Goddess makes appearance following credit crunch (6)
I believe the answer is:
crisis
'crunch' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'goddess makes appearance following credit' is the wordplay.
'goddess' becomes 'isis' (Egyptian god).
'makes appearance following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'credit' becomes 'cr'.
'isis' put after 'cr' is 'CRISIS'.
(Other definitions for crisis that I've seen before include "Climax or turning point as in fever" , "Situation of extreme danger or difficulty" , "mess" , "time of distress" , "Crucial and dangerous moment" .)