Listening to Jeff Hopkins in his post-match press conference, you can hear it in his voice: The disappointment, frustration and the pain of what might have been for Melbourne Victory.
Victory were seconds away from all but securing a Liberty A-League finals berth on Saturday. Instead, they were left licking their wounds with the defending champions’ top-four status in the balance after conceding a dramatic 99th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw against basement side Wellington Phoenix.
“For a lot of the second half, we were naïve. We didn’t play with any real quality or any sense,” Victory head coach Hopkins told reporters.
“Very, very happy with the first-half performance. We had a really good positive half-time and talked about what we needed to do.
“Really disappointing the way it went. Gave away two ridiculously poor goals. Totally unlike what we normally do. Maybe the pressure got to us in the second half.
“Everyone is really upset at the moment, myself included. But we still have a fighting chance and until we’re out of it, we’re not out of it and we will stay positive.”
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It meant Victory coughed up a two-goal lead at Sky Stadium, where the titleholders were in command thanks to a stunning Alana Murphy free-kick and Melina Ayres’ moment of individual brilliance inside 26 minutes.
After Ava Pritchard reduced the deficit in the 75th minute, Phoenix teammate Grace Wisnewski sensationally equalised in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
Instead of being three points clear of fifth-placed Canberra United, Victory are now just a point clear of their challengers, who meet third-placed Melbourne City on Sunday.
“I have to look at myself and maybe the substitutions but also, I’m not sure if that was the real problem in the second half,” he added.
“We couldn’t keep possession. We tried to go forwards at the wrong times when we didn’t have bodies there and we turned the ball over way too many times.”
Lawrence’s message after Wellington’s comeback
It was a bitter sweet afternoon for cellar-dwellers Wellington.
The Phoenix spoiled the party to strike a potentially fatal blow to Victory’s finals hopes with their last-gasp leveller in Wellington.
But the point was not enough for the Phoenix to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons in their first two seasons in the competition.
Head coach Natalie Lawrence, however, could not hide her pride with the team.
She also had a strong message.
“The goal was not to be bottom of the league and we haven’t achieved that goal this season,” Lawrence told reporters. “But we also look at the progress made. Not only last year but throughout the season and that kind of performance, so many times this season we lose that 2-1. Today we didn’t, we found that goal.
“We didn’t want to lose this game. There’s huge character in this team. If this team gets invested in and is given time and given the resource that it requires and deserves, we could be challenging.
“On the back of three games in eight days, you have to be a bit excited about what this team can produce if we keep the players we need to keep.”
Report – AAP
Melbourne Victory may have thrown away an A-League Women finals place, conceding a 99th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Wellington Phoenix.
Alana Murphy and Melina Ayres scored in the opening half hour at Sky Stadium, threatening to turn Saturday’s showdown into a stroll for the reigning champions.
However, Victory went to pieces in the final quarter-hour, gifting Ava Pritchard and Grace Wisnewski goals with poor defending in the entertaining draw.
The last-round result is a shocker for both sides.
Victory needed a win to lock up a finals appearance but will miss out if Canberra United can beat Melbourne City by under seven goals.
Wellington needed three points to avoid a second-successive wooden spoon, but left their run far too late.
Jeff Hopkins’ side were far too classy in the first half, powered by a superb turn in midfield by Murphy.
The 18-year-old scored her first ALW goal with a free kick in the fourth minute after Paige Satchell’s handball.
Ayres rocketed a thunderbolt in the 26th minute, turning Marisa van der Meer and striking her ninth of the season off the crossbar past Brianna Edwards.
The Nix’s defensive shortcomings were plain to see in both first-half goals.
For Murphy’s goal, Betsy Hassett appeared to jump out of the way as it sailed towards the inside corner, leaving goalkeeper Brianna Edwards exposed.
Marisa van der Meer completely failed to deal with Ayres for Victory’s second, allowing the forward to turn and shoot far too easily.
Wellington struggled to create chances and needed a gift to get on the scoresheet.
Morrison failed to put enough weight on her backpass to Dumont, allowing Pritchard to round the goalkeeper outside the box and strike past a pair of retreating Victory defenders.
Dumont was injured in the bingle, requiring taping to her knee to continue.
Shaken up, Victory rebounded well but Ayres missed a clutch of chances to restore the two-goal buffer – misses that proved costly.
Wisnewski then sealed a point for Wellington when Dumont failed to deal with a bouncing ball in the box, the forward producing an acrobatic finish to stun Victory and finish their season on a high.
