Victory star Jenkins wants City in Westfield W-League Finals Series

Melbourne Victory star Darian Jenkins is already dreaming of a Melbourne Derby rematch against newly-crowned Premiers City ahead of the Westfield W-League Finals Series.

A star-studded City lifted the same title Victory had claimed in 2018/19 following a 4-0 win against their crosstown rivals back in Round 12.

That heavy defeat knocked Victory’s title bid off course but they re-routed in Round 13 with a dominant 7-0 win against Newcastle Jets in the Hunter.

Jeff Hopkins’ side still need another point from their final match of the regular season campaign – the Big Blue Derby against second-placed Sydney FC on Saturday – to secure their place in the final four, but Jenkins is already eyeing a rematch against the Premiers.

“Absolutely, and [a chance to] redeem ourselves for sure,” Jenkins said.

“It’d be a shame if we didn’t get to have that match-up again before the end of the season.”

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The American attacker, who has featured 11 times in her debut Westfield W-League season after joining on loan from National Women’s Soccer League outfit Reign FC, clearly still has that City nightmare on her mind.

If Victory can claim all three points against the defending Champions at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, they would secure second place in the ladder and set up a potential Grand Final with their noisy neighbours, a prospect Jenkins can get behind.

“[That] would be huge, and great for women’s soccer.”

“I think we’ve got a chip on our shoulder after the last game,” the 25-year-old added.

“Tactically, we’ll definitely change some things because the way that they play. They really exposed those wide areas and, in our formation, it’s really vulnerable for us at the same time.

“So I think we’ll switch some things around and we’ll just have a better attitude going in.”

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Victory responded in the best possible way to that demoralising loss by putting seven past a previously-competitive Newcastle side, with Jenkins getting on the scoresheet twice.

And the Utah-native revealed her teammates had to maintain concentration though a challenging, six-hour airport delay in the build-up to the contest in Newcastle.

“I think it really showed out resilience and that we have that bounce back factor, especially after the game against City,” Jenkins added.

“That we were able to band together, especially after all of our adversities, like there was a mix up with our flights so we were at the airport for another six hours and we got in really late.

“I think it’s really good that we were all able to come together after that and still have a great result.”