A-League Women’s Tackle: Premiership race set for thrilling finish with both Melbourne teams in the hunt
Melbourne City almost locked up top spot on the A-League Women’s table with their win over Newcastle, but the race is still alive, with their cross town rivals a big threat.
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The race to the A-League Women’s premiership title is going to come down to a photo finish with Melbourne Victory sitting right on Melbourne City’s bootlaces going into the final round.
City almost claimed the prize on Friday night after pulling off a 4-1 win over Newcastle Jets – their 22nd consecutive ALW win this season.
It was a wild game – Holly McNamara scored a brace in the first half to jump to the top of the golden boot race.
Then Jets poor discipline resulted in two red cards by the 45th minute – making it very easy for City to double the scoreline in the second half.
The win put them within arm’s reach of the premier’s plate – literally. It was at the ground on standby to be presented to them if Melbourne Victory had lost or drawn against the Central Coast Mariners.
Victory’s game kicked off as City’s was finishing and defender Claudia Bunge said they went in “blind” with no idea whether their cross town rivals had won, lost or drawn.
The tactic paid off with Victory digging deep to recover from a messy scoreless first half to break the deadlock in the 58th minute. It was Bunge’s kick that got the ball into the back of the net and set them up for their 1-0 win.
“It was a relief,” Bunge said.
“It was a pretty ugly game from us, Central Coast did a really good job in the first half, they were all over us and I’m just happy we got the win.
“We just wanted to focus on ourselves tonight and we will keep that mindset heading into the game next week and finals.”
On paper neither team has an easy final game. City have to travel to Perth which is always a difficult trip.
Victory will come up against Brisbane Roar.
Roar are one of just two teams to best Victory this season, winning 2-0 when they battled in January. The Queensland outfit also have everything to fight for with their place in the final six not yet locked in.
While City took the title last season, Victory haven’t won it since the 2018/19 season.
There is a lot more than just a pretty trophy and bragging rights on the line too. The premiers will compete in the AFC Asian Women’s Club Championships which offers lucrative prize money.
City were the first Australian club to participate this season and will play in the semi-final on May 21.
SKY BLUES KICK ON
A stoppage time screamer from Princess Ibini has kept Sydney FC’s finals hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Perth Glory.
Both teams needed a win to keep their chances of sneaking into the top six alive.
It was a very close match with scores locked at 0-0 at the end of regular time. Five minutes of extra time was added and Ibini let off a long range rocket to put the Sky Blues ahead with just minutes left on the clock.
0-0. 91st minute. Season on the line. Captain Princess Ibini produces THIS 🔥🚀
— Ninja A-League (@aleaguewomen) April 12, 2025
Without this goal, @SydneyFC officially miss the finals for the first time EVER.
Clutch. pic.twitter.com/rkZ8vcdLud
Ibini was lucky to even be on the pitch after a dangerous tackle on Perth’s Isobel Dalton late in the second half. Dalton was left with visible cuts along her shin and had to spend several minutes on the sideline getting treatment but the referee only dished out a yellow card. Commentator Grace Gill questioned if it should have been a straight red card.
Sydney FC had proved the more dangerous team in front of the goal – with 11 shots to Glory’s 2 by half time.
Both teams were fired up for the second half and it led to a number of physical exchanges.
Sydney had more to play for though – they haven’t missed a finals series in 17 years.
Just weeks ago they were on the bottom of the A-League’s Women’s table. But a now four game winning streak has them closing in on the final six.
They will need to pull off a huge win in the final round against third placed Adelaide United and hope other results go their way to reach that sixth-placed cut off.
Sydney captain Natalie Tobin said it was a “gritty” performance that showed they had plenty more to give.
“It wasn’t a great performance from us, it was gritty, but we are really showing our character,” Tobin said.
“Everyone is just believing, after the season that we have had if we go on to make finals I think we can go on to win it all.”
Sky Blues coach Ante Juric praised the team and their never say die attitude.
“We have been pushing the last couple of weeks and have just stepped up a little bit, we’ve had a poor season but I trusted them because I knew the girls wanted it,” Juric said.
“Most teams would self-destruct when they’ve had a poor start but they never gave up.”
AUCKLAND TEAM LOCKED IN
Auckland FC have confirmed it will have a women’s team up and running in time for the 2025/26 ALW season.
The New Zealand club joined the men’s competition this year and currently sit on top of the ladder.
“Auckland FC remains committed to launching a Ninja A-League women’s team in time for the upcoming 25/26 season, due to start spring 2025,” Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker said.
“From the very start we said we had big ambitions with a goal for Auckland FC to be an inclusive club for everyone. Launching a women’s team is a significant part of that goal and we are ready to go as soon as we get the approval from the A-League's governing body, APL.”
APL wouldn’t comment on what the new team would mean for ALW fixtures and how a bye round would work.
Executive Chair Stephen Conroy said: “We are finalising our planning for the upcoming Ninja A-League Women 2025/26 season, and we hope to make a further announcement in the near future.”
HUGE BOOST FOR MARINERS
Central Coast Mariners didn’t pull off a win against Victory on Friday night but they had other reasons to celebrate with their captain Taren King making her return to the field after more than 400 days on the sideline.
King ruptured her ACL in January 2024. She made her return to the field in the 86th minute of their 0-1 loss to Victory.
She defender said she had a mix of emotions but was mostly excited and relieved.
“I had a few thoughts going through my head but it’s feeling good. There were lots of ups and downs throughout my rehab but it is nice to finally have the boots on and be on the field. I was trying not to think about it too much and just go with the flow,” King said, post match.
Mariners sit in fifth place on the table. The loss leaves them on 31 points and depending on how results fall from other matches they could well need a win in next weekend’s derby with Newcastle Jets to secure a place in the finals.
Central Coast played finals last season, bowing out in the semi-finals.
King said they just had to focus on the situation at hand and despite coming off a loss had plenty of positives to focus on.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted but it was a really good team performance, we had them quite worried and we probably deserved more out of the game,” she said.
“We always get up for the derby regardless of the situation, hopefully we can score a few goals early on next week and carry on from there.”
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Originally published as A-League Women’s Tackle: Premiership race set for thrilling finish with both Melbourne teams in the hunt
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