Wellington Phoenix were beaten 3-1 by Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Saturday night, falling short in their first ever A-League Women grand final but ending a remarkable season that took the club from the bottom of the table to within ninety minutes of a championship.
A crowd of more than nine thousand watched Holly McNamara score twice in the space of sixty seconds either side of half time to give the home side the lead, before Leticia McKenna stretched the margin shortly after the break. Makala Woods clawed one back for Wellington midway through the second half, capitalising on a rebound to give the travelling supporters something to cheer, but City held on comfortably to lift the trophy for the fifth time and the first since 2020.
For a club that finished bottom of the league only twelve months earlier, the result was a heavy blow rather than a humiliation. The Phoenix won the Premiers’ Plate as regular season champions, finished second on the table, and reached the grand final in their 100th A-League game. They had simply never beaten City before this final, and the gulf in big match experience showed.
McNamara’s brace in the 40th and 41st minutes took her tally for the season to thirteen and was her first goal since February. The Australian forward was the difference, finding space inside the Wellington box that the visitors had defended well for most of the half. McKenna’s strike in the 44th minute compounded the damage and effectively settled the contest before the hour mark.
Woods replied in the 52nd minute, finishing off a rebound after a Wellington shot had cannoned back off the Melbourne goalkeeper. Phoenix goalkeeper Vic Esson kept her side in the contest with a string of saves, but a long ball forward in the 80th minute almost produced a second consolation when the Phoenix found themselves one on one with the keeper, only for the chance to go begging.
The match also marked the first use of VAR in a women’s A-League grand final. The system was activated within the opening five minutes to check a possible penalty for the Phoenix, with no spot kick awarded. A second VAR check later in the half went against the visitors as well.
Wellington coach Bev Priestman was defiant in defeat, telling reporters at AAMI Park that the result would not define the Phoenix women’s project. “I will do everything in my power to make sure we are back here next year,” she said. The former Canada coach said the players should “hold their heads high” and use the experience as motivation, drawing on her own background to argue that finals defeats often make clubs rather than break them. “It’s where you find another level in yourself,” she said.
The wider context for the loss matters. The Phoenix entered this final without senior midfielder Sam Tawharu, known to fans as Samba, who is recovering from an ACL injury, and without long serving Football Fern CJ Bott, who is on maternity leave after announcing her pregnancy earlier in the season. Both are expected to return next season and will significantly strengthen a twelve player core that has already shown it can compete at the top of the competition.
Melbourne City’s title was their fifth in the A-League Women era and ended a six year drought stretching back to the 2019-20 championship. Their squad depth, built up across more than a decade of investment, told in the closing stages as Wellington pushed for a second goal that might have changed the complexion of the match. Coach Michael Matricciani had emphasised in the build up that his side’s experience of playing finals football would be decisive, and so it proved.
For Phoenix general manager David Dome, the season was nonetheless transformative. Wellington moved their women’s home matches to Sky Stadium for the first time during the campaign, drew record A-League Women crowds in the capital, and saw Vic Esson and forward Mariana Speckmaier earn international call-ups. The investment in a full-time training environment, made when the club committed to keeping the women’s team in the competition for at least three more seasons, has clearly accelerated the on-field results.
The grand final defeat also raises questions about how the A-League Women’s competition handles its showpiece event. Wellington supporters travelling to Melbourne paid full fare for a match that, had the Phoenix hosted as the higher seeded team in the men’s grand final format used in some seasons past, would have been played in front of a full Sky Stadium. The current format, in which the higher seed during the regular season does not necessarily get to host, will face fresh scrutiny after a Premiers’ Plate winning side ended its season as runner up on the road.
Wellington will reassemble for pre-season in July with much of the squad expected to stay together. Captain Mackenzie Barry has indicated she wants to return, and the club holds options on most of its imports. The next milestone is now obvious. Win the championship. Reach the AFC Women’s Champions League. Make the leap from improbable finalists to genuine contenders.
For one night though, in Melbourne, the dream was simply too big a step. A team that had not even made the playoffs a year ago walked off the AAMI Park turf as A-League Women grand finalists, beaten but unbowed.
What do you make of the Phoenix women’s season and the result of the grand final? Have your say in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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