File photo. Phoenix captain Annalie Longo. Photo: Photosport
Wellington Phoenix have been leapfrogged by Central Coast Mariners on the women's A-League side following a 1-0 loss to the Australian side.
Mariners teenager Tiana Fuller scored from a brilliant strike in the 54th minute to condemn the visitors to their second straight loss and their sixth defeat of the season.
The Phoenix drop one place to sixth, one point behind the Mariners, with both teams embroiled in a tight mid-table battle for playoff berths.
Wellington coach Paul Temple believed his side deserved more from a game that was balanced throughout.
"It was a pretty even game I thought. There wasn't too much between the teams," Temple said.
"I thought Mariners started better, we were on the back foot a bit but rode out the wave and organised ourselves.
"We probably had a lot more of the ball in the second half, and certainly played a lot better in terms of what we were offering, but the moment of magic from Fuller ultimately settled the game.
"It's a pretty stunning goal, which kind of makes it even more disappointing, that something like that stops you from getting a result."
Fuller let fly from well outside the box with a looping shot that struck the post and went in.
Wellington had their chances to equalise but couldn't find an equaliser, with Temple conceding they didn't combine as he'd like.
"There were moments there that we could have capitalised on, but certainly not the wealth of chances we've been creating lately in terms of the amount of attempts on goal and crosses," he said.
"But credit to the Mariners, they're a difficult team to play against. They're well-organised, well-coached, and ultimately we just didn't have enough quality."
Temple's team play away again this week, against the fourth-placed Brisbane Roar on Sunday.
