Beaten Nix miss out on playoffs
Wellington Phoenix’s failure to qualify for the A-League Women finals series could be summed up by yesterday’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Canberra United.
Their inability to secure points on the road, even against the weakest teams in the competition, is the main reason why the Phoenix will fall short of a top-six finish.
The Phoenix were already eliminated from finals contention before the match kicked off at McKellar Park after a vital result went against them the night before.
They were relying on Western Sydney Wanderers to draw or lose against the higher-ranked Western United on Saturday night but the Wanderers fought back from a goal down to secure a shock 3-1 win.
The result left the Phoenix eight points adrift in eighth with only six points up for grabs in their final two games.
If Western Sydney had failed to beat Western United, then the Phoenix could have saved their season with a win against
Canberra and set up a shootout for sixth against the Wanderers next Saturday.
But their once-promising season continued to peter out.
They were punished for some costly misses in front of goal when Canberra’s Matildas striker Michelle Heyman beat captain Michaela Foster to a cross whipped in by Nicki Flannery and sent a header into the top right corner with 12 minutes left in the match.
The late goal was a sucker punch as the Phoenix had created a bunch of chances earlier in the game but failed to capitalise.
Mariana Speckmaier and Emma Main both sent headers wide in the first half while Isabel Cox slipped at the crucial moment and saw her shot saved in the second half.
Although the Phoenix have made big strides under coach Paul Temple, beating their points tally from the previous two seasons combined, their woeful away record has ultimately cost them a spot in the finals. The Phoenix have accumulated a miserly six points from a possible 36 from their matches outside New Zealand. Ten of their 12 matches played in Australia ended in defeat, including both matches against bottom two teams, Canberra and Adelaide United.
A crushing 4-0 win over Adelaide in Porirua on Wednesday evening had given them a glimmer of hope heading into the penultimate round, but they were still relying on other results to go their way.