Super-sub Nikki Flannery scored within seconds of her introduction as high-flying Melbourne Victory earned a 1-1 draw away to Wellington Phoenix in the Ninja A-League.
Flannery came off the bench and scored within 45 seconds of her introduction to cancel out Maya McCutcheon’s second-minute opener at Porirua Park on Saturday.
Victory are second in the standings and four points adrift of rivals Melbourne City after 15 games, while the Phoenix are eighth and two points outside the top six.
The Phoenix entered the game having won four straight games on home soil, while Victory had only lost one of their past 12 matches.
Paul Temple’s Phoenix made a dream start in front of their fans in Wellington, where a fine set-piece play broke the deadlock through McCutcheon after just two minutes.
Annalie Longo’s pin-point corner found the American midfielder, who rose highest to head past Courtney Newbon. It was the former’s third assist of the season – more than any other ‘Nix player.
Victory wasted a golden opportunity to restore parity two minutes later as Sara D’Appolonia could not find a way past Carolina Vilao, who then denied Alex Chidiac with her foot in a heart-stopping passage of play for the Phoenix.
Wellington ended the opening 45 minutes with more shots and possession and the start of the second half left Victory head coach Jeff Hopkins searching for a spark.
The legendary A-Leagues boss turned to his bench on the hour mark and it proved to be a masterstroke as substitute Flannery found the back of the net within seconds of her introduction.
After replacing D’Appolonia, Flannery took 45 seconds to make her mark as she half-volleyed past Vilao.
Vilao came up big for the Phoenix five minutes from the end when CommBank Matildas forward Emily Gielnik attempted to round the Wellington goalkeeper, who scrambled to thwart the goal-scoring chance.
