High-five for the fact that my Sydney-Roar grand final prediction came true, both because it was the final I was hoping for and because it left me refreshingly without egg on my face. But to have them both go through off the back of heroic 10-women wins? Who could have predicted that?!
I could count the number of red cards issued across two W-League seasons on one hand and still have fingers to spare. So to have two issued in two games on one weekend, including one to a player from one of the teams that was awarded the fair play award in recognition of their lack of fouls committed, is more than a little surprising.
Alesha Clifford's came about in just the apparently ominous 13th minute when she was the last woman standing between Canberra's speedy striker Ashleigh Sykes and an almost certain goal. It was a professional, shirt-tugging foul that saw the angelic-looking starting XI defender swiftly ejected from the field and the remaining Sydney players bracing themselves for 75-ish more minutes of extra hard running.
Roar Women's Sasha McDonnell's red came from two yellows - one for a crunching, high-booted, but arguably not deliberately dangerous tackle, and one for apparently encroaching on the free kick space and trying to slow down the play.
But while the grounds for their reds were very different and one was served straight while the other was a result of a culmination of factors, what was consistent between both winning teams was their hands-up-who-wants-to-win hunger both before and after the red cards. Without taking anything away from Canberra or the Central Coast, whether with 11 women or 10, Sydney and Roar turned up to do nothing short of win.
Both teams could easily have been rattled by the reds and adjusted their attacking, winning-ways game play to energy-conserving defensive strategies. Instead, they stepped seemed to say, 'Extra running? Hooray!' and stepped up to carry the load. In fact, Sydney were so vociferous in their attack and defence you had to count on-screen to ensure that it wasn't Canberra who'd gone down to 10 and Roar doggedly tracked back and forward to keep the Central Coast out and get their own, match-winning goal in.
It's well documented that teams that go down to 10 traditionally play better than teams who keep all 11 on pitch at all times, with mutual, backs-against-the-wall desperation and pain seeming to work as a great and cohesive motivator. But I'd say that while the 10-man factor played a role, it didn't significantly change the way Sydney or Roar played the game.
Maybe their assured wins regardless of how many of them there were (or weren't) to do the job were related to the confidence I mentioned in last week's blog, with Sydney and Roar, despite some early season and recent wobbles respectively, finding theirs at just the right time.
Maybe they were due to the fact that both Sydney and Roar boast the largest, most big-match-experienced Matildas contingent between them, with the containment and channelling-for-good of nerves a not insignificant factor.
Maybe Sydney and Roar were simply hungrier and wanted the wins more.
Regardless of the reason(s), the semi final outcomes mean there are two very experienced, focused, confident, gutsy, attacking-football-playing, only-a-win-will-do-hungry teams heading into this weekend's grand final.
And for a final, it'll have it all. It will feature Matilda versus Matilda and plenty of hard-fought, physical competition courtesy of two teams tired but confident coming off the back of 10-woman wins. It will feature one team (Sydney) keen to avenge season one's sudden-death semi final loss to Roar.
It'll feature another team (Roar) who'll want to one-up the Premiership they let slip through their fingers (which was, coincidentally, secured by Sydney) with a Championship. It'll also feature, for those interested in interstate rivalry, a pride-on-the-line women's football version of the State of Origin.
Regardless of which team you'll be barracking for and who you're tipping to take out the title, all you need to know is that this week's must-see TV will be on ABC1 at 2.50pm EDST.
