What a game! Never in my whole entire life have I ever been involved in such a high pressure, exciting, hot, fast-paced and in the end, controversial match.
We hadn’t played particularly well throughout the game but we are a resilient bunch. We fought it out right until the very last second where we were able to pull ourselves over the line in a hard-fought win.
Perth have been outstanding all season and fought right until the very end with us. It was unfortunate that the game had to be decided by penalties, but in the end, that’s football.
I can’t remember a time in my life where I have felt as nervous as I did when I was standing arm-in-arm with my teammates at the halfway line, watching the girls take their penalties one-by-one.
Personally, I prefer the game of football to be decided within the game itself; running your guts out, winning tackles and being smart tactically to outwit your opponent.
And I strongly believe that those who are confident and comfortable to take a penalty, should while those who have doubts should leave it to the people who can literally see the ball hitting the back of the net. That’s me!
One day, I vow to be one of those people who don’t over-think the situation.
But as the opportunity came along, we had the perfect amount of girls who wanted to take penalties and the order was sorted from there.
You’re all probably wondering what I thought happened with the referee’s decision to have the penalty re-taken. Honestly, I was curled up in foetal position at the half way line waiting for it all to be over, praying for Jess’ shot to sail in – so I had no clue what was happening until Jess started jogging back to the 18 yard box. And then, I found myself yelling and spluttering in Maika Ruyter-Hooley’s face in some unknown language.
The aftermath was something special within itself, something I’ll remember for my entire life. We all charged at Jess once the ball sailed in, I managed to clothesline her on the way through, almost decapitating her and then the official grand final buzz began.
It’s almost impossible to put this ‘buzz’ into words, but the excitement and nerves that build from the exact moment that you know you’ll be playing in a grand final are something incredible within themselves.
All week, I’ve been on a high. I woke up this morning at 6:30am to catch a train and a bus to work because my car has broken down for the fourth time in the matter of two weeks and I didn’t care. I bounced up and went to work with a huge smile on my face.
We’ve had a lot of support from all the Victory supporters and it has been wonderful but we’d love to see as many Melbourne fans as possible at the game on Sunday, being as loud and intimidating as possible!
There’s always been a huge rivalry between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC and this Sunday will be no different.
We’ve been training hard and preparing in every way possible, by the time the whistle goes at 3:30pm at AAMI Park on Sunday, we’ll be ready.
Read all of Steph’s columns for The Football Sack.
Winner of 2011/12 Female Footballer of the Year in the Australian Football Fan Awards, young star for Melbourne Victory Women Stephanie Catley is a current Matilda and is a born and bred Victorian.
Catch the W-League Grand Final this Sunday at AAMI Park (tickets can be purchased here), or watch live in ABC1 from 3:30pm Eastern time.
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