Welcome to Made With Mitre Moments, where aleagues.com.au presents all the major highlights from each round of the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season.
Continue reading for the key highlights from Round 17, brought to you by Mitre.
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Star captain reveals the ‘DNA’ of Melbourne Victory
What underpins Melbourne Victory’s impressive defensive structure? It’s none other than their legendary head coach, Jeff Hopkins.
Just ask captain and standout player Kayla Morrison, following their victory over rivals Western United with a score of 2-1 in Tarneit on Saturday.
MATCH REPORT: Captain’s brilliant performance leads Victory to critical win over rivals, closing the gap on league leaders
Morrison was on the scoresheet at Ironbark Fields, helping Victory remain in second place and just five points behind Melbourne City.
Victory and City both boast the league’s top defensive records this season, having only conceded 17 goals in 17 matches.
When asked about the secret behind Victory’s defence, Morrison shared with Paramount+: “Jeff is obsessed with defence — it’s all he thinks about, dreams about, and sleeps about.”
“Even when we’re taking a penalty, he’s shouting at me about rest defence.”
“I always say, it’s the essence of our team. It’s all about defence. You’d struggle to be a striker here because we hardly focus on shooting. But for defenders, it’s fantastic.”
Relief for two-time champions: ‘It’s a different experience this season’
After struggling for most of the season, Sydney FC managed to celebrate a win for only the third time this year, leading to a palpable sense of “relief” for the Sky Blues.
The club faced a challenging title defence, finding themselves down 2-1 in the 61st minute before rallying to triumph over finals-contending Brisbane Roar with a final score of 3-2 on Sunday.
Nat Tobin’s spectacular goal equalised for the reigning champions with 23 minutes left, and Shea Connors sealed the win just five minutes later.
MATCH REPORT: Captain’s stunning goal helps reigning champs add to Brisbane’s woes in thrilling five-goal encounter
While Sydney remains anchored to the bottom of the table, they broke a five-game winless streak, which included four consecutive losses.
“It’s probably more about relief than anything,” captain Tobin told Paramount+ after the match.
“We had a lot of frustration after going down 2-1, especially since I believe we controlled the game well. That’s been the trend this season – conceding avoidable goals.”
“However, this team displays tremendous belief and resilience. We deserved this win in the end.”
“If we had lost that match, it would have been a continuation of our bad luck… it’s been a different experience this season, honestly.”
Sydney head coach Ante Juric added: “The girls showed their quality on the pitch today, which reflected in the result.”
“I’m not worried about points in the next game; we’re satisfied with where we stand.”
“We’ll approach the next match just like any other, focused on playing football and aiming for the three points at stake.”
‘We can compete against anyone, anywhere, at any time and put ourselves in contention’
Can anyone halt the momentum of Adelaide United? Based on their current form, the Reds appear to be a serious Championship contender.
Adelaide are on a remarkable run, remaining unbeaten in their last ten matches and holding third place after overcoming Wellington Phoenix with a score of 3-1 on Sunday.
Lucia Leon’s goals propelled the soaring Reds, who ended Wellington’s impressive five-game unbeaten streak at Porirua Park.
MATCH REPORT: High-flying Adelaide extends unbeaten run as import stars shine with career-boosting goals
Having not featured in the finals since their only Finals Series appearance in 2021-22, where they reached the Semi-Finals, Adelaide is looking to change that this season.
“I’m just pleased we’re positioned higher than last season after a challenging campaign,” Stenta told reporters post-match.
“We’ve come so far since then. In our game last season, we were outperformed and struggled considerably.”
“I’m just happy to rise as high as we can but keen to take it one match at a time, as monotonous as that sounds.”
“We feel that we can play against anyone, anywhere, at any time and give ourselves a chance.”
Western Sydney’s resurgence continues in Gosford
And just like that, the Western Sydney Wanderers are finding their rhythm and causing upsets in the Ninja A-League.
After an eight-game winless run leading into February (L6 D2), the Wanderers have turned their fortunes around, scoring three straight victories, the latest being a 2-1 win against the 2023-24 Semi-Finalists, Central Coast Mariners, on Friday night.
MATCH REPORT: Western Sydney Wanderers maintain resurgence with stoppage-time winner
Excitement unfolded in Gosford, where the Wanderers clinched victory thanks to a last-minute goal from substitute Holly Caspers after Olivia Price had equalised for the Mariners just 13 minutes earlier at Industree Group Stadium.
Though still sitting ninth, nine points adrift of the top six, Western Sydney is enjoying their best run since a four-match winning streak in December-January 2024.
Caspers has been pivotal in this resurgence, netting three goals over the last three matches.
Newcastle Jets end skid: ‘It can often feel disheartening’
The Newcastle Jets are back in the winner’s circle after defeating Perth Glory 2-1 on Saturday.
Entering the match with a ten-game winless streak, the Jets broke this drought thanks to a brace from Sophie Hoban at No.2 Sportsground.
MATCH REPORT: Newcastle Jets end Ninja A-League drought at the cost of Perth Glory
Newcastle held on for the maximum points, even with Libby Copus-Brown scoring late in the match in the Hunter region.
“It’s great to win. Doing it at home makes it even better,” Hoban mentioned to Paramount+ post-game.
“It can certainly feel disheartening when you keep losing one match after another.”
“However, I feel we maintained pretty good intensity, even during losses.”
“It’s just fantastic to finally secure those three points and be proud of the style of football we’re playing.”
‘Our aim is to surpass that record’
Melbourne City are undoubtedly aiming to create history in the Ninja A-League.
On Saturday, the current champions matched the competition’s unbeaten record with a 1-1 draw against Canberra United.
City is now unbeaten for 18 games, a record they share with Brisbane Roar (2008-09), Canberra United (2011-12), and City themselves (2015-16).
MATCH REPORT: Melbourne City levels A-Leagues record as reigning champions extend their streak
“We’re extremely proud to have achieved this,” captain Rebekah Stott told Paramount+.
“We naturally want to go and break that record, but to be honest, we haven’t overly focused on it.”
“We recognise it as a goal, but it’s not something we discuss daily.”
“Our aim is to remain hard to beat, as that can help us achieve the record we desire — that’s what we’re striving for.”
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