Perth Glory secured a place in only their second W-League finals campaign with a stirring 3-1 comeback win over Melbourne Victory at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne last Sunday.
Glory sit seven points clear at the top of the table and are 10 points clear of fifth-placed Victory, who have only three regular games left to play.
The WA side, who had won their first six games of the season before defeat to Adelaide United last week, were on the back foot early when Rachael Quigley opened the scoring for the home side after just three minutes.
But defender Alanna Kennedy equalised five minutes before the break and the comeback was complete when substitute Elisa D’Ovidio scored in the 80th minute and Caitlin Foord made sure of the points eight minutes later.
Coach Jamie Harnwell was delighted with his team’s performance, which has secured finals football for Glory with four matches to play.
“The girls showed great character and responded well to going behind early, to put in a dominant performance,” he said.
“It’s fantastic to have secured a finals berth but we need to set our sights on bigger things and keep pushing on to secure a home semi-final.”
After two successive away matches, Glory return to Ashfield Sports Club on Saturday to take on Newcastle Jets.
Harnwell will be looking for another impressive performance after watching his side dominate Victory.
Quigley’s stunning early volley had prompted a vigorous response from Glory who laid siege to Melbourne’s goal.
Victory’s heroine of the afternoon, Cassandra Dimovski, was in stunning form between the posts, most notably producing two world-class saves to maintain her side’s lead.
The 20-year-old could do nothing though as Kennedy found the equaliser five minutes before the break, rising to convert WAIS athlete Collette McCallum’s corner.
Dimovski was called upon numerous times in the second half, pulling off another two sensational saves to deny WAIS athlete Kate Gill from point-blank range before tipping Shelina Zadorsky’s goal-bound effort onto an upright.
WAIS scholarship holder Samantha Kerr, who returned to the side after a recent injury, then came agonisingly close to Perth’s second, lobbing Dimovski only for defender Lauren Barnes to intervene with a goal-line clearance.
Victory captain Catley found the back of the net from the resulting counter attack, but was deemed offside.
Perth was rewarded for their persistence as D’Ovidio handed her side the advantage in the 81st minute, only moments after her introduction.
Australia international Foord then capped off Perth’s afternoon in memorable fashion, firing in Glory’s third into the top corner following an excellent run into the penalty area.
-FootballWest
