Wellington Phoenix Head Coach Bev Priestman believes her side are primed and ready to turn things around when they face Brisbane Roar in this Sunday’s Semi-Final second leg at Porirua Park.
Despite taking an early lead at Spencer Park last Sunday Wellington ultimately left Queensland 2-1 down in the tie and now know they must secure victory this weekend to stand any chance of reaching the Grand Final.
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However, whilst Priestman admits the first leg performance wasn’t up to the club’s usual high standards of this current Ninja A-League season, the Phoenix are ready to fire.
“We’re effectively one nil down, right?,” said Priestman, when speaking at a media event on Monday afternoon.
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“We’ve got a 90 minute game, and you’ve seen us deliver against this team at home before with a much greater margin.
“So I think it’s all about now going into this game with the right mentality. We can be defeated, or we can stand up and be counted.
She continued: “I think it’s exciting to come home. I’d much rather it this way than have to get on a plane and go with a one goal margin down and I think, you know, like, not too high, not too low.”
With a spot in the Ninja A-League Grand Final up for grabs Priestman and her side will be looking for any marginal gain they can find ahead of Sunday’s clash, and the Nix boss was quick to highlight Brisbane’s exuberant celebrations following the final whistle last weekend.
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“I think I was actually quite pleased seeing some of the celebrations from Brisbane, you know? I think, okay, that’s good. It keeps us… we’re on track in terms of mentality.
Brisbane Roar celebrate in front of fans
“If we show up with the right mentality, then there’s no reason why, right? You’ve seen much greater margins and teams come back from things in knockout football, so long as we get that bit right, and I think we can go on.
“It wasn’t a great game. It was like ping pong. It was, yeah, lived in transition. We didn’t secure the ball enough. I think we turned them well early in the game, and it worked. But I think that became the whole game, and we never got a foothold in the game. And I think that’s what we’ll be looking to do.”
She went on to say: “It’s now standing up and being counted, right? I’ll learn a lot about this team for next year in this game, and I think we absolutely imagine a comeback. I think that’s an even greater story, coming back and you’re on the back foot then, because you’re thinking, oh, I’ve got defend this lead.
“In some ways, the comeback can be even a more special and we can create a great moment at Porirua Park. So I’m excited. I’m not daunted.
“I know what we need to fix, and in many ways, going and playing on that pitch, both teams had to do it. But I don’t think it really had our game written all over it, and I’m hoping that Porirua Park does.”
