These are the key talking points from the Liberty A-League Preliminary Final between three-time reigning premiers Sydney FC and defending champions Melbourne Victory.
Another Grand Final awaits Ante Juric’s Sky Blues against Western United on April 30.
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Age is just a number for Sydney young gun
In search of some added inspiration against Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC head coach Ante Juric turned to his bench in the second-half at Allianz Stadium.
The first player he went to was none other than 15-year-old Indiana Dos Santos, who was again thrown into the pressure cooker of finals football despite being one of the youngest players in competition history.
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Dos Santos slotted seamlessly into the middle of the park, replacing Rachel Lowe and putting in a solid shift as Sydney chased the winner.
The midfielder started in the Semi Final against Western United, but was ultimately dropped in favour of Madison Haley as Juric opted to start his star striker.
But when her number was called, Dos Santos didn’t flinch once, nor did Juric when considering who he was going to bring on in a high-pressure game.
“I can’t answer for her, but the way I feel I didn’t even second-guess myself. I don’t even look at age, that never crossed my mind,” he said.
“I just put Indi on because I needed Indi. It’s a credit to her, because she plays so well, and calm, and skilful in tight areas. She defends well as well, for such a small girl, a young girl.
“I didn’t even question myself about it, I thought the time was right so we played her.”
If Dos Santos features in the Grand Final this weekend, she will break Grace Maher’s record (15 years, 247 days) as the youngest player ever in a Liberty A-League decider (15 years, 206 days).
Six straight Grand Finals for dominant Sydney
The Sky Blues are one win away from finally ending their Championship hoodoo.
Sydney booked their place in a sixth successive decider on Saturday afternoon, as they aim to end a run of three consecutive losses (four defeats in last five) in a Liberty A-League decider.
The premiers had to be patient, but their persistence finally paid off late in the game when Madison Haley struck late, to secure what is also their 10th Grand Final appearance in history.
A win also mean they have won the equal most amount of Championships (four) in the league’s history along with Melbourne City.
“Firstly just how proud I was of the game. And again, that’s sort of how I want them to play. I loved how they kept going forward, kept trying to be cool, defended outstandingly,” he said.
“Even though we weren’t deep, the defending when we went forward, our halfway was like a block, we’d just win the ball back. That made it easier for us to keep attacking. Everyone was on song. Just the attitude.
“I did say: ‘We’ve still got one more to go. I’m proud of what we’ve done’. I know everyone says a lot about that, in terms of Grand Finals, so I just want to put that to bed – because they deserve more.
“I’m not really fussed with myself – I can handle all of that. But they deserve another Grand Final.”
Haley’s ‘enormous’ contribution as American striker scores winner in first start in two months
Back in the line-up, back doing what she does best.
Madison Haley has been one of the great signings of the Liberty A-League season and she showcased all her quality in Sydney’s win on Saturday.
The American striker, who has recently battled injury setbacks, scored the winner in her first start since February 11.
It was reward for effort, having come close time and time again throughout the second-half, but finally she got her ninth of the campaign as extra time was beckoning.
Incredibly, she wasn’t even supposed to play that late in the game, as she continues to build up her fitness levels post-injury.
“Enormous. I’m just glad she could play. I wasn’t going to play her that close to 89 minutes-90,” Juric said.
“I was thinking: ‘Do I have to take her off?’ Because I didn’t know she’d last. I was so happy for her – same with Viney. Back of my mind, I was waiting for them to struggle a little bit.
“I just tried to keep them on as long as I can, and thank god I did, because the goal came from that side and Madison. She was a huge difference in a lot of ways.
“She just causes problems, even if she doesn’t get chances, she has two or three (players) on her, and she’s very strong. Very smart, too.”
‘Amazing’ Dumont again stands tall despite late fumble
Casey Dumont’s incredible finals series will forever be etched in A-Leagues folklore.
After her match-winning efforts in the Semi Final against Melbourne City – which included scoring a penalty and saving two penalties – Dumont was again sensational against the Sky Blues, making a number of key stops as Sydney pushed for the all-important winner.
The Victory shot-stopper made big saves to deny Princess Ibini, Haley and Lowe – to name a few – with most of those coming in the second-half.
However, a heart-breaking late fumble from Dumont led to Haley scoring the winner.
Victory head coach Jeff Hopkins spoke about it after the game, saying “there’s no blame” towards her for making the mistake.
“I’ve only seen it quickly on the screen in the stadium and it looked like someone, maybe Nat Tobin, might have just pulled out of the way (of the ball) really late,” said Hopkins.
“She must have seen it late, I think it bounced just in front of her.
“It was tough and there’s no blame attached from me or the rest of the group. Casey is what she is, just an amazing goalkeeper, an amazing person.
“If she makes a mistake, there’s no need to tell her, she knows. It’s just one of those things that has happened and there’s no blame.”
Victory look to turn the tide of costly draws next season
The dream run came to and end.
Melbourne Victory’s quest for a Championship three-peat came against the side they beat in the previous two deciders.
However, Hopkins has already started to look ahead, as they look to turn the trend on costly league form that has seen them finish fourth in successive seasons.
Victory eked their way into the finals on goal difference ahead of Canberra United – despite only losing three games for the entire season.
A league-high eight draws at crucial junctures proved costly, as Victory were forced to go the long way again in the finals series – but lightning was unable to strike twice as they fell in the Preliminary Final.
But they also fell victim to the injury bug, with a number of key players including Melina Ayres, Catherine Zimmerman, Elise Kellond-Knight and Gema Simon missing large parts of the season – while loan deals for Alex Chidiac and Rikke Madsen ended early in the campaign.
Hopkins says this is something they may review in the off-season, as they look to turn some of those draws into wins, which he believes will ultimately lead to silverware.
“If you look at the last 18 games, up until today, we lost our first two games of the season, but we lost one in 18 since then,” Hopkins said.
“We’ve been consistent, but at times we just didn’t have that little bit extra to get us over the line. I think we had eight draws in that period of time.
“First of all, I’m really proud of the the players, of our ability to finish in the top four again to get to the second last weekend of the finals, but I guess now it’s about having a real good, in-depth analysis of the season.”
“I think we know we weren’t quite right. We did lose a number of players through injury and we had to send a couple of players back to to their clubs as their loan periods ended, so maybe we’ll have a look at that as well.
“Most probably, looking at what we need to do, and what we need to add to our group to turn four or five of those draws into wins next year, which will get us a Championship and the Premiership, and that’s what we’re after.”
