Reflections Upon The Wellington Phoenix’s First Ever A-League Women’s Win
The Wellington Phoenix won their first ever A-League Women’s match last Friday night and, despite the nine consecutive defeats that preceded it, that 3-0 win over Canberra United did not come out of the blue. It was a victory that was eleven games in the making, plus a little bit of preseason before that. They’d been getting closer and closer. Only scored once in their first six games (and it was a late consolation), then scored four in the next three. Games seven to nine saw them take two leads into half-time and they were level or ahead after 60 minutes of each of those three matches. They’d already been so close. Almost close enough to reach out and touch it.
Some of that momentum seemed to slip as they conceded twice early against Melbourne Victory to ultimately lose 2-0 but they had chances in that one and, ironically, it was arguably only a masterclass of the defensive arts from the Victory’s kiwi defender Claudia Bunge that kept them from challenging for a result that night. After all, the Victory game was the first one in which the Nix attempted more shots than their opposition (12 vs 11). It was also, with 49% of possession, their best performance yet with the ball. Sure, MVC played most of the match with a lead so some complacency/game-management on their part has to be accounted for. But the Victory’s 61% pass accuracy stat was the worst yet achieved in a game against the Phoenix.
That match was sneakily a better performance than it might’ve initially seemed. Against probably the toughest team they had left on the fixture list the WahiNix continued with their season-long trend of small but steady improvements each week. It was a continuation of their ever-increasing threat in this competition. Thus when they came up against Canberra United the following game, who were also winless at that time, there was every reason to think that a maiden victory could be on the cards. Hell, yours truly here went and straight-up guaranteed it on The Niche Cast the day before.
Sure enough, they did the business. Despite looking vulnerable early on against the pace of Michelle Heyman in particular, they soon shrugged that worry off by closing things down swiftly in the midfield to cut the supply line. That came at a cost as Isabel Gomez would need to be replaced at the half with a yellow card already in the bag and the imminent threat of another on the way... but Hannah Jones was able to pick up where she left off. Grace Wisnewski was the other central midfielder. All three of them were booked against Canberra. Get that into ya.
An aggressive, front-foot style of defending has been a defining characteristic of this team from day one. You see the same thing with how Chloe Knott – a midfielder by trade – presses from the front, rushing the opposition as they try to build up possession. You see the same thing at the back with how Kate Taylor and Mackenzie Barry tend to spend roughly 0.1 seconds hesitating about whether to throw themselves into a tackle or not whenever there’s a ball to be won (that estimation comes with a 0.1 sec margin of error).
Another milestone: for the first time the SheNix had more possession than their opponents. 51% tipping them over that magical evens mark. There are two aspects to that: winning the ball and keeping the ball. In terms of winning the ball, that midfield combination of Wisnewski + Gomez/Jones had 10 combined tackles and 5 interceptions - Jones with half of each despite only playing the second half – she was immense continuing on from some good form in a couple recent starts.
The fullbacks were equally effective. Zoe McMeeken and Talitha Kramer were constantly getting stuck in with 4 tackles each. For Kramer, that’s never been a problem. She never backs off. However McMeeken can sometimes look a little unsure of herself out there (no surprises as the youngest member of the squad). But repeated exposure, having started every match, counts for plenty and this was her best game by far as a professional. So much more involved in attack whilst more than holding her own defensively. Love that.
As to the keeping of the ball, there are still plenty of examples throughout games where they rush a pass or cut corners in possession or lack that spacial awareness of how much time they have. This one was no different... but like everything it’s on an upward trajectory and that 51% tally against Canberra is clear proof. They also had a 68% pass completion rate, a mark only equalled by the second game against Sydney FC and that one was a 5-0 loss in which Sydney kinda sorta just let them have the ball in that second half. This was different. This time they did it as part of a winning effort.
One player who deserves a special mention there: Alyssa Whinham. She was about at the team average for passing success... but almost all of her passes were in the opposition half where everybody else’s numbers dropped massively. Whinham’s 68.8% pass accuracy in the oppo half was miles ahead of the other three starting forwards: Knott at 57.7%, Jale at 22.2%, Pritchard at 37.5%. Whinham’s ability to wax defenders and break ankles is already legendary but her most important role is as a link player between those other forwards, something she does really well.
All of these are principles that have been in place from the moment that Gemma Lewis put this team together. They’ve always tried to press high. They’ve always defended aggressively. They’ve always had the intent to be confident and composed in possession. They didn’t beat Canberra because they switched up the game plan, they beat them because they continued to trust in the existing game plan which they’d steadily been getting better and better at executing.
Best example of that you could possibly conceive of was their finishing. Three shots on target, three goals. Slightly fortunate with the first as Chloe Knott’s powerful driven shot did go straight through the hands of the Canberra goalie but hey you take ‘em however they come and frankly the Nix weren’t getting into those shooting positions earlier on in the season.
It was also convenient how it came about. A shallow clearance from a Knott cross shifted around by both Whinham and Pritchard with Pritchard ultimately given the assist although Whinham’s spin was equally crucial in that ball getting to Knott, who had stuck with the play after her initial cross, dashing into the area to strike. They sucked the Canberra defence into the middle with the cross and they caught them out on the second phase... the kind of goal they’ve conceded a few too many of themselves so nice to see one go the other way.
Also cannot understate the timing of that goal. This was a relatively balanced game that might’ve gone either way at that point. Definitely a case to say that Canberra had been slightly edging it. But to score within five minutes of the half, that drastically changed the state of the game.
Remember that the Phoenix have struggled to hold on to half-time leads though. Being up at the break was not unfamiliar territory. They led at HT against Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory too. In fact second halves in general ain’t been too flash for the Welly Nix women. They’re an inexperienced team. They’re a high-pressing team. They’re a hard-working team. By the coach’s own admission they didn’t have enough time in preseason to get their fitness levels to an ideal state. Add those things together and their second halves prior to Canberra had seen them concede 13 times against just one single goal of their own. Which was scored by Ava Pritchard, the team’s first ever, as a very late consolation goal in a 5-1 defeat.
Not only did Gomez have to be sacrificed at the break, but Kate Taylor was also unable to shake off an injury suffered in the first half and a few minutes after the restart she also had to be replaced. Te Reremoana Walker came on in her spot. Taylor, to that point, had not missed a minute all season. The last remaining ever-present Nixer. So to add a second goal so soon after that sub was, quite frankly, the definitive moment of the match.
If the first was slightly fortunate, this one was a perfect reflection of this team’s strengths. The counter attack hasn’t really been a major outlet for them but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be. They have the right kinda players for it, just maybe they’ve lacked the accuracy in unleashing them. Well, they didn’t here. Hannah Jones won a tackle in the defensive third and Grace Wisnewski then hit Chloe Knott nice and early. Knott had the time and space to pick a pass and was able to brilliantly thread one through for Grace Jale’s run to her left. Jale was then too quick and too clinical to be stopped. 2-0 to the Welly Nix, right as it seemed like Canberra, having made a tactical change at HT, might be about to level up.
Instead it was a hammer blow second Phoenix goal and then then minutes later they scored again. Jones with an intercept. Whinham quickly assessing things and then feeding it out wide. Kramer driving and crossing. Pritchard... not catching her shot at all well but luckily it hit a defender and rebounded almost comically in off the opposite post. Second assist of the evening for Pritchard. Third goal for the Phoenix.
Which meant that instead of clinging on in the last ten minutes as they’ve kept (unsuccessfully) having to do recently – if games ended after 80 mins they’d have 9 points instead of 4 – they were able to coast to the finish line. Sure, Canberra put them under some pressure... but at 3-0 up there’s no need to panic. The Phoenix avoided a situation like they had against Perth where they lost 3-2 after being up 2-1 with ten to play and they did so by putting the game out of sight nice and early. As good teams shall do. And, just quietly, if you think that Canberra were easy pickings then know that they bounced back emphatically with a 5-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in their next match.
The Phoenix play WSW again in their second to last game so that bodes pretty nicely. Also boding nicely is the fact that they haven’t just relied on a couple of key players to get things done. Kate Taylor has been the player of the season to this point but she left that match after 48 minutes and Mona Walker was able to come on and pick up where Taylor left off. Less of a pure defender but as a natural midfielder her ability on the ball was huge in keeping the game played at the Phoenix’s pace with the lead. And of course Hannah Jones was one of the most influential players out there despite only featuring for a half. She won possession for both second half goals.
Walker and Jones have two starts each. They’ve mostly gotten their games from the bench. But when they were asked to step up, they did so and then some. If you were picking a player of the day award you’d probably be looking towards regular heroines like Mackenzie Barry, Chloe Knott, or Grace Jale. They were all immense too, of course. But gotta highlight the fact that when we say it was a true team effort, that’s literally what it was. There were no weak links.
These are small steps. We’re talking about one win here, it’s not like they’re on the verge of making the finals suddenly. Still last on the ladder. But they would not have been the first A-League Women’s club to go an entire season without a win had it come to that. Far from it: Perth Glory went winless as recently as last season (sidenote, bonus credit to Lily Alfeld who was part of that Perth team – hence this was her first A-League win in her 23rd appearance. To be fair, Gareth Bale needed 25 Premier League games before he finally won one with Tottenham and he did alright in the end).
Given the circumstances in which they entered the league and how inexperienced this squad, by necessity, ended up being... they’re not exactly competing on an even playing field. This is a development year. A learning curve year. That they’ve already progressed to where they’re winning in the manner that they did against Canberra, having gone bloody close to further points several other times (to add to the draw they claimed in week one), is a pretty remarkable achievement. Now let’s do it again, aye?
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