Melbourne Victory got their season firmly back on track in Perth, as they defeated the Glory 3-1 to move up the W-League table.
Goals from Jessica Fishlock, Caitlin Friend and Lisa De Vanna proved more than enough as a late Glory fightback yielded but a single consolation goal to Christina Julien.
The mercury read 23 degrees celsius as the game kicked off at nib Stadium, but most ground observers would have sworn it seemed way warmer as both teams got stuck in early.
Welsh captain Fishlock had been inserted straight into the visitors’ lineup after flying into Melbourne midweek, but showed few ill effects as her tireless running in midfield reminded Victory fans what they’d been missing for months now.
Perth were missing the talismanic Katie Gill through injury, but had replacement quality up front in the form of the young Rosie Sutton.
It was Victory who would strike first though, as Fishlock announced her return with a peach of a goal.
The midfielder had uncharacteristically failed to chase down a loose ball a few seconds earlier, perhaps a result of all the early running she had done in the first twenty minutes, but what followed was pure footballing instinct.
As the ball fell to her out on the left and far from goal, Fishlock took a touch infield and then let loose at the Perth goal.
Teammate Enza Barilla had the presence of mind to duck out of the way, as the ball swerved past Chantel Jones’ desperate dive and into the far corner of the net.
The celebrations were muted at this point, not least because the sun was starting to take it’s toll on everyone, but Victory were not done yet.
Caitlin Friend had missed an earlier chance after electing to shoot first time, but made no mistake at the second time of asking as Barilla unlocked the Perth defence with a splendid jumping backheel to find her in space in the 32nd minute.
The Victory striker showed ice cool composure as she switched the ball to her left foot to avoid a defender’s lunge, before slotting the ball past Jones in goal to double her team’s lead.
Perth were wilting under pressure at this point, allowing their opponents too much time on the ball as Victory started to ping it around in the opposition half.
The influential Barilla saw a fierce drive tipped around the post by Jones, before Marianna Tabain found herself the first player in the referee’s book for grabbing at Jessica Samuelsson as the Victory full back went past her.
Glory coach Jamie Harnwell appeared less than pleased at his team’s first half capitulation, telling ABCTV that he had had some stern words for his charges at halftime, but it appeared to be having little effect as the visitors continuted to dominate after the break.
Lisa De Vanna was starting to have much more of an impact after getting marked out of the first half of the game, dropping a shoulder and going past Sasha Andrews way too easily, but her shot was blocked by the excellent Jones.
Ella Mastrantonio was the next to receive a yellow card for a studs up tackle on Fishlock, as the hosts struggled to contain Victory’s myriad of attacking options.
Melbourne captain Stephanie Catley had been fairly subdued for most of the game, but she finally got in on the act with a lung-busting 70 yard run deep into enemy territory which was only let down by a poor finish with her weaker foot.
Despite the two goal lead, the game was very much still hanging in the balance and Rosie Sutton kept Victory on their toes as she found space for a shot which Cassandra Dimovski did well to tip away at full stretch in the 57th minute.
Perth had been looking dangerous from corner kicks all game long and this was no different, with the resulting set piece causing an almighty goal mouth scramble that Victory just about got away with.
Glory captain Collette McCallum would have been disappointed to see her rasping shot find only the side netting, before Dimovski had to be called into action once again to push the ball out for a corner with Sutton lurking.
The goalkeeper then kept Victory in the game with a splendid double save from the corner kick, as she blocked Cecilie Sandvej’s downward far post header before diving onto Andrews’ follow up.
Play had to be stopped as Sutton and Victory defender Emma Checker landed awkwardly after contesting a high ball, with both requiring extensive treatment on the field before continuing.
It was left to De Vanna to put the icing on the cake as she beat Andrews for pace once again, picking herself up after getting fouled by a desperate tackle from the defender before putting the ball into the net.
Andrews was lucky to escape with only a yellow card despite being the last defender, as Victory’s star striker limped off to be replaced by Cindy Lay.
Christina Julien then poached a consolation reply for Perth, shooting low and hard into the corner to beat Dimovski’s dive and keep things interesting.
It set up a frantic finish, with substitute Laura Spiranovic missing an open goal from three yards after yet more fantastic set up play from Barilla, before Dimovski had to deny McCallum once again to keep the scores as they were.
Match Stats
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Team Lineups
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Substitutes
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Substitutions
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Yellow Cards
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