Defence will be a key factor in deciding Sunday’s Westfield W-League grand final against the Melbourne Victory at Lakeside Stadium, according to Brisbane Roar centre-back Kim Carroll.
Defence will be a key factor in deciding Sunday’s Westfield W-League grand final against the Melbourne Victory at Lakeside Stadium, according to Brisbane Roar centre-back Kim Carroll.
The Roar have had a more inconsistent season than recent campaigns, but nevertheless find themselves in the final for an impressive fifth time in six years.
After finishing fourth in the ladder, Brisbane pulled off a stirring 2-1 upset win against minor premiers Canberra in a tough semi-final, with Elise Kellond-Knight and Carroll finding the net for the Roar.
The Victory were also the underdogs going into their semi against Sydney FC, but stormed back from 2-0 down to claim a 3-2 win and book their place in the decider.
Carroll predicted chances would be at a premium in Sunday’s encounter.
“I think it might come down to defending,” she said.
“Who defends best, and obviously who can finish their chances when they come up.”
The 26-year-old Matilda said that any difficult moments of the Roar’s season were of no consequence now that they have moved to within one win of the title.
“We’ve had an up-and-down season, I think everyone knows that,” she said.
“We’ve had a few losses that we probably should have won, we’ve had a few disappointing losses and send-offs and stuff so I think we were hoping for a better result in terms of where we finished on the ladder, but we’re happy we made the top four and that’s all that counts in our season.”
Carroll said the big-name players on both teams would have a major say in deciding the game, and she believes Brisbane have the edge in that department.
“We’ve got a few more well-known players,” she said.
“Obviously we’ve got the Matildas in our squad.
“But at the same time they’ve got really well-known players from overseas, and they’ve got (Lisa) De Vanna, who is a big threat.
“We’ve come good at the end of the season which is the main focus I think.
“We had a win against Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, but I think we can’t take that for granted, they lost the grand final last year and they’ll be really out to win it this year, so we can’t let our guard down.”
