Three second-half goals and a dominant display from the Roar sealed a 3-0 victory over Adelaide United in the Ninja A-League Elimination Final at a sold-out Spencer Park on Saturday evening.
Spencer Park buzzed long before kick-off, with 3,500 orange-clad fans packing the stands from end to end.
Adelaide claimed the first real chance just before the ten-minute mark. Erin Healy got on the end of a well-weighted cross and powered a header toward the top right corner, but Roar CommBank Matildas goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln produced an acrobatic save to tip it away.
As the half wore on, the Roar grew into the contest and carved out openings in the South Australian defence. Kijah Stephenson came agonisingly close when she met a Daisy Brown cross and drilled a low shot goalward, only for a deflection to take it out of play. The resulting corner brought another moment of drama, with Momo Hayashi almost turning it in at the back post before Healy got across to divert her effort wide.
Stephenson threatened again minutes later when a Tish Woods’ shot rebounded into her path, and she fired at the bottom left corner, but Melegh was equal to it and produced a spectacular knee block to keep the deadlock intact.
The Roar dominated the first half’s closing stages, pinning Adelaide deep in their own half, but the Reds held firm, and the sides went in at the break goalless.
Five minutes into the second half, the Roar drew first blood. Woods drove forward and poked the ball into the path of Stephenson, who took a touch and rocketed it into the back of the net.
Stephenson had her second just six minutes later. After receiving a square pass from Ashlyn Miller, she wriggled past the Adelaide defence with clever footwork and slotted a left-footed effort that clipped the left post and nestled into the net.
It wasn’t long before the Roar threatened again. A slick passage of play released Daisy Brown, who found Aimee Medwin in behind the Adelaide defence. Medwin used her pace to get past Adelaide centre-back Ella Tonkin and blazed a shot from close range, but Melegh denied her with a heroic block.
Veteran Roar captain Tameka Yallop went close 25 minutes into the second half when a deflection from Miller fell into space in front of her, leaving an open net, but her shot glanced off Tonkin and drifted wide.
With just under ten minutes left on the clock, Medwin latched onto a pinpoint through ball from Woods on the right side of the box and rolled it under Melegh to put the Roar 3-0 ahead.
The full-time whistle blew shortly after, and Spencer Park erupted in celebration.
The Roar now march on to the semi-finals, where a two-legged tie against Wellington Phoenix stands between them and a Grand Final. The Roar have home advantage in the first leg, hosting the Phoenix between May 1–3, before making the trip to Wellington for the second leg between May 8–10.
