Perth Glory Women can reward WA football fans with a first title in more than a decade by beating Western Sydney Wanderers at Ashfield Sports Club on Saturday.
Glory go into the Round 10 Westfield W-League clash with an eight-point lead over second-placed Canberra United and on the brink of wrapping up top spot.
While a Glory draw would virtually seal the league title given Perth’s superior goal difference, victory would take the mathematics out of the equation.
WA fans have not celebrated a major football success since Perth Glory men won the last National Soccer League grand final in 2004 when the current Glory Women coach Jamie Harnwell was in the side.
The closest any senior Glory team has come since then was when the Hyundai A-League team controversially lost to Brisbane Roar in the 2012 grand final.
But despite standing on the cusp of success – and having secured a top-two spot and home semi-final with last weekend’s win over Newcastle Jets – Glory Women midfielder Collette McCallum is not getting carried away just yet.
Although Glory have won eight and lost one game this season, they conceded early goals in matches against Victory and the Jets before fighting back to win.
McCallum hinted that a similar poor opening against the Wanderers could but a dampener on potential celebrations, despite Glory having scored a 10-1 win against Western Sydney earlier in the season.
“It was kind of flat against Newcastle at times but there were some little sparks when we played well,” she said of last weekend’s 4-2 victory which secured a home semi-final. “In the first five minutes against Melbourne we were flat as well and it wasn’t until they scored that we switched on.
“But we don’t want that to be a recurring thing. We have to be focused and make sure we’re dictating the tempo.”
MATCH DETAILS
Perth Glory Women v Western Sydney Wanderers
Saturday, November 15. 3pm kick-off.
Ashfield Sports Club, corner Guildford and Colstoun Rd
