{"id":323461,"date":"2024-11-09T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/?p=323461"},"modified":"2024-11-08T17:06:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T04:06:33","slug":"ninja-a-league-round-2-match-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/ninja-a-league-round-2-match-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Ninja A-League Round 2 Match Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Wellington Phoenix are eagerly awaiting their first home game of the 2024-25 Ninja A-League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Phoenix will play host to Canberra United at Porirua Park on Sunday afternoon in their first of 11 matches at the venue this season.

The Nix have been beaten in just one of their six matches in Porirua, have recorded four memorable wins and scored 13 goals.

The squad trained at Porirua Park on Friday morning with assistant coach Amy Shepherd taking charge of the session in the absence of Paul Temple, who has been ill this week.

\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot about how noisy this stand gets,\u201d Shepherd told media after training. \u201cSo, I\u2019m very, very excited to hear the atmosphere and the environment.

\u201cAnd hopefully we can give them a good game to be happy about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – JANUARY 28: Phoenix fans celebrates a goal during the A-League Women round 14 match between Wellington Phoenix and Canberra United at Porirua Park, on January 28, 2024, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Masanori Udagawa\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Phoenix lost 4-2 at Western United in the opening match of the season after conceding four goals in 23 minutes in the first half.

Shepherd has mixed feelings about their round one performance.

\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult one because overall the football we played was really good. There were a lot of positives from there.

\u201cUnfortunately, football is about moments and there were some moments there that we\u2019ve addressed this week and looked to work on.

\u201cThe timings of the goals were crucial along with the manner of them.

\u201cBut like I said they\u2019re work ons and outside of those moments\u2026I think we were really happy with elements of the game we have been working on in pre-seaso,n so there are lots of positives to take away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amy Shepherd talks to the players at training at Porirua Park on Friday. Photo: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The coaching staff were particularly happy with how they played in the middle third of the pitch, in between the two boxes.

\u201cBut ultimately it\u2019s about what happens in the boxes and that\u2019s both defensively and attacking.

\u201cI think we had a lot of box entries, but we need to be finishing those chances.\u201d

The Nix have bolstered their defensive depth by signing Algerian international Imane Chebel.

The experienced centre back joined the squad this week and has been included in the extended squad for the match, but the coaches have yet to decide if she will feature against Canberra.

\u201cImane\u2019s just arrived. We\u2019ve got a lot of players that have done all of their screening and testing, and we\u2019ve still got to get through that process with her.

\u201cWe\u2019re sort of working it out as we go. We\u2019ll see how this week goes with her testing and medical screening and then go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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UPPER HUTT, NEW ZEALAND – OCTOBER 22: Olivia Fergusson in action during a Wellington Phoenix women’s A-League training session at NZCIS on October 22, 2024 in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Imane Chebel in action at training at Porirua Park on Friday. Photo: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

English forward Olivia Fergusson is expected to make her club and A-League debut after missing the season opener with injury.

Fergusson and Chebel are two of the team\u2019s five new visa players and Amy Shepherd says they\u2019ve all fitted in well.

\u201cI think we\u2019ve had a good pre-season with a mix of on-field and off-field activities.

\u201cWe\u2019ve really tried to work on the cohesiveness of the group.

\u201cOverall, I think everyone has bonded really well and I think it\u2019s been a really, really good start, especially off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emma Main is all smiles at training at Porirua Park on Friday. Photo: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shepherd herself has only been in the capital for the past two months, but is \u201creally, really enjoying it\u201d.

\u201cI mean Wellington\u2019s a little bit colder than Sydney! But overall, the experience has been great.

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a good group of players and a good group of staff, so it\u2019s been good.\u201d

Canberra United started the season with a 3-2 win over Brisbane Roar, after leading 2-0 at halftime.

They are led by Matildas forward Michelle Heyman, who has scored three goals in the five previous meetings with the Phoenix.

But Heyman hasn\u2019t found the back of the net in Canberra\u2019s previous two visits to Wellington, which the Nix have won 5-0 and 2-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 02: Michelle Heyman of Canberra United in action during the round one A-League Women’s match between Canberra United and Brisbane Roar at McKellar Park on November 02, 2024 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second round Ninja A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Canberra United is scheduled to kick-off at Porirua Park in Wellington at 4pm Sunday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 3 in New Zealand and on Paramount+ in Australia.

Most recent meeting:<\/strong>\u00a024 March 2024 \u2013 Canberra United 1 Wellington Phoenix 0

All-time A-League head to head:<\/strong>\u00a0Phoenix 3W, Canberra 2W.

Wellington Phoenix squad<\/strong>\u00a0(two to be omitted)<\/em>: 2. Zoe MCMEEKEN, 3. Tiana JABER, 4. Mackenzie BARRY, 5. Imane CHEBEL, 6. Maya MCCUTCHEON, 7. Grace JALE, 9. Olivia FERGUSSON, 10. Alyssa WHINHAM, 11. Manaia ELLIOTT, 14. Mebae TANAKA, 15. Daisy BRAZENDALE, 16. Annalie LONGO (c), 19. Liv INGHAM, 20. Emma MAIN, 21. Lara WALL, 22. Aimee DANIELI (gk), 23. Rebecca LAKE, 39. Carolina VIL\u00c3O (gk).
Unavailable:\u00a018. Ella MCCANN (injured).

Canberra United squad <\/strong>(two to be omitted)<\/em>:\u00a0<\/strong>1. Sally JAMES (gk), 2. Alex MCKENZIE, 3. Liz ANTON, 4. Holly MURRAY, 7. Jynaya DOS SANTOS, 9. Ruby NATHAN, 10. Mary STANIC-FLOODY, 11. Emma ROBERS, 12. Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG, 13. Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON, 17. Maja MARKOVSKI, 18. Coco MAJSTOROVIC, 19. Jaya BOWMAN, 20. Lillian SKELLY, 21. Aideen KEANE, 23. Michelle HEYMAN (c), 25. Darcey MALONE, 28. Tegan BERTOLISSIO.Unavailable:\u00a032. Bethany GORDON (injured).

Main image: <\/em><\/strong>Cam McIntosh\/Photomac.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":323462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[329,330,338,343,355],"tags":[],"competition":[],"acf":{"match_card_embed_league":null,"match_card_embed_club":null,"match_card_embed_match":false,"match_card_embed_disable":false,"auto_publish_updates":true,"reference_article":null,"article_featured_video":"","article_featured_video_tagline":"","article_byline":"","article_media_type":"news","article_video":"","gallery":"","shared_ffa_source":"keepup","shared_hide_in_app":false,"article_player":"","article_team":"","article_competition":"","article_match":"","credit":"","related_articles":"","push_to_social":false,"priority":1,"sport":false,"language":"en","private_content":false,"access_level":"","article_id":"","app_featured_image":null,"article_content_group":"news"},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/ninja-a-league-round-2-match-preview\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Ninja A-League Round 2 Match Preview","url":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/ninja-a-league-round-2-match-preview\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/ninja-a-league-round-2-match-preview\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/11\/24-11-08-ALW-Training-13.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/11\/24-11-08-ALW-Training-13.jpg"},"articleSection":"Breaking News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"brenton"}],"creator":["brenton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wellington Phoenix","logo":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/04\/cropped-Wellington_Phoenix_FC_logo-2.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-11-09T03:00:00Z","datePublished":"2024-11-09T03:00:00Z","dateModified":"2024-11-09T03:00:00Z"},"rendered":"