Our Wander Women look to make it four wins on the bounce when they travel to New Zealand to take on the Wellington Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.
The Wanderers have been a team reborn after difficulties on and off the field this season, with their spirit and determination on show in their come from behind win over the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
On a very hot evening, they fell behind midway through the second half after an Isabel Gomez goal from close range, but once again Holly Caspers was the super sub for Western Sydney.
Soon after she came on the Wanderers equalised thanks to a tidy Olivia Price strike, whose touch and finish from Sienna Saveska’s pass was excellent.
Western Sydney then had all the momentum, creating multiple chances before forcing a mistake from the back, allowing Caspers to get in behind the defence and get a shot away under pressure that went into the goal via the post.
The goal, which came in the third minute of stoppage time, sparked wild celebrations on the pitch and in the dugout as the Wanderers continued their climb away from the bottom of the table.
The Wander Women now sit ninth on the table, and whilst a finals run may just be out of reach, they will still be eager to continue their good run of form into the end of the season, particularly to boost their confidence as a young side.
They will also take confidence from the fact they have done this without the presence of last season’s Julie Dolan medal winner Sophie Harding, who is still recovering from injury.,
There is no doubt the return of Caspers, whose season has been ravaged by two cruel injuries, has also softened the blow. She has been truly inspirational in her form in the last three weeks.
She has two match winning goals as well as a strike in a 4-1 win over Newcastle, which highlights how much the Wanderers have missed her attacking impact.
Price has also been good in the middle with her quality on the ball mixing well with the energy and defensive ability of Amy Chessari in the middle, and Saveska remains one of the top scorers in the league this season and will be keen to add to her tally against the Phoenix.
The Wanderers are also in better form than Wellington, with the New Zealanders winless in their last five games, seeing them drop out of the finals places.
They were well off the pace last weekend against Adelaide at home, losing 3-1 and only having eight shots compared to their opponents 31.
With just one win in their last seven games, the Wanderers may sense an opportunity to inflict more pain on Wellington, who have a strong defensive record but are less impressive going forward.
That said, Wellington have been better in the head-to-head stakes in matches against the Wanderers in recent times.
The Wanderers lost their last match in Wellington 2-0, which was also the final match of last season, and they then fell to a bitterly disappointing 3-0 defeat at home back in January.
There were mitigating circumstances as Wanderers goalkeeper Sham Khamis received a first-half red card, but the Red and Black will be full of motivation to get revenge for that defeat and continue their strong performances as the season draws closer to a conclusion.
