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Main Brace Fires Wellington To Season-Ending Win

by Jeremy Ruane

A goal in each half from Emma Main - one fabulous, one fortuitous - earned Wellington Phoenix a season-ending 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in front of 1280 fans at Jerry Collins Stadium on March 30, securing Paul Temple's charges an eighth-placed finish in the 2023-24 Liberty A-League.

Had they not endured a dreadful run of form on their travels - nine successive defeats across the Tasman tells its own tale - Wellington may well have earned a top-six finish and, in doing so, extended their season into April, during which month the season-ending play-offs will take place.

The visitors needed at least a point from this match to guarantee their spot in the play-offs, but they rarely got going throughout proceedings - a measure of how hard Wellington's midfield unit worked to cut off the supply lines to the ever-dangerous Sophie Harding, who worked her socks off throughout the contest in a vain attempt to secure Wests' play-off hopes.

(As an aside, Harding would be an ideal first recruit for Auckland FC's women's team when that launches in 2025. A proper striker, she's out of contract with Wests at the conclusion of this campaign, so the powers-that-be need to make things happen now in order to not miss out on her services for a new team which needs to hit the ground running from day one).

The home team were gifted the first chance of the game in the sixth minute when Alexia Apostolakis woefully under-hit a back-pass. Isabel Cox pounced on it with glee and stormed goalwards with just goalkeeper Sham Khamis to beat. The striker looked to round the custodian, but Khamis stood her ground well, and plucked the ball off the toes of Cox - a great chance butchered.

Cox was eager to make amends, and sixty seconds later raced down the right past two opponents before delivering a low cross to the near post for Main, whose first-time shot across Khamis struck the inside of the far post and rebounded into the gloves of the grateful goalkeeper.

Macey Fraser looked to get in on the act soon after, evading two challenges before directing a wind-assisted - it wouldn't be Wellington without the wind impacting upon proceedings - twenty-five yarder over the bar.

Another stray pass from Apostolakis on the quarter hour invited Alyssa Whinham to chance her arm from distance, but she directed her snapshot past the post. The resulting goal-kick didn't get too far, for Whinham was soon in possession again, executing a super turn before threading the needle with a pass to Cox, whose clever dummy rewarded the run in behind her by Zoe McMeeken. Much to Wests' relief, Ella Buchanan had tracked said run, and made a timely intervention.

Wellington's early pressure was bound to be rewarded at some stage, and in the eighteenth minute the goal celebrations were on show as they opened the scoring with a cracker! Kate Taylor switched play to Fraser on the left, who instantly played the ball on for Manaia Elliott to pursue.

Now Elliott had copped a bit of a buffeting in a challenge, and was still feeling the effects of it when Fraser took possession of the ball. But with Lazarus-like powers of healing, she swiftly got to her feet and set off in pursuit of the pass, and upon reaching it whipped in a first-time cross which Main, diving at full length, headed across Khamis and into the far corner of the net from the edge of the goal area - 1-0 Wellington, and how! A great goal!

Soon afterwards, the home team's cause was hampered by an injury to Taylor, who was off the park for a good five minutes before being replaced. Wests were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority during this time, however, but certainly came back into the contest, and twice went close to levelling the scores before the interval.

Harding was released down the left in the 41st minute, and cut inside before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area which Rylee Foster was right behind. Three minutes later, Apostolakis and Harding worked a one-two on the right, with the overlapping fullback's teasing cross not being cleared by McMeeken. The ball fell kindly for Danika Matos, but her finish was poor, firing over from ten yards when scoring appeared the easier option.

Right on half-time, Wests captain Amy Harrison

made a right pig's ear of what seemed a straight-forward situation, gifting possession to Cox inside the visitors' penalty area. The striker swiftly crossed the ball to Elliott, whose lay-off invited Whinham to let fly from ten yards. Khamis smothered her shot - a real let-off for the travelling team.

Wests were aggrieved three minutes after half-time when a Harrison free-kick saw Michaela Foster head the ball over her own crossbar to prevent it from reaching Harding, only for referee Caitlin Williams to award a goal-kick!

Four minutes later, Buchanan won possession on halfway and sparked a move in which Cushla Rue, Matos and Harding featured before Rue was invited to let rip from twenty yards. She directed her shot straight at Rylee Foster.

Wests paid a heavy price for this profligacy three minutes later, as Wellington doubled their lead, this time against the run of play. Elliott combined with Hope Breslin, who pumped the ball into the prevailing wind.

The sphere held up in the atmosphere, allowing Main to latch onto it and get the better of Vicky Bruce before firing a shot which squirmed through the hands of Khamis before bouncing over the line behind her - 2-0, and the reaction of the Wests players spoke volumes. This was the proverbial straw which broke the camel's back.

Whinham and Michaela Foster had shots blocked prior to the hour mark, while a twenty-five yarder from Breslin was grabbed by Khamis by her left-hand post. The goalkeeper's raking 63rd minute clearance wasn't dealt with by Wellington, allowing substitute Malia Morris to let fly from distance. Rylee Foster was equal to her attempt to drag the visitors back into the contest.

Fraser and Breslin went close with long-range efforts soon after, to which Wests responded via Rue, who fired an angled drive past the near post in the 71st minute before directing a diving header across the face of goal ten minutes from time upon receipt of Harrison's free-kick to the near post.

The visitors couldn't breach Wellington's solid rearguard action, however, with Mackenzie Barry - playing her fiftieth match for the club, the first player to realise this milestone - leading by example as they rebuffed everything Wests threw at them.

The dam came close to being breached in the 84th minute, however, a Morris corner resulting in several blocked shots and a rejected penalty appeal. Debutant goalkeeper Aimee Feinberg-Danieli - a late substitute for Rylee Foster - was called upon soon after to tip a twenty-five yard free-kick from Harrison onto the bar, before surviving a couple of nervous moments in the dying minutes.

It wasn't all one-way traffic, however, for Wellington came close to scoring a third goal in stoppage time, substitutes Tiana Jaber and Daisy Brazendale combining with fellow replacement Hailey Davidson, whose teasing cross, targeting the hat-trick-hunting figure of Main, was punched off her head by Khamis. The ball fell kindly to Fraser, whose twenty yard chip arced narrowly over the bar.

Wellington had done enough, however, a 2-0 win allowing them to finish their campaign on a high, yet leaving them wondering what might have been had they been able to pack their fine home form - 22 points out of a possible 30 - into their luggage for their West Island engagements, in which 6 points realised out of a possible 36 tells its own tale.

Wests and Perth Glory ended up being the only teams Wellington defeated on both sides of the Tasman, the former their first road trip, the latter win recorded after they had remained in Australia after playing in Melbourne days beforehand.

Quite what they have to do to overcome this travel bug is a problem which needs resolving before the 2024-5 season, as the 2025-6 campaign will see a local rival in Auckland FC entering the mix, and the pressure on both clubs for at least one of them to be season-ending play-off contenders every season thereafter will be on big-time.

Wellington: R. Foster (Feinberg-Danieli, 80); Taylor (Jaber, 33), Barry, M. Foster; McMeeken, Whinham (Davidson, 61), Breslin, Fraser, Elliott (Speckmaier, 61); Main, Cox (Brazendale, 80)

West. Syd.: Khamis; Apostolakis, Harrison, Bruce (booked, 66), McComasky (Morris, 62); Matos, Chessari (Younis, 62), Price (Caceres, 62), Buchanan; Harding, Rue (Abdul-Massih, 81)

Referee: Caitlin Williams

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