Sydney FC have come from third on the table to win the W-League championship after a 4-2 victory over the Perth Glory in Sydney.
It was a fitting end to a thrilling season and an excellent finals series, that saw third and fourth meet in the decider.
Sofia Huerta opened the scoring early for the Sky Blues and the early pattern of play suggested an easy victory for Sydney.
However, Sam Kerr levelled from the penalty spot when she was brought down entering the box after 23 minutes.
Savannah McCaskill produced a stunning header from a Caitlin Foord pass to send the home side into the sheds with a 2-1 lead, before adding a second goal in the 61st minute and seemingly putting the Sky Blues into a winning position.
The westerners responded almost immediately when Alyssa Mautz found the back of Sydney FC’s net in the 68th minute from a corner and the match was set for a stunning and nail-biting conclusion with the scores at 3-2 in Sydney’s favour.
Chloe Logarzo sealed the fate of the visitors with a stunning strike just two minutes later and the Sky Blues shut the game down well in the last 20 minutes to earn the club its third W-League championship.
Perth were valiant but no match for Sydney today. McCaskill was a star yet the performance of Alanna Kennedy was astonishing in the centre of defence.
Sam Kerr was effectively blunted by the central defence of Sydney. Kerr took to the wings late but the imminent threat she poses in the box was nullified to a significant degree by the work of Kennedy in the heart of defence.
It was a terrific and entertaining grand final where the better side won and the game itself enjoyed a victory.
It was a record crowd for a W-League decider and the Sydney fans will go home happy. Perth will suffer a long flight home with no silverware.
Either way, it was a privilege to watch, commentate and bring to you.
McCaskill was awarded the player of the match and even though I felt Kennedy was the most significant on the pitch, no one would begrudge her effort.
Well played Sydney FC and commiserations to Perth Glory.
Final score
Sydney FC 4
Perth Glory 2
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Real surface, strange considering a few weeks back when the men were playing there everyone was talking about how good the surface was, not sure what happened
SweatyProp
Roar Rookie
You have to admire these women, winners or losers. They play their season often in the heat of the day, usually in front of small crowds and then having made the final they play on what looked like a very dodgy playing surface (please tell me it was a broadcast issue not really the surface).
SquareBall
Roar Rookie
I was at this match yesterday and very entertaining it was, too. However, the disappointing crowd size (6k) for a national final represents another example of the ineptitude of the FFA when it comes to managing and promoting its 'product'. Jubilee Oval, with a modest capacity of 20k, should have been full of people from the southern suburbs, school kids, players of all ages, casual football fans who show up to watch touring premier league sides, Matildas and Socceroos supporters and Sydney FC fans and members (the latter were actually there in large numbers). Given that a precedent has now been set for removing FFA employees using survey results; maybe it is now time the fans got to fill one in covering the performance of, what passes for, management within the FFA, particularly its Marketing arm.