When the heat is on, Sydney FC have a way of raising their game. Alanna Kennedy is quietly confident that this resilience holds the Sky Blues in good stead for Saturday's Westfield W-League Grand Final against Melbourne City.
Incredibly for the three-time winners and reigning Champions, Sydney enter the 2020 Grand Final as rank outsiders in contrast to their Melbourne counterparts.
City stormed unbeaten to the Premiers Plate, have not lost a game all season and finished 12 points above the Sky Blues after the completion of 12 regular season rounds.
But as Kennedy, a three-time Champion (two with Sydney, one with City) herself knows, the Finals are a whole new ball game.
"For us, the resilience in the big games [has been pleasing],"
"We had a few games here and there that we weren't happy with.
"But in the times that we needed to be at our best we were and I think it's a similar thing for City."
ROAD TO THE GRAND FINAL: Melbourne City
ROAD TO THE GRAND FINAL: Sydney FC
Kennedy says that resilience was on show when Ante Juric's side edged Melbourne Victory 1-0 in the Semi Final last Saturday.
Sydney had only one week previous been handily beaten 3-1 by their Big Blue rivals. Prior to that, they were shocked 2-1 by Perth Glory.
"I think we had a couple of poor performances towards the end of the season that we were not happy with.
"But the good thing about our team is that we're able to bounce back in the games that really mean something.
"That was a good performance from us and something we really believed we could do going into the game.
"It gives us a good bit of confidence going into the game on Saturday against a quality team.
"To play against City you have to be up for it. To have that momentum is something that we needed."
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Westfield W-League 2020 Grand Final
Date: Saturday 21 March 2020
Fixture: Melbourne City FC vs Sydney FC
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off Time: 3:30pm (AEDT)
TV Broadcast: FOX SPORTS 505 from 3:00pm (AEDT), ABC TV from 3:00pm (AEDT), Kayo and the My Football Live App.
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