Waine makes an impact with long-range strike
Ben Waine’s only thought was to shoot when the ball fell at his feet.
Never mind that the 19-yearold striker was 25 metres out and had not scored in the A-league since November, 2019.
Waine provided a timely glimpse of his potential by lashing a shot from distance to score Wellington Phoenix’s second goal in last Sunday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets.
It was his second goal in the A-league, after scoring from a tap in at the far post against Melbourne City in round four of last season, and helped lift the Phoenix off the bottom of the table.
‘‘It was just natural in a way. When the ball rolled I kind of just decided no matter what I’m going to hit it,’’ Waine said.
Waine is a product of the Wellington Phoenix Football Academy and said he hoped to emulate the success of previous graduates Sarpreet Singh and Liberato Cacace by making his mark in the A-league at a young age.
He is in his second full season with the Phoenix and despite making only five appearances, Waine has already played more minutes than he did in the previous campaign, when he featured 15 times.
Tomorrow’s game against the Jets was his third consecutive start after the unavailability of David Ball, Tomer Hemed and Jaushua Sotirio opened the door for the New Zealand under-20 international, who scored twice at the 2018 World Cup in Poland.
‘‘I do take a lot of motivation from those two, mainly Libby because he’s been closer to me throughout the academy – seeing him succeed in the A-league and then go off to first division in Belgium and be doing well makes everything look possible for us younger boys in the squad.’’
Although Waine had to bide his time in the opening rounds, playing just 22 minutes across the first six games, he is a popular figure in the dressing room.
Ball said his baby-faced strike partner was one of the hardest workers in the squad and was regularly doing the extras after training. ‘‘In my 12 years of playing there’s not been a younger guy that I’ve worked with that has worked as hard as this guy,’’ Ball said.
Waine and the Phoenix will be looking to build on last weekend’s positive result when they host the free-scoring Perth Glory at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.