A first half goal to Kate Gil was enough for Perth Glory to defeat Melbourne Victory at Kingston Heath on a hot summer’s afternoon.
The home side struggled to break down a packed Glory defence throughout the match, but did come close to scoring on several occasions, with the best chances falling to Jess Fishlock who had a header cleared off the line and Lauren Barnes, who struck a free kick against the post.
It was just not their day and the result means they must go to Brisbane next week and win if they want to secure a top two finish, and get a home semi-final.
Victory started the match well enough, with Lisa De Vanna in particular hunting for scoring opportunities.
The left sided forward almost put the home side ahead in the 11th minute after a good team move, but after storming through the Glory defence her effort was brilliantly saved by Chantel Jones.
De Vanna then had a golden chance to score three minutes later, after a wonderful ball from Jess Samuelsson put her one on one with the keeper, but instead of shooting, she elected to round Jones and failed to get a shot in.
With chances gone begging, Perth made the Victory in the 22nd minute when Gill put the visitors in front.
Shawn Billam started it all off when she cracked the crossbar with a speculative long range effort, with the rebound falling straight to Kate Gill who slotted it past Bri Davey.
Despite going behind, Victory continued to press forward, but were already finding it hard to get through the packed Glory defence.
De Vanna was again in the thick of things before half time after pouncing on a loose ball in the box from a corner, but Jones was on hand to save her snapshot, and Victory went into the break trailing 0-1.
They came out after the break in the ascendancy and they nearly equalised through Fishlock in the 56th minute.
From a corner kick, the Welsh international had ghosted in at the back post to head the ball towards goal, but Marianna Tabain was on hand to clear off the line for the Glory.
Victory were having large spells of possession in the match, and despite having the Glory pinned in their own half, were unable to create incisive openings.
Barnes did come the close to scoring a goal in the 74th minute, as the match was beginning to slip away from the hosts.
She stepped up to take a free kick after Fishlock was fouled on the edge of the area, and curled it straight into the upright.
It was a cruel bit of luck for the Victory, as Jones could only stand and admire the shot.
They hit the woodwork again late on in the match as Steph Catley swung a corner directly towards the goal, but Jones was alert to the danger and tipped the ball onto the crossbar.
It was all the Victory could muster, and the result sees their 9 gamee unbeaten run come to an abrupt end.
Team Lineups:
[ws_table id=”55″]
Substitutes:
[ws_table id=”56″]
Substitutions:
[ws_table id=”57″]
Scorers:
[ws_table id=”58″]