This week’s star performer, Kate Gill, made all the difference against Adelaide United, with her brace earning the Glory a home semi-final.
After a weekend of fantastic women’s football, the Westfield W-League regular season has drawn to a close. Thankfully we have two semi-finals to look forward to this weekend, with Sydney FC travelling to Brisbane and Perth Glory hosting the Melbourne Victory.
For Perth Glory, this week’s star performer, Kate Gill, made all the difference against Adelaide United, with her brace earning the Glory a valuable home semi-final.
“It’s a big advantage not having to travel and also having the home crowd,” says Gill. “Those are probably two of the best things about playing at home. But it’s a funny old game football, so you just have to take it one game at a time.”
It’s been a roller-coaster season for the Glory, with results that included a 6-1 thrashing of Newcastle Jets and an incredible 7-5 victory over Sydney FC. Gill has remained a constant throughout, however, finding her name on the score sheet more often than not and racking up an impressive 11 goals for the season.
“I’ve never had a full W-League season before because I’ve been overseas. I’ve always come back and just had the last three or four games, so this year has been nice.”
With the potential for silverware in sight, Gill and her Perth Glory teammates have a home advantage and a run of five games undefeated behind them heading into their semi-final. While they have only faced Melbourne Victory once this season – a 2-0 win in the opening round – Perth’s attacking prowess in recent weeks will no doubt serve them well this Sunday.
“I don’t think the game plan is going to change at all. I know it’s a semi-finals game but it’s also just another game of football. I think that’s the way you’ve got to approach it. Obviously we just want to play our game and continue in the form we’ve been having so far.”
Whatever the result, Kate Gill has been a goal-scoring machine this season and one of the main reasons Perth Glory finished just two points behind minor premiers Brisbane Roar. If Melbourne fail to close down the Glory’s unrelenting attacks, we could very well see Perth battling for the championship in the Westfield W-League grand final.
