March 4 2022. Two teams, one final spot. It was all to play for on the final weekend of the Liberty A-League season.
It was set-up for a blockbuster finish to the campaign, with two of the league’s most intriguing teams – for different reasons – battling out for one last finals spot.
Melbourne Victory, the reigning champions of the competition, found themselves hanging on to fourth spot by a thread. They had been ruined by a Covid-wrecked fixture – which saw them play eight games in a month – while being struck down by injuries to key players such as Kayla Morrison and Melina Ayres who missed a plethora of action.
The side they were looking to fend off? Perth Glory. Alex Epakis’ team had overcome significant adversity to get to within touching distance of the finals, having been forced on the road for basically the entire season due to Western Australia tough border rules.
However, they were right there, on the cusp of completing one of the great fairy tale stories in the competition’s history. But in order to reach the post-season, they needed some help along the way.
Victory hosted Canberra United, who were effectively playing for nothing more than pride, on a gloomy, humid Friday evening.
The side from the capital had drawn with the reigning champions only a few weeks prior on their home deck and if Perth were to make finals – they had to go one step further and actually beat them.
All Victory needed was a point to wrap up a spot in the four.
Meantime Glory had the “easier” of jobs, to beat fellow league nomads and bottom placed Wellington Phoenix in Wollongong – which would result to nought if Canberra didn’t take all three points against Victory.
And the beauty was both games were played simultaneously. The stage was set for an all-time classic finish to the Liberty A-League season.
Victory came into the game under the pump.
After essentially playing every three days throughout February, Jeff Hopkins’ side had slid down the table, coming into the clash with Canberra off the back of four straight games without a win.
The reigning champions’ grip of a top four spot was loosening as Perth closed in with each passing result. During that run of games, Glory had in fact beaten Victory at AAMI Park 2-0, which saw the gap really start to tighten going into the final stretch.
Hopkins needed to get as many of his best players out on the pitch for the high stakes contest and there was perhaps no one better to call upon – at least in a bit part capacity – than Melina Ayres.
After a brilliant season a year prior, Ayres had missed the entire campaign due to persistent hamstring injuries but was finally given the all clear to come back – although it may have been a touch premature.
“It was just stress coming from everywhere,” Ayres told KEEPUP upon reflecting on the final day.
“When you look back at it. It was sort of like we shouldn’t have even got to that point. We did well to even get to have that opportunity. But once we got there it was just the whole day was just… we really wanted it so bad and everyone was trying to focus but the stress was just pretty intense.
“Personally I shouldn’t have even played that week, in an ideal world with hamstring rehab but the team needed me. Jeff wanted me to play.”
Victory came out of the blocks the better of the two sides but were denied time and time again by a masterful goalkeeping display from Chloe Lincoln – who simply wouldn’t be beaten.
The pick of the bunch was when Alex Chidiac came within inches of scoring an ‘Olimpico’ but Lincoln somehow parried the ball onto the past and away from danger.
It looked like it was going to be one of those days.
But in the second-half everything changed. Canberra came charging at Victory and this time it was Casey Dumont who was coming to the rescue – twice bailing the home side out when both Michelle Heyman and Margot Robinne started threatening.
The latter, however, came the closest to breaking Victory hearts with her shot ricocheting off the post from a tight angle before again being denied by Dumont later in the game.
Meanwhile in Wollongong, Perth were cruising. An own-goal from Isobel Gomez opened the scoring before half-time and a quick-fire Glory double thanks to Cyera Hintzen and Aideen Keane had the visitors three to good.
If one of those chances beat Dumont, Victory’s finals hopes would go kaput and the pressure was mounting.
Hopkins had to make a change so he turned to Ayres for a much-needed spark up top.
“I came on for like 20 minutes but before that I was just like freaking out a bit because I didn’t want to jeopardise next week, but there might not have been a next week if we didn’t scrape through,” Ayres said.
Ayres’ impact was immediate. After expertly holding the ball up on the halfway line, she played through Harriet Withers who was bearing down on Lincoln like a freight train.
However, she placed it straight at the goalkeeper. Game still in the balance. Minutes later Kyra Cooney-Cross thumped the bar from range, with the rebound fired home by Catherine Zimmerman.
But again, it would be denied as Chidiac got a foot on Zimmerman’s shot on the way through from an offside position.
What would it take to get the job done?
In the end, Victory hung on, but only just with the lick of the goal-post enough to save their skins and get themselves into the finals yet again – while Perth came away with a 3-1 win.
The job was done by the skin of their teeth.
“I don’t even remember that much about it, I just remember it was just a tough slog and we just kept them out somehow,” Ayres said.
“I guess the rest is kind of history.”
Well, yes. It is.
Victory then went on to win the championship from fourth, with Ayres playing a starring role in their run to the Grand Final – scoring in the elimination final away to Adelaide and again in the semi-final against City.
But it could have been a lot different had Robinne or Heyman jagged a winner.