display … the players and the game deserve better than to have officials who are clearly not up to this level of football thrust upon them.
Such appointments do the players and the game as a whole a severe disservice, and ultimately impact upon the refereeing fraternity, the vast majority of whom are, by and large, competent and consistent in their handling of on-field activities. They do their best each week, but if they're not up to the task at hand, they are quickly found out. At this level of the game, that shouldn't be happening.
Wellington: Foster (sent off, 66); Davidson (McMillan, 90), Jaber, Lake, McMeeken; Longo, Taylor, Fraser (Edwards, 69); Cox (Brazendale, 90), Speckmaier, Breslin (Elliott, 58)
Canberra: Lincoln; Clough, Clark, Grove, Whittall (Rojas, 54); Stanic-Floody, Murray (Christopherson, 46), Bertolissio (Nathan, 78), Jackson; Milivojevic, Heyman
Referee: Molly Godsell
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