Melbourne City boss Patrick Kisnorbo has spoken about the “special bond” amongst his players after his side upset Premiers Brisbane Roar in their Westfield W-League Semi-Final on Sunday.
Despite only securing their finals berth in the final round of the regular season, City produced the goods when it counted to prevail 2-0 at Perry Park.
City now takes on Sydney FC in the Grand Final next Sunday at Allianz Stadium.
It’s the club’s third consecutive appearance in the season decider and they are aiming to become the first team in history to win three successive Westfield W-League titles.
“We’ve got a special group of players; I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kisnorbo said.
“They’re friends not only on the pitch but off the pitch as well. They spend time together, they work together.
“They trust each other and they believe in their ability. If you get that mixture, it will come to fruition on the pitch.
“We haven’t done anything yet, but we have a special bond and culture that we wanted at our club, and that’s all credit to the girls.”
In heatwave conditions, there was nothing separating the teams in the first-half as they went to the sheds locked at 0-0.
But City took their opportunity when it counted, with Aivi Luik’s deflected strike breaking the deadlock before Jess Fishlock’s classy lob sealed the result on 72 minutes.
“It’s a good result and I think the ladies deserved the win,” Kisnorbo said.
“We’ve been working all week – all season – for games like this and it came to fruition. I thought the team was fantastic for the entire 90 minutes.”
Asked about how they’ll approach another grand final, this time against the in-form Sky Blues, the City boss said: “It’s just another 90 minutes. As soon as we walk out of here we’ll recover and get ready for Sunday.
“Sydney has had a great run this year and they’re a great team. We have confidence going into the next match but we have to treat it as another 90 minutes.”
