The Wellington Phoenix’s 12th round Liberty A-League match against Adelaide United had to be abandoned on Thursday night due to lightning in Wollongong.
The match was initially delayed from its original 6:35pm AEDT kick-off after the WIN Stadium pitch was covered by hail.
Thunderstorms eventually moved away from the ground, and it was deemed safe to start the game at 8:05pm AEDT.
However, as the players were lining up in the tunnel, the lightning returned overhead, and the decision was made to call off the match.
Phoenix head coach Gemma Lewis says the “girls are gutted”.
“Everyone was just ready. They got themselves ready and the energy in the changing room just before we were about to go out was really good.”
Australian Professional Leagues (APL) have rescheduled the match for Friday, February 18, with kick-off at WIN Stadium at 4:05pm AEDT (6:05pm NZT). The match will be played behind closed doors due to a lack of stadium staff.
“Both teams are keen to play tomorrow (Friday)…because they’re here, they’ve travelled obviously, it costs them a lot as well,” Lewis said before the match was rescheduled.
“Both teams are ready to play and want to get it done. We’d love to play tomorrow.”
Lewis believes her players will have no problem getting themselves up again for the game on Friday.
“They’re ready. They want to play. If they could play tomorrow morning they would.
“We train a lot, we work really hard but ultimately all the girls want is games.”
