A win this Saturday afternoon will secure Melbourne Victory Women a berth in the 2014 Westfield W-League finals series.
For coach Joe Montemurro, stringing together a 90 minute performance will be crucial if his side have any chance of defending its maiden championship crown.
Despite a slow-start, Melbourne came from goal down to defeat Brisbane Roar in last weekend’s grand final replay.
Labelling the result an “important win”, Montemurro commended his troops on stringing together positive late-season results after a mixed campaign so far.
“There’s a little bit of belief now, ” Montemurro said at full time.
“A little bit of belief in each other that we can go forward and actually do it so I commend the girls on the hard work that they’ve done and going forward from here.”
Hayley Raso fired Brisbane into an early lead after two minutes before goals from Racheal Quigley and Christine Nairn snatched the three points for the hosts.
“We started off really shaky,” Montemurro said.
“In [the first] 20 minutes I’ve never seen the team play that hesitantly. [They] just couldn’t find any rhythm, the little passes, the little things which I didn’t believe were happening.
“Then we found a little bit of a rhythm, got back in the game and then the goal came, and then we had to make some tactical adjustments in the second half, and they seemed to work and we seemed to find a little bit more room in midfield and probably created a couple of the better chances.”
Melbourne host Newcastle Jets on Saturday afternoon at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, requiring a win to maintain its finals hopes.
The contest may prove extra motivation for the hosts following a shock defeat to the Jets in the opening round.
Victory will be looking to replicate last weekend’s strong second half display on Saturday afternoon with Montemurro’s boisterous half-time pep talk still ringing in their ears.
“I’m not one to scream and yell a lot at half time. For me to do that, there must be something that’s going wrong, that needs to be brought out by them,” he said.
“If it does take some stern words at times, I think it was appropriate at the time and we needed to do it so, if it had an effect – and hopefully it did, they’ll remember those words going forward so I don’t have to do it again.”