WPW R3 vs Brisbane Roar | Sat 4th Nov | 2:45pm | RoF/Sky Sports 7

ALW kicks off the double header at the RoF vs a Brisbane Roar side coming off two huge wins vs the Victory & Sydney. 

Rylee Foster out injured. Bugger.
Hope its only minor.

Wellington Phoenix squad: 2. Zoe MCMEEKEN, 3. Kate TAYLOR, 4. Mackenzie BARRY, 5. Marisa VAN DER MEER, 6. Macey FRASER, 7. Chloe KNOTT, 8. Grace WISNEWSKI, 9. Kelli BROWN, 10. Alyssa WHINHAM, 11. Hope BRESLIN, 12. Brianna EDWARDS (gk), 13. Michaela FOSTER, 14. Michaela ROBERTSON, (c), 16. Annalie LONGO, 17. Mariana SPECKMAIER, 18. Hailey DAVIDSON, 20. Emma MAIN, 21. Manaia ELLIOTT, 22. Aimee DANIELI (gk), 23. Rebecca LAKE

Four to be omitted

Ins: 16. Annalie LONGO (returning from injury), 22. Aimee DANIELI (promoted)

Outs: 1. Rylee FOSTER (gk) (injured), 15. Daisy BRAZENDALE (omitted)

Unavailable: 19. Liv INGHAM (injured)

Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Keeley Richards 2. Rebecca Kirkup 4. Kijah Stephenson 5. Jenna McCormick 6. Holly McQueen 7. Ayesha Norrie 9. Mia Corbin 10. Grace Kuilamu 11. Sharn Freier 12. Tamar Levin 13. Tameka Yallop 14. Sarah O’Donoghue 15. Hannah Holgersen 16. Chelsea Blissett 17. Leah Scarpelli 18. Teagan Thompson 19. Hollie Palmer 22. Ruby Cuthbert 29. Jordan Silkowitz 99. Emma Gibbon

Ins: Nil

Outs: Nil

Unavailable: 8. Mariel Hecher (injured)

Ranix

Rylee Foster out injured. Bugger.
Hope its only minor.

 The A-Leagues All Access curse strikes again. 

Let's hope Bri Edward's has grown a foot taller over the winter...

Expect this to be the lineup tomorrow. Hope to see Elliot come back into the starting XI to reward her form.

Edwards
Davidson Barry VDM Foster
Taylor
Longo Fraser
Breslin Speckmaier Elliot

Danieli
Lake
Knott
Wisnewski 
Main

I think Chloe Knott's performance last game means she has to start, and I doubt he will start Longo. If we're wanting to win our home games would we have Whinham on he bench instead of Lake? (Although Lake did well as a closing out sub last time)

Jury is out on Davidson.
Probably still on a promise but will need to step up

razzag

Expect this to be the lineup tomorrow. Hope to see Elliot come back into the starting XI to reward her form.

Edwards
Davidson Barry VDM Foster
Taylor
Longo Fraser
Breslin Speckmaier Elliot

Danieli
Lake
Knott
Wisnewski 
Main

Looks about right. Temple in his presser said Brown didn't make the match day squad. So either Main or Elliot will likely start. 
Am really surprised Brown hasn't been getting more opportunities. But Elliot keeps performing. So deserves her place.
Good competition for places. 
Those two will know if they don't perform Brown is ready to go.
Same in midfield. Now with Longo back in the squad. Wisnewski and Knott no guarantee of starting. Whinham can't even get a look in.
McMeekan also performing well in NL. So Davidson needs to up her game, especially in defence.
Great to see such good depth.

Speckmaier!!!
Lovely finish into the bottom corner off the head. God we've got a real chance of doing something brilliant this season!

Wisnewski off early with injury too. 🤕 
Hope it's nothing serious, but she looks quite distressed about it, oh and the stretcher taking her away now on the sidelines...

Should have a billboard somewhere in town with Speckmaier v Zawada for goals and adjust it every week. Might be worth selling a sponsor on! 

Nice goal from Speckmaier. Both teams playing some bloody nice footy. 

Top of the table!

Oh so close, nearly top bins perfection from Speckmaier.

What a terrible backpass it was!

Yes. Foster been a bit guilty of some lapses. but overall game is pretty good.
Glad we have Longo and Breslin yet to come on that should bring some impact in second half. Pretty even contest so far, battle of the midfield is going to win it. Can't let Yallop have so much space on the ball.

Having regular shots on goal which is good but I wonder if we should be working the ball into the box and trying for more clear cut chances.

Our keeper struggles to kick a dead ball further than about 20 metres and it's putting the team under pressure.

Brisbane starting to turn the screws a little bit these last 5 minutes, with the game starting to be played a bit more around our 18 yard box.

Longo & Breslin on though. Definitely a good time to call for the reinforcements.

She is having a very good game

whatever

Our keeper struggles to kick a dead ball further than about 20 metres and it's putting the team under pressure.

 

Getting nervy. Roar putting us under regular pressure here. 
Would love a 2-0 just to give us breathing space.

Eck. Poor from Elliot. Probably a bit gassed. 

Elliott needed to bury that!

Holy crap that was close

lthomas20

Elliott needed to bury that!

 
Or take it on a bit- she had two other Nix players to use either as decoys or a square ball. She wasn’t really set to shoot.

That was amazing football. Just the final pass/shot! Potential goal of the season. 
Again another sponsor possibility- goal of the season men v women! 

lthomas20

Holy crap that was close

 

martinb

lthomas20

Elliott needed to bury that!

 
Or take it on a bit- she had two other Nix players to use either as decoys or a square ball. She wasn’t really set to shoot.

Longo was free. Elliot muffed it

Daniel’s corner is Longo’s corner! Get the f in!

LONGO!!!!!!!!!

Longo, that is a class finish under pressure, great turn and assured in taking her time, picked her spot and buried it. 

+ 3 points and top of the league.
Get in!!!

Got this alert about 30 seconds before it came through on the broadcast as well 😂

Screenshot_2023-11-04-16-29-50-77_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg 135.41 KB

Early doors, but this team could do something special this season.

Commentators carrying on about how she hadn’t got a goal omg sssssh!

Saw it a few times today but the back passes lack just a little bit of oomph…. Putting a lot of undue pressure on the intended recipient

All-round very pleasing performance, this team is really building momentum! Yes some things to work on but positives definitely outweighed the negs. Hope Grace is okay. 

Napier Phoenix

She is having a very good game

whatever

Our keeper struggles to kick a dead ball further than about 20 metres and it's putting the team under pressure.

 

Agreed that she made some good saves but surely, she can put a goal kick somewhere near half way.

Awesome win. Really gritty stuff. Some very tired bodies there at the end. As shown by the poor defending to give away the final goal. But this team is showing good spirit. 
Maybe not quite the beautiful football we wanted to see. But we look like a team that is going to be hard to beat.

Well, they won and won well.
My criticisms from the previous week still applied exactly the same, I dont like their shape, and again they didnt get the best from Main, Foster, or Davidson. 
But they won and deservedly so, and at times they played really nice football. 
So lets focus on the positive, there were great performances from Barry and Van Der Meer. Edwards was superb in goal, i particularly like the way she never shirked from coming for a high ball, even though we know shes not lofty. Longo also deserves a call out. A really enjoyable afternoon, and the season promises much. Fraser looks very good, although I think we struggled to get her involved enough

Was attendance announced for this game?

lthomas20

Was attendance announced for this game?

It was not, looked like maybe 1k in person