Melbourne Victory were denied a maiden home W-League finals match after bottom-of-the-table Newcastle twice came from behind for a dramatic 3-3 draw on Sunday.
Emily van Egmond slotted a penalty for the Jets in the 84th minute with the Victory's stumble allowing Perth Glory to maintain their hold on second.
Next weekend will see the Victory travel to meet Perth in the semi-finals while the other grand finalist will be determined when Brisbane Roar entertain arch-rivals Sydney FC.
Melbourne appeared to be in cruise control against Newcastle with goals from Amy Jackson and Enza Barilla giving the visiting Victory a deserved two-goal advantage.
However quickfire strikes from Jasmine Courtenay and van Egmond against the run of play just before halftime pegged back the Victory.
A thrilling end-to-end second half saw the Victory edge in front courtesy of a fortunate own goal just past the hour mark, only for van Egmond to convert from the penalty spot and deny the visitors with six minutes remaining.
The point was enough for the Jets to move off the bottom on goal difference and hand the wooden spoon to Adelaide United.
'It is obviously a disappointing result but it is just another game and we are still aiming at go all the way,' said Melbourne skipper Stephanie Catley.
'We were composed on the ball today but switched off at times, but we will remain positive.'
Sydney FC will travel to Brisbane aiming to eradicate memories of last year's horror match-up against the Roar when the Sky Blues conceded a controversial last-gasp equaliser before being eliminated on penalties.
Sydney claimed a measure of revenge by defeating their rivals earlier this season but Brisbane scored a comfortable 2-0 win against the Sky Blues last weekend and are in a rich vein of form with just one loss in their last nine outings.
'I thought we played quite well against Brisbane the other week, we actually took a lot of heart from that, even though it didn't go our way,' said Sydney coach Alen Stajcic.
'I still think our performances are improving week by week.
'It is virtually a brand new team from last year so there is no use talking about history.
'It will be close regardless of past results, and matches between the two are always 50/50.'
No comments:
Post a Comment