Wellington Phoenix came from two goals down to seal a remarkable 3-2 win over Newcastle Jets on Sunday afternoon, sealed by substitute Manaia Elliott’s 98th-minute Olimpico stunner at Porirua Park.
The Phoenix were chasing a fourth-consecutive home win at Porirua Park but two first-half goals to Jets star Sheridan Gallagher presented the ninth-placed Jets with a magnificent chance to earn a shock win on the road.
But the hosts responded after the break, with half-time substitute Elliott playing a crucial role in the comeback. Club captain Annalie Longo was equally pivotal to the Phoenix resurgence, assisting Elliott’s 50th-minute goal to make it 2-1 before scoring the equaliser just before the hour mark.
Deep into stoppage time, Wellington were presented with a late chance to seal all three points – and that chance was taken by Elliott who whipped an Olimpico stunner struck direct from a corner into the back of the net as the ‘Nix completed a stunning turnaround to win the five-goal thriller.
Phoenix foundation player Alyssa Whinham wore the captain’s armband on Sunday afternoon in recognition of her 50th Ninja A-League appearance for the club, as the 21-year-old became just the second player in the club’s history to reach the 50-game milestone after centre-back Mackenzie Barry.
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The Jets took just three minutes to open the scoring and silence the crowd at Porirua Park – and it was Gallagher, on return from a one-game suspension, who bagged her first of two first-half goals with a close-range finish to give the visitors a surprise lead.
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On the hunt for their fourth home win in a row, Wellington came within centimetres of an equalising goal in the 23rd minute when Maya McCutcheon’s long-range shot was tipped off the crossbar by Newcastle keeper Danielle Krzyzaniak.
The ball dropped to Alyssa Whinham in the box whose first-time attempt looked set to drop over the line before Krzyzaniak intervened again. Natasha Prior arrived on the scene to clear the ball away; Whinham was adamant the ball had crossed the line before Prior cleared but play continued without a goal being awarded to the hosts.
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Newcastle looked set to take a one-goal lead to half-time before Gallagher’s 43rd-minute finish doubled the advantage.
The former Young Matildas captain took possession in the final third and, under pressure from two Phoenix defenders, shrugged off her markers and played a composed finish through the legs of Wellington keeper Carolina Vilão to secure her brace.
Down 2-0 and staring down the barrel of a surprise home defeat, Wellington burst out of the blocks in the second half and halved the deficit through Manaia Elliott just five minutes after the restart.
New Zealand international Annalie Longo was superb in the build-up, playing two key passes including the assist for Elliott with a low, driven cross from the left wing into the six-yard box.
Having wrestled back momentum at Porirua Park, Wellington surged on in search of an equaliser – and found one just before the hour mark through Longo at the end of a clinical counter attack.
Half-time substitutes Emma Main and Elliott were both involved in the build-up to the second Phoenix goal; the former set up the latter for a shot saved by Krzyzaniak into the path of Longo whose simple tap-in levelled the score at 2-2.
Elliott had a late chance at a winning goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time but a Krzyzaniak save led to one last Phoenix corner, which Elliot stepped up to take.
What followed was a moment of pure magic from the Phoenix substitute, whose bending delivery from the corner evaded everybody in the box to hit the back of the net. The Olimpico stunner sealed Wellington’s remarkable comeback and extended the club’s winning run to four games at Porirua Park.
