Melbourne Victory will host the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League Women’s Grand Final this weekend.
Victory will be out to win their fourth Championship, while the Mariners are appearing in their first ever Grand Final.
Read our preview of the action below.
Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners
Date: Sunday, 18 May
Kickoff: 3.15pm AEST
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Broadcast: 10Play, Paramount+, and 10Bold
Tickets: Ticketek
The Central Coast Mariners will embrace their underdog status when they take on Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Having already defeated the previously undefeated Premiers Melbourne City to reach the Grand Final, the Mariners will feel confident that they can overturn the odds again to lift their first ever A-League Women’s Championship trophy.
However, Victory are in ominous form. Over two legs, they easily defeated an Adelaide team who had been impressive throughout the season, and – were it not for City’s outstanding season – it would be Victory who would be talked about as having one of the greatest regular seasons of all time.
The home side also have the advantage of having an experienced squad on this stage. It was only three seasons ago, in 2022, when they last lifted the trophy.
Emily Gielnik, Alex Chidiac and Alana Murphy will all be available for Victory. Chidiac and Murphy were both in that Victory side of 2022, with Murphy being an unused substitute in the Grand Final.
The last time Gielnik was in a Grand Final was back in 2014, when she played for the Brisbane Roar against the Victory. She has only lifted the Championship once, back in the 2010/11 season.
Jessika Nash will once again be vital at the heart of defence for the Mariners. The 20-year-old has had to shoulder immense responsibility in defence after an ACL injury to fellow centre-back Ash Irwin midway through the season, and has done so with aplomb, with the Mariners being one of the sturdiest defences in the competition.
Isabel Gomez, meanwhile, will be hoping to make one of the most exciting weeks of her career even better after her call-up to the CommBank Matildas and her match winning semi-final goal against City. She will no doubt be crucial if the Mariners are to get the job done on Sunday.
