A second-half own goal from Tiana Jaber saw Perth Glory run out 2-1 winners over Wellington Phoenix at the Sam Kerr Football Centre on Sunday evening.
Perth found the opener in the 31st minute of the clash in Western Australia, where Isobel Dalton broke the deadlock with a low left-footed drive from the edge of the box.
Glory hit the woodwork twice as they pushed for a second but the scores were level at half-time as Olivia Ferguson lashed home the equaliser in stoppage time to make it 1-1.
In an action-packed second-half, Glory regained the lead in the 71st minute as Megan Wynne’s whipped ball into the box was turned into her own net by Jaber in a hammer-blow to the Phoenix as Perth ended a run of three consecutive defeats to Wellington.
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The win is just Perth’s fourth of the season and takes them to 15 points for the campaign while the defeat will be frustrating one for the Phoenix, who are now four points outside the top six with seven games left to play.
Striker Caitlin Doeglas had the first real chance of the game and almost made it 1-0 but thankfully for Wellington keeper Carolina Vilao her clever lob from distance sailed narrowly over the bar.
Wellington winger Manaia Elliott called Glory goalkeeper Miranda Templeman into action at the other end as she took aim from distance before striker Ferguson then screwed a right-footed shot wide when through on goal.
With the game swinging from end-to-end the home side the rattled the crossbar as Dalton took aim from distance but while she couldn’t hit the target that time, she soon had the ball in the back of the net.
Intercepting a poor clearance from the keeper in the middle of the Wellington half, Dalton combined well with Sarah O’Donoghue before lashing a left-footed strike into the far corner to make it 1-0.
Doeglas almost added a second on the approach to half-time but the forward’s knuckleball effort from the edge of the box crashed back off the crossbar and away to safety.
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Despite seeing less of the ball though Wellington bagged their equaliser in first-half stoppage time and it came from the boot of Ferguson.
A brilliant run from Annalie Longo culminated in the New Zealand international slipping Ferguson in on goal and the English forward did the rest; dispatching the ball beyond Templeman and into the net.
Wellington were then inches away from heading into the break in front however Elliott’s rasping drive clipped the bar in a let-off for the home side.
Wellington survived a nervy moment in the 59th minute as a floated Glory corner into the box caused chaos with the ball ricocheting around the six-yard box before being cleared.
The Glory did make it 2-1 though in the 71st minute and they received a huge helping hand from their opponents.
Turning defence into attack in the blink of an eye, Perth raced clear on the counter with the ball ultimately falling to Wynne on the right hand side of the box and the winger’s low cross was stabbed into her own net by the retreating Jaber.
The home side should really have killed the game in the 78th minute but defender Onyinyechi Zogg found the post rather than the back of the net from close range while Wynne blazed the follow-up over the bar.
The away side threw everything forward in an attempt to find the equaliser and Ferguson flashed a header wide of the target in the 94th minute.
However Perth held on for a deserved win in Western Australia to move three points clear of the Wanderers in 10th place.
