At Sky Stadium, Wellington: Adelaide United 1 (Mackenzie Barry own goal 22’) Wellington Phoenix 0. HT: 1-0
No one took Wellington Phoenix’s 1-0 loss to early A-League Women leaders Adelaide United harder than centre-back Mackenzie Barry.
The Football Fern, who finished the game with the captain’s armband, was in tears and had to be consoled by coach Natalie Lawrence after the final whistle.
It was Barry’s unfortunate own goal in the 22nd minute that decided the game as the winless Phoenix fell to their fifth consecutive defeat.
“Mac just wears her heart on her sleeve, she loves the club, she loves these girls, she has incredibly high standards, and we can talk about the own goal but look how many blocks she makes, how many times she throws herself into tackles, she’s the ultimate pro,” coach Natalie Lawrence said.
READ MORE:
* Foreign forwards fire as Wellington Phoenix topple 10-man Adelaide United 3-1
* Winless Wellington Phoenix welcome back Grace Wisnewski
* Reality of A-League final move hits home for Phoenix star Kosta Barbarouses
“I think there were a lot of emotions with a lot of the players but as you can see we circle around her because we want to be a family and I think we showed that today.”
The Phoenix were more competitive than they were against Canberra United the weekend prior, without ever really troubling Adelaide goalkeeper Annalie Grove.
They had six shots to Adelaide’s 18, but had more on target, shading that statistic four to three.
MARTY MELVILLE/PHOTOSPORT
Phoenix players Mackenzie Barry and Betsy Hassett look dejected after their defeat to Adelaide.
Adelaide hit the lead when Barry accidentally turned the ball into her own net while trying to intercept a dangerous pass from Chelsie Dawber towards the back post.
The Phoenix looked much more solid with the return of Grace Wisnewski helping to stabilise the midfield.
But striker Ava Pritchard was forced to feed off scraps as they once again struggled to create clear goal-scoring chances.
Their best chance fell to Wisnewski in the 15th minute but her snapshot was batted away by Grove.
PHOTOSPORT
Phoenix defender Mackenzie Barry, right, vies for possession with Adelaide forward Fiona Worts.
Saskia Vosper made a key block to deny Adelaide a second goal after goalkeeper Brianna Edwards failed to claim the initial cross.
Charlotte Lancaster launched herself at a long ball into the box as the Phoenix searched for a late equaliser but Grove managed to smother the ball.
Despite suffering another loss, Lawrence said she took heart in the defensive performance.
“I can’t fault them for that. If we play like that against what are they, joint top?, then we can compete against anyone and that’s what we want to do.
“The morale is always hard when you’re not picking up points but there’s belief in the squad that we will and I know we will.”
The result leaves the Phoenix bottom of the table with zero points from their first five games.
They play Adelaide again in 10 days’ time.
Discussion about this post