It was scenes of sheer ecstasy for South Melbourne WFC who in the end displayed a stronger resolve in a memorable Women’s Premier League Grand Final that saw momentum swing with the frequency of a metronome.
Their unlucky in defeat opponents Boroondara Eagles had also fought valiantly – both physically and mentally – but were undone from the penalty spot as South skipper Alex Cheal simply rolled the ball home from 12-yards to earn the right to leading her team away in celebration.
It was a win that at times seemed unlikely for Cheal and her charges, who rode their luck over the two-hour affair at the Veneto Club, which started with a goal against within the opening five minutes.
“We’re very good at conceding early, so I think we’ve had some practice at trying to lift our heads and get on with it,” Cheal said on her side’s nervy start.
“As I said, most games we’ve conceded very early on in the piece so we’ve had to fight our way back in. It was no different [on Sunday]; it was almost like a routine.
“We conceded, grabbed the ball straight into the centre and we fought back and got back in the game. Our heads were always up, always positive and we battled on.”
Like clockwork, South meticulously began to work their way into a game that they’d carefully labelled throughout the week as Boroondara’s to lose. If there every was a side to talk about expectations in big games, it was South, a team that’d dealt with said burden with varying success over the last three years.
“We obviously had a few finals where we were the team that was expected to win and we lost, so I definitely know how Boroondara are feeling,” Cheal said.
“They came in probably being the favourites, but at the end of the day it’s the team that brings the most to the game that will win, and the [team] that wants to win every ball and fight, battle for the win.
“We both brought it but I think we just wanted it that little bit extra.”
That mental edge underscored a second half resurgence from South, led by the best-on-ground recipient Jamie Pollock and the sheer brilliance of Carol Howes; the pair working tirelessly in the engine room.
“Carol [Howes] comes away with big plays and she’s just a big time player,” said American midfielder Pollock on her teammates wonder goal.
“So it doesn’t surprise me that she’s scored a big time goal in a big time game.”
Her barnstorming run from half-way – which saw Howes skin Eagles defender Jess Tay with a blindsiding tap of the ball in the process – set up a one-on-one opportunity with ‘keeper Anna Lanning that she dispatched with ease into the bottom corner.
It set up another 30 minutes of football as the contest was forced into extra-time to split the stalemate. There, a sumptuous effort from Boroondara’s Taryne Boudreau was cancelled out by a fortuitous own goal, all in the first 10 minutes of overtime. However, the toll of 100 plus minutes of heat-affected football began to manifest itself on the match as players from both sides began to drop like flies.
“This was the first game that we’ve had in this kind of heat, so I think that was a factor,” said Pollock, one of the victims of the conditions, stretchered off the park with cramp in both legs in the second period of extra time.
“As you saw [also with] Boroondara, there was a lot of cramping, and I wasn’t the only one on my team.
“To come away and play a 90 minute game, plus overtime, plus penalties, that’s so huge and it says a lot about our mental toughness.”
The jelly legs and worn psyche of the 22 players on the park saw a number of openings fashioned from very little at either end, but an outright result failed to eventuate within the allotted time. Penalties it was to decide a classic encounter and were it not for her injuries, Pollock would’ve been one of the six penalty takers South utilized.
“It was tough, but I knew physically I wasn’t ready to take a penalty,” she said.
“For the team, I knew it was better that I had somebody else take one for me. It’s always hard when you suffer from an injury and you have to leave the field in a big game.”
In the end it mattered little as South did what they needed to do, rounded off by the poise of Cheal, who has now led her side to consecutive WPL titles.
“To go two years in a row captaining such an amazing team, it’s really an honour and I couldn’t be any happier,” Cheal said just moments after winning the title off her boot.
“We were the underdogs and we weren’t expecting too much, but we were going out here to give it our best shot and we ended up winning, which is an awesome achievement.”