At North Harbor Stadium, Auckland: Sydney FC 1 (Rachel Lowe 47′) Wellington Phoenix 0. HT: 0-0
Wellington Phoenix coach Natalie Lawrence was frustrated when her side allowed Sydney FC to score the decisive goal in their 1-0 A-League Women win on Sunday just after the break.
Rachel Lowe didn’t come off the bench until the start of the second half, but was alert to turn and shoot the ball into the back of the net when it fell on her less than two minutes late from a corner kick.
It was the second 1-0 defeat the Phoenix suffered either side of this month’s international break, leaving them stuck at the bottom of the ladder, five points behind the Newcastle Jets.
Dave Rowland/Getty Images
Sydney FC celebrates Rachel Lowe’s goal against the Wellington Phoenix just after the break.
Lawrence said the result was “hard to take” for 1,182 fans at North Harbor Stadium in Auckland – harder than the narrow loss to Western Sydney Wanderers the Phoenix suffered two weeks agowhere they conceded a corner kick just before half-time.
“If I look at last season and if we talk about the progression of this team, last season it was 3-0 and 5-0. [defeats against Sydney]now it’s 1-0 and we really fought.
“We carry on. The season is not over for us yet. We will continue to the end.”
Michaela Robertson started on the right wing for the Phoenix and had one of her best offensive displays for the club, with Lawrence praising her efforts afterwards.
Robertson thought she had scored with a well-placed effort into the far corner after switching sides in the first half, which was disallowed for being offside.
The Phoenix’s best chance of the second half also came her way, as she ran through to a fine pass from Ava Pritchard and raced into the box, but sent the ensuing shot over the crossbar.
Football Ferns midfielder Betsy Hassett was absent for the Phoenix with a concussion suffered when she broke her nose on international duty against Argentina, meaning usual centre-back Kate Taylor was deployed in midfield alongside Grace Wisnewski.
Alyssa Whinham made her first appearance off the bench since early December as the Phoenix chased an equalizer in the second half.
Sydney collected the better chances of the two teams and came closest to scoring when Australia international Cortnee Vine attacked a poor pass from Mackenzie Barry forcing Brianna Edwards to make a one-handed save.
Vine loomed as the Sky Blues’ biggest threat ahead of the game, but was largely contained by Phoenix left-back Michaela Foster, who herself switched sides at one point to try to get more involved.
After keeping Sydney out in the first half while creating a few chances of their own, most notably when Wisnewski blocked a shot from the top of the box for half an hour, the Phoenix were quickly put on their feet after half time.
They failed to clear a corner well and when the ball came back towards goal Lowe was on the spot to send it in goal.
Edwards shortly after had to cover a Sarah Hunter free-kick from the edge of the box which headed for the top right corner, but the Phoenix managed to get back into play in the course of the second half.
Paige Satchell came off the bench and had a late chance as she came up right back, but Sydney goalkeeper Jada Whyman was alert and snuffed out the chance.
The big moment
After a slow start to their first trans-Tasman away trip, Sydney stepped things up a bit towards the end of the first half, going off after the break and catching the Phoenix on a nap as they scored the lone goal of the match scored. .
Best on the field
Starting somewhere other than center back for the first time in her Phoenix career, Taylor looked like a solid option in the middle of the park, doing a good job defensively and also showing thoughtful distribution skills. Robertson was also lively after a try on the right.
The big picture
The Phoenix have now suffered a 1-0 defeat to the two Sydney sides on opposite sides of this month’s international break. They return to Sky Stadium in Wellington this Saturday to play Brisbane Roar, with whom they drew 3–3 at the end of Januarydespite playing with 10 women for most of the game.