For the first time in A-League Women’s history, there will be two-legged semi-finals, with four teams battling to qualify for the chance to win the championship.
Read our preview of the first leg of the semi-finals below.
On Sunday, 3pm AEST, the Newcastle Jets will host Melbourne City in Maitland in a match that has reportedly already sold over 4000 tickets.
The Jets have been one of the league’s surprise packages this season, their extra-time win over Western United last week being the first finals win in their history. Stacked with talent such as Sarina Bolden and Melina Ayres, they are set to excite their home crowd as they hope to put themselves in a position where they can travel to Melbourne for the second leg with an advantage.
Melbourne City were the Premier’s Plate winners for a reason. While results haven’t always gone their way, a methodical playing style backed up by players of the quality of Rebekah Stott, Rhianna Pollicina, Hannah Wilkinson and CommBank Matildas train-on Daniela Galic have seen them be the most consistent across the season. Having had three weeks to prepare, they will be an incredibly tough opponent for the Jets to crack.
After advancing through the elimination final thanks to an intense penalty shootout, the Central Coast Mariners will take on Sydney FC at the same time of Sunday, 3pm AEST.
If the Jets were a surprise package, then no one saw the Mariners coming. They have taken the competition by storm in their first season back in the league. Their young talent such as Peta Trimis and Isabel Gomez have stood out but so too have their veterans, including Kyah Simon. Expect them to be well-organised, defensively solid, and compact.
Sydney FC will go into the tie favourites, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, the Mariners have the advantage over two legs, with one victory and a draw – the only time that Sydney have scored against the Mariners this season was when defender Ash Irwin was in goal. Nonetheless, Jada Whyman has been at the forefront of the best defence in the league, and Cortnee Vine is in electric form. The Sky Blues will no doubt come out firing.
This weekend, Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC will be live and free on 10Bold – pre-game starts from 2.30pm AEST.
You can catch all of the A-League Women’s action live and free on 10Play.