Central Coast Mariners are up into fifth on the Ninja A-League ladder after defeating Wellington Phoenix 2-1 on a day where the wind and rain wreaked havoc at Porirua Park.
Wellington Phoenix came close to opening the scoring inside three minutes as a goalmouth scramble led to Makala Woods having a shot cleared off the line by Annabel Martin.
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Woods then had another chance to break the deadlock, this time in the eighth minute but the American saw her powerful low shot well saved by Annalee Grove.
The wind was absolutely howling at Porirua Park and Phoenix keeper Victoria Esson almost got caught out by a long bouncing ball which was cleared from just outside the Mariners box and would have gone all the way in were it not for the keeper’s touch.
The away side had the conditions in their favour though and soon broke the deadlock in sensational style.
Standing over a freekick on the edge of the Wellington box, Peta Trimis curled a sublime right-footed effort over the wall and into the top corner beyond the despairing dive of Esson in the 16th minute.
Wellington came close to pulling one back almost immediately as Brooke Nunn rifled a left-footed effort over the bar from close range after the Mariners failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.
Against the run of play though, Wellington equalised in the 28th minute and it’s a moment Mariners keeper Grove won’t want to see again.
Attempting to play out from the back, Grove was caught on the ball by Lucia Leon and whilst Woods saw her effort cleared off the line striker Mackenzie Anthony was on hand to slot home her first goal for the club.
Wellington almost took the lead on the stroke of half time but while Leon’s cushioned volley clipped the bar at one end, the Mariners then bagged their second at the other.
Turning away from her marker in midfield, Avaani Prakash picked out the run of Tamar Levin and the striker did the rest; brilliantly controlling Prakash’s lofted ball before drilling her shot beyond the keeper to make it 2-1.
The home side huffed and puffed in the second half but couldn’t use the conditions to their advantage as the Mariners held firm despite the brutal winds blowing against them.
The result takes the Mariners up into fifth on the ladder after securing a first win in four matches.
As for Wellington, Bev Priestman’s side’s four game winning streak comes to an end at the hands of the Mariners and they remain second on the ladder.
