Wellington Phoenix felt they should have beaten Western Sydney Wanderers, but the New Zealand outfit are confident “more points will come” after opening their account for the Liberty A-League season.
The Phoenix and Wanderers claimed their first points of the 2022-23 campaign following Monday’s 1-1 draw at Sky Stadium.
REPORT: Phoenix & Wanderers share points
The two bottom sides cancelled each other out in Wellington, where Michaela Robertson opened the scoring in the first half, only for Western Sydney’s Sheridan Gallagher to earn a point for the Wanderers in the second period.
Afterwards, Phoenix head coach Nat Lawrence was clear in who she felt should have taken home maximum points.
“We thought we did enough to win … we had more shots. We had more crosses. We had more entries into the penalty box,” she said.
“I’m more happy that we didn’t lose … more points will come.”
Wanderers counterpart Kat Smith said she couldn’t decide whether she was frustrated not to win or pleased to earn a first point.
“To have that fightback and that resilience to come and get a point away, that’s important to hopefully springboard us for the next one,” she said.
The draw leaves the sides stranded at the foot of the table, four points adrift of ninth-placed Perth Glory and 11 shy of defending champions Melbourne Victory in fourth, the cut-off for finals football.
