A Phoenix player had to be helped from the field with heat exhaustion as the Wellington side suffered a 1-0 loss to Melbourne Victory to remain without a point three rounds into the new A-League women's season.
Wellington Phoenix playmaker Alyssa Whinham. Photo: Photosport/Marty Melville
Sunday's match in Melbourne was played in sweltering temperatures of more than 30 degrees.
While the Phoenix fell to their third straight loss to start the season, there was a different kind of worry in the second half when the referee was forced to stop the match so Wellington playmaker Alyssa Whinham could get assistance.
Whinham was on the ground and had to be aided off the field by the Phoenix medical staff.
Around 10 minutes earlier, the 19-year-old had taken a hefty blow to the face from the ball but Wellington coach Natalie Lawrence confirmed it was the heat, and not a concussion issue, that Whinham had been affected by.
"She's okay," Lawrence said. "She was struggling with the heat. It wasn't a concussion or anything to do with her head.
"We were about to bring her off when it got a little bit too much for her. She went in [the changing room] and cooled herself down and feels much better now.
"We spent all of last season in Australia and it was definitely one of our hottest games today so it's something for us to get used to on this side of the Tasman.
"We're not going to use it as an excuse. We played through it all last year so we'll just have to make sure everyone is hydrated."
A set piece deep in first-half stoppage time was ultimately the difference between the two sides.
Victory striker Melina Ayers scored the only goal of the game, heading in from a corner to secure the defending champions their first win of the season.
"We spoke about trying to get a 90 minute performance together. We'd done 45, 70 and we wanted 90 here and I think that's what we did," Natalie Lawrence said.
"If we were a little bit more patient in the final third with some of our balls through to our strikers then it could have been a different story.
"I think we created a decent amount and had a lot of possession against the reigning champions.
"This group has done themselves pretty proud today."
The Phoenix travel across the ditch again next weekend to play Canberra United on Saturday afternoon.
- RNZ