Striker gets Ball rolling with goal
It won’t earn him another Puskas Award nomination but that doesn’t bother Wellington Phoenix striker David Ball.
The tireless Englishman led the fightback in Sunday’s impressive 2-1 win over the previously red-hot Adelaide United by scoring his first goal for the club in the 67th minute.
A superb run from substitute Gary Hooper left Adelaide defender Michael Marrone in two minds when Jaushua Sotirio’s cross arrived in the box, allowing the former Manchester City youth product to step away from his marker and take a shot with his right foot in Adelaide.
Expecting Ball to shoot towards the near post, the shot managed to wrongfoot Adelaide goalkeeper Paul Izzo who, despite getting a hand to the ball, was unable to prevent it from crossing the goal-line.
Although he has spectacular goals in his locker, as shown by his 2015 Puskas Award nomination, Ball said he was just delighted to get off the mark and help his team secure backto-back A-league victories.
He described his maiden goal as the cherry on top.
‘‘Whether it’s a tap-in or a worldie, a goal is a goal, I was just delighted for it to hit the back of the net. It’s a great feeling and all the lads were happy for me, which is a really good feeling as well,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve obviously been working hard and creating a lot of chances, getting in good areas and the first one is always the one you need to get off the back.
‘‘As a striker you come in to score goals and you obviously want to score goals for the team. Sometimes it doesn’t happen but you’ve just got to keep getting yourself in the right areas, make sure you’re getting the chances and knowing that it will come. As soon as it does, you can build on that.’’
Ball’s goal came just 10 minutes after Adelaide’s Nikola Mileusnic broke the deadlock at Coopers Stadium with a spectacular left-footed volley. Standing on the edge of the 18 yard box, Mileusnic chested the ball down from a Riley Mcgree header before launching a looping effort above the reach of a back-tracking Stefan Marinovic.
‘‘It shows the good character because it was against the run of play and it’s a worldie,’’ Ball said.
‘‘But you’ve got to show character to come back from that and dig deep and we’ll take confidence from that as a group; that we came back from a goal like that at a tough place and won the game.’’
Back from injury, Hooper turned the game in the Phoenix’s favour when he was brought on in the 66th minute.
Shortly after Ball’s goal, Ulises Davila stepped up to convert the match-winner from the penalty spot.
‘‘Defenders start to worry about Gary as well so it gives you a little bit more space to do your stuff.
‘‘He’s shown his quality in some of the biggest leagues so I think he gave us a lift and gave us that experience as well.
‘‘You can see the lads reacted to him being on the pitch.’’
Instead of returning to Wellington, the ninth-place Phoenix have flown to Auckland where they will spend the week preparing for Saturday’s clash with Western Sydney Wanderers at Eden Park.
isa Allpress is one of the best jockeys around. Not one of the best female jockeys, but one of the best jockeys, full stop.
The 44-year old prefers the latter description and is confident the racing industry in New Zealand has progressed to the point where the distinction is no longer necessary.
Thiswasn’t always the case. Historically, there was resistance, but fortunately racing is one of the few sporting codes shining the light on women, for other codes to aspire to.
Allpress’ record speaks for itself. It’s a record that will cement her legacy in racing circles, long after her retirement. She has won three jockey premierships, celebrated over 1500 wins in New Zealand, and raced in nine countries over her 24-year career.
She’s currently third on the New Zealand premiership ladder, with 30 wins so far this season – behind another great Kiwi female jockey, Sam Collett, and Japanese apprentice Kozzi Asano. The first woman to ride 1000 winners on New Zealand soil, Allpress notched up her 1500th win at Otaki in July.
She won her third premiership this winter, a stunning comeback from a jump-out fall in 2017 which left her with shoulder injuries that threatened to end her career.
It raises the question: how does an athlete stay on top of their game for over two decades?
Allpress credits her longevity and successes to the strong support system she has around her – starting with her parents, Neil