The Wellington Phoenix women have won their first match in the A-League with a 3-0 victory over Canberra United in Canberra.
Chloe Knott scored the Wellington Phoenix's opening goal in the win over Canberra United. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Phoenix were leading 1-0 at halftime on the back of a Chloe Knott goal.
Grace Jale doubled the lead five minutes into the second-half and a Canberra own goal completed the scoring with half an hour remaining.
There were joyous scenes as soon as the final whistle blew, with the Phoenix substitutes and coaching staff running on to the field to join in celebrations.
"I think you could see from the reaction from the girls at the final whistle it means a lot," head coach Gemma Lewis said.
"There's a couple of tears even and it seems silly, it's just one game in a league [and] we're still bottom of the table.
"But the sacrifices that these girls have made and they're doing it tough and they're struggling.
"Some of them are on countdown until when they'll be able to get home and they're still trying to put in a performance day in day out…so it really means a lot then when they get this reinforcement of why they're doing it and feeling like they're making progress."
It was the third time this season Wellington led at halftime, with the other two finishing in agonising defeats.
"We were like 85 minutes and I still thought we were going to lose it maybe, especially watching Canberra at 80 minutes they come alive and start putting away goals so I still wasn't comfortable.
"The difference in this game was we took our chances, which we haven't in previous games, and also we were disciplined at the back."
Lewis made just one change to the XI which started the 2-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory, with Grace Wisnewski returning in the heart of midfield in place of Hannah Jones.
Not only was it the Phoenix's first win, it was also the side's first clean sheet since they secured an historic draw against Western Sydney Wanderers on debut.
The Phoenix's next A-League match is against Adelaide United at Wollongong Stadium on Thursday night.
