Perth Glory booked their spot in the Westfield W-League Grand Final with a convincing 5-1 rout of Sydney FC at nib Stadium on Saturday.
A Vanessa DiBernardo double led Glory to triumph in an action-packed end-to-end encounter.
Glory came from behind in front of 1592 loyal fans as the side made a real statement against a Sydney side featuring a host of Westfield Matildas’ stars.
It was an entertaining opening half which saw plenty of chances for both sides as Sam Kerr and Catlin Foord were central to almost every attack at either end of the field.
Sydney opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, with Kyah Simon’s acrobatic effort bouncing past Gabby Dal Busco.
Glory responded from the spot with DiBernardo coolly slotting home to even the scores, after Georgia Yeoman-Dale was judged to have fouled Alyssa Mautz.
Perth grabbed the lead in the 58th minute, with DiBernardo’s dangerous cross proving too much for Alanna Kennedy as she sliced her attempted clearance over Claire Coelho for an own goal.
Perth was not done there, with the home side’s class shining through as DiBernardo hit the back of the net again to double its advantage. The American’s first shot was blocked, but the midfielder’s superb second strike flew passed Coelho to make it 3-1 with 15 minutes to play.
Glory’s fast finish continued with Rosie Sutton controlling a ricocheted shot into the back of the net.
The afternoon was capped off with a stunning lob from substitiute Shawn Billam over the ‘keeper to send the crowd into a frenzy.
The convincing victory for Perth will see the team return to the Grand Final for the first time since 2014 and Bobby Despotovski’s troops will be looking to claim their first Championship.
