Wellington Phoenix 1-1 Melbourne Victory
by Alyce Collett (25/10/26)
Above: Melbourne Victory and the Wellington Phoenix battled it out in a very entertaining draw in Wellington today. Photo: via Melbourne Victory.
The Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory could not be split at Hnry Stadium, with goals to Holly Furphy and Makala Woods resulting in a one all draw between the sides.
Both sides will come away from this match with plenty to think about moving forward, with the Phoenix again not making the most of their attacking dominance, while Victory have some questions around their best attacking options and the marking of key opponents while defending attacks.
The initial first half play was free flowing and end to end, with both sides really using the width of the pitch to find danger in their attacking play.
The home side were having more chances at goal and better chances than the Victory were, with just a little bit more accuracy all that was realistically standing between the Phoenix and the opening goal.
The Victory finally got their best chance in the 26th minute in the form of a well placed corner from Alana Jancevski, but Claudia Bunge’s resulting header ultimately went slightly wide. This sparked a few more very close chances for Victory, but ultimately unfavourable bounces meant none went into the back of the net.
Melbourne Victory was forced into a change in the first half when Alicia Woods was forced from the field after copping several forceful falcons in the process of defending set pieces.
Victory were ultimately able to take the lead in the shadows of half time when Furphy bounced on a cross that was initially poorly cleared by the Phoenix and forced the ball over the goal line.
Furphy’s goal proved to be the only one of the first half as the half time whistle went, with the Victory having all the momentum and the Phoenix having all the questions to answer and frustrations to solve.
Wellington started the second half on the front foot, but a sturdy Victory defence snuffed out every possible Wellington attacking opportunity they faced.
The Phoenix kept peppering the goals but as hard as they tried they just could not get past a sturdy Victory defence.
That was until just after the hour mark when Woods found herself at the top of the penalty box and after being on the end of a perfectly placed Brooke Nunn cross, Woods worked the ball perfectly through a congested box and past Courtney Newbon and into the back of the net.
After the equaliser both teams fought hard to find themselves a match winner and had several close chances, but in the end both sides failed in their quest, leaving points to be split.
The Phoenix went agonisingly close to the match winner in the final minute of regular time, but Pia Vlok ultimately strayed offside, null and voiding the shot that did ultimately get past Newbon. Victory also went agonisingly close a minute later up the other end, but Angie Beard’s corner was narrowly too thin.
Wellington pushed really hard for the match winner in extra time, but some resolute defending from Victory, as well as some help from the woodwork, ensured that the match would ultimately be a draw.
Teams: WELLINGTON PHOENIX (4-4-2): Esson, Walker, Elliott, Jale, Barry, Erceg, Nunn, Yallop, Woods, Vlok, Riley. Substitutes: L. Brazendale, S. Candy, A. Eglinton, A. Danieli, E. Taylor-Main, L. Wall, M. van der Meer.
Scorers: Woods 64’
MELBOURNE VICTORY (4-3-3): Newbon, McMeeken, Beard, Bunge, Morrison, Woods, Sutter, Saveska, Jančevski, Furphy, Harding. Substitutes: A. Aoyagi, C. Blissett, N. Flannery, S. Leach, J. Millar, E. O’Grady, S. Techera.
Scorers: Furphy 40’.
Referee: Sarah Jones.
Attendance: TBC.
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