These are the key talking points from the opening week of the Liberty A-League Finals Series.
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An A-Leagues feat six years in the making
Hannah Keane – the Western United striker who pipped Liberty A-League legend Michelle Heyman to the Golden Boot in her first season in the competition – only needed one chance to score and send her side through to the Grand Final in their inaugural season.
The ultimate predator inside the penalty area, Keane scored expertly to leave three-time reigning premiers Sydney FC shell-shocked in a 1-0 win at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
It was the American forward’s 14th goal of the season – a campaign where she had a point to prove.
Western’s first foreign signing heading into their inaugural season, Keane had been on the verge of joining a Melbourne City team coached by Joe Montemurro at the time six years ago; however, the move did not materialise as the club turned to another foreigner.
Keane, who spent time with Alamein FC in NPLW VIC where she scored 15 goals in 18 matches back in 2016, went on to experience football in Germany (FF USV Jena), Portugal (Braga) and Spain via Huelva.
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It was something that fuelled her.
Keane has proved a point, while shouldering the attacking load in Mark Torcaso’s side since FIFA Women’s World Cup-winning star and countrywoman Jess McDonald’s guest contract wrapped up in January.
It has been a career-first for the 29-year-old – playing up front by herself – but she has now scored each of Western’s last four goals, equalling the longest streak of any player in club history set by herself in January, as the team prepare for the April 30 decider.
Dumont’s match-winning moments almost 15 years apart
There may not be a more clutch player in the history of the Liberty A-League than Casey Dumont.
The Melbourne Victory goalkeeper – who already wrote herself into finals folklore with her match-winning heroics in last season’s Grand Final – again stood up when her team needed it in Saturday afternoon’s dramatic penalty shootout win over Melbourne City.
Not only did Dumont make a number of integral saves in open play throughout the 120 minutes, she denied Holly McNamara a last-ditch equaliser from the spot, before Hannah Wilkinson willed the ball past the 31-year-old.
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However, she saved (literally) the best for last, having kept her side in it with a string of big saves during extra time, which sent the game to penalties.
Dumont showed no fear as she stepped up to the spot and slammed home Victory’s opening spot-kick in the shootout, before saving Katie Bowen’s penalty on the very next effort.
Scoring penalties is nothing new for her either, having done the same all the way back in 2008 while playing for Brisbane Roar – scoring the first penalty in a semi-final win over Sydney FC.
“She was amazing. I think she has replicated what she did almost in the semi-final back in year one of the league, scoring the first penalty and saving the next one,” Victory coach Jeff Hopkins said.
“She prides herself on her performance. She’s the most competitive person we’ve got at the club, including myself and she wasn’t going to give up.
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“It’s not just what she did on the field. In the huddles, at half-time, she had a lot to say and she made sure that if anyone was just wavering a little bit there was no way that was gonna happen.
“I can’t speak highly enough of her and what she brings to this team.”
The Western sensation who came back to haunt Sydney
Kahli Johnson made the “daunting” decision to relocate to Western United at the start of the season after struggling for game time at Sydney FC.
“I think it was something I knew I wanted to do eventually. I knew I wanted to play football in different cities. Being able to move to a club like Western where it was this special opportunity – coming into their debut season,” Johnson told KEEPUP in March.
“I spoke to Mark [Torcaso] and really liked the sound of the club’s values. It sounded like a cool opportunity that doesn’t come up too often.”
She made just five appearances for the Sky Blues in 2021-22, spanning just 81 minutes of action. This season she has 880 minutes of game time in 16 matches, and her first A-Leagues goals.
On Sunday, she came back to haunt her former club, providing the assist for Keane’s game-winning goal.
The 19-year-old, who already enjoys coaching and is dreaming of playing for Manchester United, delivered a pin-point cross for the American to convert from close range.
Afterwards, Johnson shared a moment with five of her former Sydney team-mates. It is a scene that would have frustrated Sky Blues fans after she slipped through the cracks.
‘We got them’
Sydney FC dominated for large portions of Sunday’s Semi Final against Western United – the Sky Blues had 26 shots to eight and 12 shots on target compared to Western’s three.
Yet Sydney lost on home soil and dropped down to a Preliminary Final against defending champions Melbourne Victory thanks to the second chance that comes with finishing in the top two.
Saturday’s blockbuster at Allianz Stadium will be a rematch of the past two Grand Finals, both won by Victory.
“It’s a big clash against Victory,” Sydney head coach Ante Juric – whose Sky Blues have suffered back-to-back finals losses for the first time since 2017 – told Network 10.
“We obviously have a history. I don’t have to do much in terms of motivation, which is enormous for us to play that game.”
When asked if Sydney would be practicing penalties following the penalty heroics of Victory goalkeeper Casey Dumont, who helped the titleholders outlast Melbourne City 4-1 on spot-kicks following a wild 3-3 draw, Juric had a message.
“We probably will but I’m more comfortable now that it’s a Preliminary Final against them than a Grand Final because they have knocked us off in the Grand Final,” Juric said.
“But they haven’t knocked us off in a Preliminary Final since I’ve been here.
“We have the upper hand in semis, but we will have to do that in detailing our game. You never know what will happen. Definitely aiming for the 90. We got them.”
17-year-old Victory teenager stands up when it matters under enormous pressure
After 120 minutes, and a combined six penalties, Melbourne Victory’s hopes and dreams fell at the feet of Alana Murphy.
The 17-year-old midfielder had the chance to send her side to the Preliminary Final at a wet and cold Casey Fields.
Murphy showed enormous composure as she stepped up and buried the resulting penalty, much to the jubilation of her teammates and the Victory fans in attendance who had braved the elements all evening.
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“I was calm the whole time then I thought ‘oh I’ve gotta take the winner,” Murphy told KEEPUP post-game.
“We’ve been practising them so it felt good.
“I was just buzzing. I didn’t know where to go. I was just running anywhere. I’m not really one to cry but I will say I did shed a few tears.”
It’s been a tremendous rise for Murphy this season, who has established herself in Victory’s best XI towards the end of the campaign, playing alongside a hero of hers in Amy Jackson.
Incredibly, Murphy has a signed poster of Jackson from many years ago.
“We were at training one day, and Murph said: ‘AJ, I’ve got a signed poster of you at home that I got from a game years ago when I was little’,” Jackson told KEEPUP last year.
“I was like: ‘Whatever, make sure you bring it’. So the next time we were at AAMI Park, she actually brought it in and we had a really good laugh about it.”
Pollicina’s incredible showing almost wills Melbourne City over the line
There was another hat-trick of sorts at Casey Fields that went under the radar on Saturday afternoon.
Although Melina Ayres’ incredible second-half stole the headlines, Melbourne City’s Rhianna Pollicina put in an incredible performance of her own that almost took her side to the Preliminary Final.
Pollicina opened the scoring after a lovely bit of teamwork with Holly McNamara, with the Matildas attacker finding the former with a well-weighted cross into the area to slide into the back of the net.
After Ayres got busy and took Victory two goals ahead, the City attacker answered back with another goal of her own, firing from range to give her side a lifeline with only minutes remaining and ultimately spark the late fightback that sent the game to extra-time.
And had it not been for the brilliance of Casey Dumont in the additional half-hour, she could have easily won the game for her side with a strike in the dying moments.
Pollicina would go on to slot the only penalty of the shootout for City, as they fell to a heartbreaking defeat.
