It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon in Perth, Australia when two teams met to face off in the W-League Grand Final. Perth Glory, who finished the league in 2nd place behind Canberra United, were hosting Melbourne City FC, the defending champions. Still, despite having won the trophy last year, Melbourne City barely made it into the playoffs, beating the Newcastle Jets in the final week of the regular season to secure the fourth and final spot. The match-up was sure to be heated.
In the starting line-up for Melbourne City were Orlando Pride defenders Laura Alleway and Steph Catley. The two sides played a fairly even first half, with Melbourne City just edging Perth in total possession time. The first goal of the match came at the very end of the first half-- a goal for Melbourne City from none other than midfielder and manager Jessica Fishlock.
Perth Glory were now behind, and would need to mount a comeback in the second half to keep themselves in the game. The match remained fairly even, and in the end, the second goal came not from Perth Glory, but from Melbourne City forward Beverly Goebbels. Perth was unable to make up the lost ground.
Melbourne City won the match with a final score of 2-0, making them back-to-back W-League Champions. Steph Catley, who captained the team, posted this picture with fellow player and team manager Jessica Fishlock.
Following the Grand Final on Sunday, the Australian National Team released a 25 player roster for a training camp starting Wednesday, January 15th. Orlando Pride players Steph Catley, Lisa De Vanna, and Alanna Kennedy all received call-ups.
