Skipper Neil Kilkenny is quietly confident that Glory can get the better of Wellington Phoenix in Saturday’s Elimination Final at Bankwest Stadium (kick-off 3pm WST).
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The Kiwi side edged out Tony Popovic’s men last month in what was both teams’ first game following the resumption of the Hyundai A-League season, but Glory prevailed in both meetings earlier in the campaign.
And Kilkenny believes that a third victory is very much achievable.
“Wellington are a good team that have been consistent all season,” he said.
“Obviously we’ve already played them in this hub and I felt we played well and should have got more out of that game.
“We dominated the game in sense of possession, but they were clinical in the way they took their chances.
“We know we’ve got a good team and we need to perform on the night.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can come away with the win.”
No team has ever gone on to win an A-League Grand Final after finishing the regular season in sixth spot, but Kilkenny’s view is that records are made to be broken.
“I wasn’t aware of that stat and I’m sure most of the other lads won’t be aware of it either,” he said.
“We want to go into the history books.
“We had a good season last year, coming first before unfortunately losing in the Grand Final, so hopefully we can win on Saturday and that’s our main focus now.
“There are a few things we need to work on and we’ve been working on those.
“We’ve had a while to do that over the last few days and we’ll continue that over the next couple of days.”
Saturday’s clash will mark the third Finals meeting between the two clubs who have enjoyed a win apiece to date.
In 2010, Phoenix ended Glory’s first Finals appearance via a penalty shootout and the WA side then avenged that defeat with a 3-2 extra-time victory en route to the 2012 Grand Final.
#OneGlory
