Wellington’s Emma Rolston and Perth’s Ella Mastrantonio received red cards as Glory defeated Phoenix 2-0 in a fiery A-League Women clash.
Both teams were reduced to 10 women in the 35th minute of Sunday’s game at Macedonia Park as the hosts extended Wellington’s winless start to the season.
A prone Rolston was repeatedly hacked in the legs by her Glory opponent while retaining the ball after being brought down in a challenge.
Rolston sprung to her feet and responded with a shove to the throat of Mastrantonio, who raised her arms in disbelief after both players were sent off.
Mastrantonio appeared to have little cause for complaint given that she had also dragged her opponent by the hair during the fracas.
The altercation added some spice to a game which was largely controlled by the hosts.
Hana Lowry’s fingerprints were all over Glory’s strong start and her through ball set up a strong Cyera Hintzen finish from outside the box in the sixth minute.
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Lowry was brought down clumsily by Mackenzie Barry in the penalty box at the 14-minute mark and Susan Phonsongkham converted to double Glory’s lead.
Brianna Edwards did well to palm away a tight-angled shot after Lowry found space in the box again minutes later.
With fleet-flooted Paige Satchell an early standout, the visitors regrouped and made some searching attacking forays but struggled to get through Glory’s well-organized defense.
Perth had eight shots on target to Wellington’s two and would have extended their lead after halftime were it not for some sharp saves by Edwards, whose counterpart Sarah Langman denied Ava Pritchard in the dying minutes to keep a clean sheet.
Glory climbed to eighth on the ladder and will have next week off due to the rescheduling of their game against Sydney FC.
Center back Kim Carroll was feted by the Glory faithful after making her 150th league appearance, placing her among the competition’s most capped players.
Bottom-placed Phoenix lined up without midfielder Betsy Hassett, who stayed behind to prepare for Wednesday’s World Cup warm-up match between New Zealand and the United States.
Satchell, Barry, Rolston and Grace Wisnewski will link up with the Football Ferns camp for the two friendlies upon returning from Perth and could miss Wellington’s clash with Canberra United next Sunday.
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