Yet another pivotal Westfield W-League match-up with third-placed Brisbane Roar visiting fourth-placed Melbourne Victory.
Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar
Saturday 17 December 2011
Simonds Stadium, Geelong
Local kick-off: 3pm
Live: ABC TV
Yet another pivotal Westfield W-League match-up with third-placed Brisbane Roar visiting fourth-placed Melbourne Victory. A win in this encounter will almost certainly guarantee finals football and quite possibly a top-two berth.
Incredibly the Victory will go second for the first time in their history if they can collect another three points on Geelong-s manicured turf.
Melbourne have improved incrementally over the course of the season at both ends of the park and it is paying dividends. The Victory have, perhaps for the first time in the four-season history of the league, started to find consistency in front of goal having bagged 11 in their last four outings.
Jodie Taylor-s treble last weekend took the English striker to second on the Westfield W-League goalscorers list with seven strikes, just one behind the prolific Michelle Heyman. At the other end of the field a resolute defence has been breached just twice in past month.
Victory-s defence against the Roar-s numerous attacking outlets will be a fascinating sub-plot and likely to be crucial to the outcome of the contest.
Last weekend Brisbane struggled to break down Adelaide-s well organised and swarming defence scoring twice, with the second coming only in injury time. When Melbourne visited Brisbane a month ago it finished 1-0 to the Roar and it would be a major surprise if this weekend is not similarly tight.
