Welcome to Made With Mitre Moments, where aleagues.com.au brings you all the biggest talking points from each round of the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season.
Read on for all the biggest talking points from Round 18, thanks to Mitre.
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Australia’s most unexpected title charge flying under the radar as epic finish looms
In context, Adelaide United’s surprise charge for the Ninja A-League Premiership is one of the most unexpected stories in Australian sport this year.
Across 16 seasons, Adelaide have never finished higher than third. Last season, they finished dead last, winning just four matches as their top scorer registered three goals.
Their turnaround has been rapid and incredible.
Under the same coach – Adrian Stenta, who has been at the club since 2020-21 and is responsible for their highest ever finish – they have now broken club records for longest unbeaten run, most wins in a season and they will soon own the mark for most goals scored.
The returns of Matilda McNamara and Fiona Worts have been hugely impactful; Claudia Jenkins has been massive in goals; the signings of imports Lucia Leon and Erin Healy have proved a masterstroke; overall, everything appears to be clicking for the Reds.
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Right now, they sit third, but looming clashes with both City (16 March) and Victory (29 March) open the door for an extraordinary triumph, if results go their way.
Watch this space.
Brilliant comeback story 341 days in the making: ‘She’s an inspiration’
In the 68th minute, Susan Phonsongkham finally made her return from injury – a moment 341 days in the making – and the midfielder marked her first appearance of the season by coolly slotting home a penalty as her teammates came running from everywhere to celebrate.
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Kelli Brown’s double ultimately earned the points for Stephen Peters’ side, but it was Phonsonghkam’s spot kick and the resulting scenes that show why they’re still very much in the mix to finish int he top six. The vibes are strong over in the west.
“(Susan) is an inspiration. That girl has worked so hard,” Brown said of her returning teammate.
“The season didn’t shape out how she wanted it to from the start, she thought she’d only be back for the last two games, but here she is with five or six to go.
“It just shows how hard she works. She is such a big part of this team.
“Off the field, she might not be playing, but she has been so big.
“You can see everyone loves her, everyone supports her. I think she is a big piece of glue for this team, we are all really proud of her.”
The Glory sit ninth with five matches to play, six points out of the finals spots.
11-minute comeback sets up huge Finals twist
The Wellington Phoenix look primed for a late charge for finals football after pulling off a superb comeback to beat Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.
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The Phoenix may be eighth, but they are just one point behind sixth-placed Central Coast Mariners, two points behind fifth-placed Brisbane Roar and three points behind fourth-placed Western United.
On top of that, their fixture list is fairly kind.
Next up is a meeting with last-placed Sydney FC, followed by clashes with the Mariners, league leaders Melbourne City, rivals Canberra – who are level on points – and Western.
If they capitalise, the odds look good that Paul Temple’s side could feature in the finals for the first time in club history.
“It’s (about) keeping that momentum going,” captain Annalie Longo said.
“We know we want to make finals and we know that every game counts. It’s another do-or-die game, so we’ll go away with confidence.”
Sydney FC have 5 games to avoid an unwanted piece of history
Whatever happens, this season looks set to break new ground for the Sky Blues.
In 17 seasons, they have never missed the finals series, let alone finished last. To keep that record intact, they’d need to be pretty much perfect from here.
“It’s really tough. We’re all feeling it,” Mackenzie Hawkesby told Network 10.
“We have a really good group, a great coach, so every week we take it as a new week and keep pushing right to the end.
“We’re Sydney FC. We expect a lot of ourselves.
“We just keep our heads high and try to finish the season with a bit of pride.”
Sydney FC have registered just three wins this season and it’s difficult to see that number rising much higher given their current form, coming out on top in just one of their last seven.
The run home pits them against the likes of Wellington (8th), Canberra (7th), Western Sydney (11th), Perth (9th) and Adelaide (3rd).
Victory have a genuine super-sub in Holly Furphy
Fast forward to now and Furphy has three goals in six games, largely off the bench and is shaping as the type of super sub who could play a major role in deciding this season.
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“I have no words, to be honest,” she told Network 10 after scoring in the Victory’s 2-0 win over Canberra that closed the gap at the top of the table to just two points.
“Coming into the side with such an amazing bunch of girls, I’m just grateful to get any minute I get and to help the team win the game and hopefully win the title.
“I’m so grateful just to be on this team.
“(Jeff Hopkins) just said be as direct as possible, do what I’ve been doing, try to make as big an impact as possible. I feel like I did that.”
Furphy’s impact off the bench, coupled with the goal-scoring form of Golden Boot leader Emily Gielnik – who became the first player to reach double figures over the weekend – shapes as a recipe that could drive the Victory towards silverware.
