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28Mar23
Clegg Brace Keeps Wellington Hopes Alive
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix's hopes of avoiding a second successive wooden spoon in the Liberty A-League are still alive after they downed Adelaide United 3-1 in a rescheduled fixture at Service FM Stadium on March 28.
694 fans saw the visitors snatch the win they needed to close to within two points of Newcastle Jets and set up their final game of the season, on Saturday at home to Melbourne Victory, as one in which they have all to play for, rather than one in which mere pride was at stake.
Two goals from new Football Ferns call-up Milly Clegg and Wellington's captain, Chloe Knott, earned the points for the travelling side, who slightly edged what can most kindly be described as nondescript opening stages of this match, Adelaide's last of the season.
Wellington coach Natalie Lawrence made five changes to her starting line-up compared with Saturday's loss at Newcastle, and it was one of the newcomers, Charlotte Lancaster, who set up the opening goal, her nineteenth minute corner to the near post being headed home by Knott, who celebrated her first goal of the campaign with gusto aplenty.
Within 75 seconds, however, United were on level terms. Meisha Westland wriggled through three challenges on the right before feeding Emilia Murray outside her. Her cross to the far post found Fiona Worts soaring over Claudia Cicco to head home the equaliser, much to the delight of the natives, who were eager to see their favourites finish their season on a winning note.
Wellington had other ideas, however, Michaela Foster emphasising the fact by rattling the post with a corner in the 23rd minute. And after Mackenzie Barry had blocked a Dylan Holmes drive, Betsy Hassett fed the overlapping figure of Foster, who delivered an angled ball in behind the defence with which Ava Pritchard, racing in, somehow failed to make contact - it was a golden chance to restore the visitors' lead in the 37th minute.
Sixty seconds later, Murray's back-heeled pass in the centre circle was pounced on by Grace Wisnewski, who sent a through ball for Clegg to pursue. Adelaide goalkeeper Annalee Grove raced off her line to clear her lines, but fired the ball straight into the oncoming striker, off whom the ball ricocheted past the 'keeper's right-hand post.
From the resulting goal-kick, Holmes stormed down the left before scything inside and unleashing a shot which Georgia Candy, on debut twixt the sticks for the Wellingtonians, grabbed greedily.
She was called into action twice more before the interval as United looked to head to the dressing rooms a goal to the good, but it wasn't to be. Candy was perfectly placed to deal with MelindaJ Barbieri's twenty yard drive after Murray and Foster had contested possession on the left, while the debutant then smothered a shot from Westland after Holmes had completely miscued a golden chance to fire Adelaide in front.
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Save for Candy denying Worts in the 53rd minute, the opening stages of the second spell were as tardy as those in the first half, and it wasn't until the 68th minute that things started to liven up.
Foster's long-range free-kick wasn't cleared, with Clegg pouncing on the loose ball to link with Cicco. Her cross broke kindly for Foster, who absolutely battered a twenty-five yard screamer low and hard towards the target, the ball flying inches past Grove's right-hand upright.
Seven minutes later, Wellington enjoyed better fate in front of goal. Emma Main, a recent recruit by Natalie Lawrence and a former Maia Jackman Trophy winner as the star turn in the 2021 Kate Sheppard Cup Final, produced a peach of a pass from halfway to open up the United defence. Clegg raced onto it and rounded the approaching figure of Grove before rolling the ball home into the empty net some twenty yards away.
Adelaide had to chase the game again, and came close to levelling in the 77th minute, Maruschka Waldus' looping header from Holmes' free-kick to the far post bouncing off the inside of the opposite upright into the goalmouth.
Wellington scrambled the ball to safety, and survived another scare when Katie Bowler's cross wasn't cleared. United captain Isabel Hodgson swooped on the opportunity but fired past the post, seconds before Candy flew to her right to turn a Holmes piledriver to safety.
United continued to pound away in search of an equaliser, but Wellington were holding firm, Candy smothering an Isabel Hodgson struck on the stretch soon after Grove had punched a Foster cross off the head of Main in a rare raid by the visitors.
Another, deep in stoppage time, sealed the deal for Wellington as they clinched their first-ever win over Adelaide. Wisnewski intercepted Jenna McCormick's pass on halfway and careered downfield at a great rate of knots, holding off challenges before slipping a pass into the stride of Clegg.
The striker capped off a red-letter day in her footballing career by securing victory, albeit with a wee bit of help from deflections off both Waldus then Grove, whose despairing bid to divert the ball to safety after it had looped over her only succeeded in taking some of the pace off the ball, which rolled slowly, agonisingly but delightfully - as far as Wellington were concerned - over the line to seal a 3-1 win for the visitors and keep their hopes of not finishing last alive.
Adelaide: Grove; I. Hodgson, Tonkin (McCormick, 76), Waldus, E. Hodgson; Holmes, Sasaki (Bowler, 46), Westland; Murray (Coorey, 60), Barbieri (Tolland, 74), Worts
Wellington: Candy; Cicco (Vosper, 84 (booked, 90)), Barry, Taylor, Foster; Knott (Walker, 67), Hassett, Wisnewski (booked, 76); Clegg, Pritchard (booked, 82) (McMeeken, 84), Lancaster (Main, 56)
Referee: Isabella Blaess
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