‘I knew we weren’t losing’: Sydney FC sink City with second-half goal to claim fifth championship

Sydney FC have stamped themselves as the greatest A-League Women’s team after winning their fifth championship, the most of any club in the competition’s history, and securing back-to-back titles on Saturday at AAMI Park with a 1-0 defeat of Melbourne City.

It was a battle of giants, one and two on the regular-season ladder, which resulted in an arm-wrestle with Melbourne having the majority of possession, until Sydney landed the sucker punch in the second half.

Shea Connors of Sydney FC scores during the grand final.Credit: Getty

It was substitute Shea Connors who broke the stalemate in the 69th minute. Melbourne threatened to equalise – and had a number of chances to late – but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Sydney star Mackenzie Hawkesby, who claimed the grand final medal for best on ground, declared “trophy wise, yeah, I think so” when asked if the Sky Blues were the best team in the competition’s history.

But for her, and Sydney coach Ante Juric, it was, and is, all about heart.

“A lot of players in our team, and I think including myself, you know, I try to play with my heart on my sleeve and give everything possible,” Hawkesby said.

Sydney FC’s Mackenzie Hawkesby in action.Credit: Getty Images

“Since the final series started, and all season, I’ve seen it in the girls’ eyes how much we want to win.

“And that is Sydney FC’s identity … It’s not just about how good you are on the field. Technically, you can be the greatest player but if you don’t have the mentality, and the heart, you’re not going to win trophies, you’re not going to get to your finals, you’re not going to win championships.”

Juric echoed this sentiment when he said that once they were up in the match, he knew his side was going to fly home champions.

“When we got one ahead, one-nil, I knew we weren’t losing,” said Juric.

“It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t how I wanted it perfectly to pan out because we weren’t at our best. But in terms of heart, yeah, we were through the roof. ”

The only goal of the match came when 16-year-old Junior Matilda Indiana Dos Santos picked the ball up from the centre circle and unleashed a long-range pass, which sliced through City’s defensive units to find the feet of Connors. From there, Connors toed it past Melbourne’s goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, which elevated the intensity of the stadium, filled with 7671 fans, the second highest A-League Women’s grand final attendance after last year’s 9519-strong crowd.

Connors had replaced Princess Ibini two minutes earlier.

Both goalkeepers, Melbourne’s Barbieri and Sydney’s Jada Whyman, produced some impressive and important saves throughout the game. Barbieri, who at 44 came in for her first grand final to replace Barbara, who was out with a quad injury from last week’s semi-final.

Melbourne City react to a missed opportunity in the grand final.Credit: Getty

Sydney now have the trophies to go along with the reputation of having long set the benchmark for the women’s competition. In the 16 seasons of the A-League Women’s, they have never missed finals and made the grand final for seven consecutive years, and 11 times overall.

However, in all their appearances they had claimed the title just four times before Saturday, having bowed to City on three previous occasions. Their revenge made all the sweeter over Melbourne, who pipped them on the last day of the regular season for the premiership plate.

The Sky Blues boast the youngest line-up in the competition, impacted by an injury-hit season, and feature some of the competition’s biggest names, including Matildas’ Cortnee Vine of Women’s World Cup fame, national side fringe goalkeeper Jada Whyman and rising star and Junior Matilda Dos Santos.

Despite the loss, the grand final appearance and dominant regular season ushes in a new era for City.

Their rebuild is over after a previous era of dominance. City came into the competition in 2015 and subsequently made finals four out of the next five years, claiming the title four times. That side was littered with talent, including now Matilda fan-favourites Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Kyah Simon, Emily van Egmond and Lydia Williams.

Shea Connors celebrates her match-winning goal for Sydney FC.Credit: Getty Images

In 2020, the domestic competition was hit with a mass exodus of talent, coinciding with the COVID pandemic, which included the loss of the aforementioned Matildas stars to big European clubs, forcing City to replenish their stocks.

Now captained by veteran Rebekah Stott, who was part of City’s three-peat from 2016-18, the club boasts a slew of rising stars, who all had an influence against Sydney, including 20-year-old Bryleeh Henry, 23-year-old Julia Grosso and Junior Matilda 17-year-old Daniela Galic, who threatened to break the game open on several occasions.

Sophie Harding takes out Julie Dolan Medal

Western Sydney Wanderers star goalscorer Sophie Harding has been crowned the best player of the 2023-24 A-League Women’s season, taking out her first Julie Dolan medal. She received her accolade at the half-time awards ceremony during Saturday’s grand final.

The 24-year-old Harding scored 12 goals and had four assists for the Wanderers and got the attention of Matildas’ coach Tony Gustavsson, who gave her the call-up to the national squad in February for their last Olympic qualifiers after Cortnee Vine withdrew due to personal reasons.

Sophie Harding of the Western Sydney Wanderers took out the 2023-24 Julie Dolan medal.Credit: Getty

City’s Galic was awarded the Young Footballer of the Year award, while Canberra United captain and Matildas’ striker Michelle Heyman took home the Golden Boot after her 17-goal haul. This season, the United star became the first player to reach 100 career goals in the competition.

Wellington Phoenix’s Alyssa Whinham took out Playmaker of the Year and Perth Glory’s Morgan Aquino claimed Goalkeeper of the Year. Newcastle Jets captain Cassidy Davis was awarded Goal of the Year for a long-range strike in round three, while Phoenix’s Brianna Edwards took out Save of the Year for a dive in round 15.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.