Westfield W-League 2011 Champions Brisbane Roar secured second spot and a home semi-final thanks to a gritty 1-0 final round win against arch-rivals Sydney FC.
Westfield W-League 2011 Champions Brisbane Roar secured second spot and a home semi-final thanks to a gritty 1-0 final round win against arch-rivals Sydney FC.
The victory means the Roar will host the Sky Blues for the second successive week, while premiers Canberra United will entertain Melbourne Victory, who finished fourth for the second successive season.
Melbourne secured a 4-1 win on the road against Adelaide United in a result made academic for the Victory thanks to Newcastle Jets- shock loss at Perth Glory.
The Glory stunned the Jets with a deserved 4-2 win to hand the wooden spoon to an unlucky Adelaide.
A tight and hard-fought contest in Brisbane was settled by a single first-half goal with unfortunate Sky Blues midfielder Teresa Polias turning a cross into her net.
Chances were few and far between with both sets of players out on their feet by the end in a tough precursor to next Sunday-s semi-final.
The winner will progress to the grand final where the victor of Saturday-s Canberra United and Melbourne Victory contest will await.
The Victory finished five points clear of the Jets in fourth thanks to their 4-1 win against Adelaide United.
Adelaide took the lead through Mariana Rajcic in a hard-fought and high tempo first half, however the Victory battled back strongly to lead 3-1 by the interval thanks to goals from Katrina Gorry, Ashleigh Brown and Caitlin Friend.
The sting went out of the contest in the latter stages though the Victory-s Kendall Fletcher ended the regular season campaign on a high with an injury time goal.
Defeat condemned Adelaide to bottom spot as Perth Glory lifted themselves from the cellar with an unexpected 4-2 win over Newcastle Jets.
The Jets surprisingly crashed in the west despite defeating Sydney FC just a fortnight ago and pushing Brisbane Roar all the way last weekend.
A hungry Glory scored in the early stages through Katarina Jukic and second half goals from Carys Hawkins and Elisa D-Ovidio took the margin to 3-0.
Lisa De Vanna, facing her hometown club, pulled a goal back only for Marianna Tabain to quickly restore the margin, with Alanna Kennedy grabbing a late consolation.
Westfield W-League 2012 Semi-final fixtures:
Both matches will be shown as a one hour extended highlights package on ABC1 at 6pm on Saturday 21 January and Sunday 22 January.
Canberra United v Melbourne Victory
Saturday 21 January
McKellar Park, Canberra
Local kick-off: 3pm
Tickets available at the game
One Hour highlights package on ABC1 from 6pm, Saturday.
Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC
Sunday 22 January
Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre, Brisbane
Local kick-off: 2pm (3pm AEDT)
Tickets available at the game
One Hour highlights package on ABC1 from 6pm, Sunday.
