The Wellington Phoenix have lost to the Central Coast Mariners after a Tiana Fuller wondergoal.
With the match evenly poised, a moment of brilliance from the teenager condemned the Phoenix to a 1-0 defeat at Woy Woy Oval on the Central Coast.
Wellington Phoenix head coach Paul Temple thought his side deserved more from a game which was largely well balanced.
“It was a pretty even game I thought. There wasn’t too much between the teams,” Temple said post-match.
“I thought Mariners started better, we were on the back foot a bit but rode out the wave and organised ourselves.
“We probably had a lot more of the ball in the second half, and certainly played a lot better in terms of what we were offering, but the moment of magic from Fuller ultimately settled the game.
“It’s a pretty stunning goal, which kind of makes it even more disappointing, that something like that stops you from getting a result.
“I certainly thought we were worthy of something from the game, but certainly could be a lot better as well.”
While the Phoenix did create some openings, the final ball never quite landed perfectly.
“We definitely had some chances, and went close on set pieces as well.
“There were moments there that we could have capitalised on, but certainly not the wealth of chances we’ve been creating lately in terms of the amount of attempts on goal and crosses.
“But credit to the Mariners, they’re a difficult team to play against. They’re well-organised, well-coached, and ultimately we just didn’t have enough quality.”
While it is now two away losses in a row for Wellington, Temple believes consistent results on the road are close.
“It’s tough to win away in the league full stop. Results will tell you that across the board, it’s not just us. That’s why you don’t see lots of away wins every weekend.
“I think we’ve been playing really good football, and when we’re in our groove we’re very difficult to stop.
“What we have to learn is to find ways to get points when we’re not quite in our groove, and find ways to win in a different way. We were pretty close to that today.
“We’ve got enough to win on the road, there’s no doubt about it.
“We’ve just got to find some different ways to unlock teams when plan A isn’t working, and work a little bit harder on our plan B.”
Paul Temple made one change to his side, with Manaia Elliott, the hero of the comeback victory over Newcastle Jets, replacing Mebae Tanaka.
Both sides made a physical start, with tackles flying in from the first whistle.
Tiana Fuller had the first effort on goal in the 10th minute, her attempt drifting wide of Carolina Vilão’s left-hand post.
Vilão was called into action again five minutes later when Annalise Rasmussen squared for Fuller, whose low shot was brilliantly smothered by the Phoenix ‘keeper.
Despite winning the ball in dangerous areas, Wellington struggled to find a killer pass to create scoring chances.
Sarah Langman was particularly alert in the Mariners goal, sweeping up a number of through balls.
When Grace Jale did carve out space in the area, she opted to pass, leading to Alyssa Whinham having an effort which went narrowly wide.
Central Coast immediately found their own space to shoot, Jade Pennock’s attempt going straight into Vilão’s arms.
A defensive miscommunication almost allowed the Mariners in behind before Tiana Jaber recovered well to clear behind. From the resulting corner, Bianca Galic headed just over.
Neat interplay between Maya McCutcheon and Elliott released Jale in behind, who couldn’t keep her effort down.
The last act of the first half saw Fergusson sent through one-on-one, but Langman was out quickly to take the ball off her toes.
Central Coast made a fast start to the second period, Fuller’s cross just evading Rasmussen at the far post.
And they took the lead in spectacular fashion in the 55th minute, when Fuller’s shot from distance curled into the top corner.
Rasmussen tried to duplicate the goal three minutes later, but her shot sailed high and wide.
Wellington almost found space when Fergusson was slipped through, but Taylor Ray denied her with a perfectly timed sliding tackle.
McCutcheon was next to try from range, her strike deflected behind.
A succession of corners almost created chaos in the Mariners box, but Langman stood firm to deny headers from first Alivia Kelly, then Grace Jale.
Paul Temple then turned to his bench twice, Emma Main and Olivia Ingham coming on for Fergusson and Whinham in an attempt to find an equaliser.
The home side were happy to sit on their lead, allowing Wellington to dominate territory late on without being able to manufacture anything clear-cut.
Annalie Longo’s pot-shot could not trouble Langman, before Fuller couldn’t quite wrap her foot around another ambitious effort at the other end.
Ray produced another piece of outstanding defending when Lara Wall burst through and tried to find Jale in the area, managing to clear away when a chance looked certain.
That would be Wall’s final action of the game, as Zoe McMeeken replaced her for the last five minutes.
Despite their best efforts, the Phoenix were unable to find an equaliser, falling to sixth place on the table.
The Wellington Phoenix will return home tomorrow to prepare for their trip across the Tasman to play Brisbane Roar next Sunday.
Wellington Phoenix: 39. Carolina VILÃO (gk), 3. Tiana JABER, 4. Mackenzie BARRY, 5. Alivia KELLY, 6. Maya MCCUTCHEON, 7. Grace JALE, 9. Olivia FERGUSSON (20. Emma MAIN 68th), 10. Alyssa WHINHAM (19. Olivia INGHAM 74th), 11. Manaia ELLIOTT, 16. Annalie LONGO (c), 21. Lara WALL (2. Zoe MCMEEKEN).
Unused substitutes: 22. Aimee DANIELI (gk), 15. Daisy BRAZENDALE.
Central Coast Mariners: 1. Sarah LANGMAN (gk), 4. Jessika NASH, 5. Annabel MARTIN, 7. Jade PENNOCK, 8. Bianca GALIC (c), 10. Taylor RAY, 11. Annalise RASMUSSEN (24. Shadeene EVANS 68th), 12. Tiana FULLER (2. Jessica SEAMAN 82nd), 13. Sarah ROWE, 16. Tess QUILLIGAN (22. Peta TRIMIS 79th), 21. Brooke NUNN (14. Greta KASZULA 68th).
Unused substitutes: Chloe CARMICHAEL (gk).
Goals:
12. Tiana FULLER (Central Coast Mariners) – 54th
Cards:
7. Grace JALE (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 26th
