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THREE points will be on Melbourne Victory’s radar as Joe Montemurro’s side entertains top of-the-table Perth Glory in today’s Westfield W-League Round 8 clash.

After slipping to fifth spot on the ladder, Melbourne will be looking to bounce back into form with its first win in four outings.

Following a 1-1 draw against Brisbane Roar in Round 5, Melbourne was edged out by Canberra United 1-0 in front of record W-League crowd, before slumping to its first-ever defeat to Adelaide United on Wednesday night.

Standing in Melbourne’s way of a revival is a dynamic Perth Glory outfit, which is seeking retribution after its first defeat of the season against the Lady Reds last weekend.

Perth has benefited from a stellar 2014 season, claiming victory in its six opening matches and finding the back of the net 21 times - the most of any W-League side.

The visitors also boast one of the most miserly defences in the competition, conceding only five goals.

Making the challenge harder for Montemurro is the fact that he will be without a host of regular players today.

Emma Checker and Beattie Goad are currently in Vietnam with the Young Matildas, as they prepare for their qualifiers for the AFC U19 Women’s Championships held in China next year.

Cassie Dimovski will also retain her spot in the starting line-up in place of injured

goalkeeper Brianna Davey, while Lisa De Vanna has one more match to serve as part of a club suspension.

Perth coach Jamie Harnwell will welcome back midfielder Collette McCallum, while star forward Sam Kerr could be set to return from injury.

Christine Nairn will be one to watch for Victory this afternoon, following a stunning introduction into the W-League.

The American has starred since her debut in Round 1, contributing with seven assists alongside a stunning long-range strike in her last appearance at this venue.

The most famous outing between these two sides occurred back in season five’s semi-final.

Melbourne famously triumphed via a dramatic penalty shootout to book a spot in its first-ever grand final.

The challenge of lining up against Perth will additionally ignite a number of fond memories for skipper Steph Catley.

The 20-year-old made her W-League debut against the Glory in October 2009, later scoring her first-ever goal against today’s opponents in January 2011.

Today’s game will be broadcast live on ABC 1 as the ABC’s feature game of the round, as well as on FFV Radio. Search ‘FFV Radio’ in the TuneIn Radio app to join the live action.

Sean is an intern with Melbourne Victory W-League. Follow him on Twitter: @SeanEllicott

Hosting the top Victory comes into this game against a top-of-the-table Perth Glory

off the back of its first ever loss to Adelaide United, Sean Ellicott writes.

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PHOTO: Mark Avellino

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THEY say that the time to shine is when it’s darkest.

After a winless three weeks and a contest with the league leader today, that time is now.

There’s no doubting the enormity of the task we have ahead of us against Perth Glory, who in my opinion are the benchmark in the W-League.

They have star players who are talked about quite a lot, but I never go out to nullify specific players. Instead, it’s important for me to focus on our approach, which includes exploiting the opposition’s weaknesses.

It’s been well-publicised that we’ll be without regulars Beattie Goad, Lisa De Vanna, Emma Checker and Bri Davey today.

They’re quality players, but I’m not a coach to make excuses.

All my players have a role to play and must be accountable.

At the start of the season, I picked 20 players who I believed could take us all the way to our second title.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you have been involved from the start or if you are playing your first game; I expect all players to step up to the level which is going to bring us success.

I’m sure you’re disappointed with the past three weeks, and let me tell you, it’s never easy when you’re not winning.

Three winless weeks probably don’t indicate

a team that is in its best form, but I’ve actually been pleased with our overall approach.

The draw with Brisbane Roar in particular was disappointing.

We lost Bri [Davey] to injury at halftime, but the response from the girls was fantastic. I thought we dominated large portions of the game and were unlucky not to come away from Brisbane with three points.

We have let other games slip because of our lack of continuity and little lapses in concentration, but I believe that our process is right and that the wins will come again.

So I’m asking you – the best fans in the W-League – to keep the faith.

We’ve been labelled the underdogs today and some people have even completely written us off as title contenders, but those opinions don’t matter to me.

Just remember, not many people would have tipped the so-called “underdogs” Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers to beat Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar respectively, but I wasn’t surprised.

This competition is so even and as I’ve said many times, it’s such a short season and there’s very little margin for error, especially against a team like Perth.

I know we’re a little bit stretched at the moment, but most importantly I know what this entire squad is capable of.

Today is the day to show it.

It’s time to keep the faithA word from your coach, Joe Montemurro.

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WHEN looking through the ‘Victory Vault’ during the week, we stumbled across some fond memories against today’s opponent Perth Glory.

Our only penalty shootout to date came against Perth on January 20, 2013, the day we famously booked our spot in our first-ever W-League Grand Final.

It was undoubtedly one of our greatest wins behind last year’s grand final triumph, with current players Amy Jackson, Steph Catley, Gulcan Koca, Cassie Dimovski, Bri Davey, Maika Ruyter-Hooley and Tiffany Eliadis featuring in the squad that day.

For captain Catley however, the sheer mention of Perth Glory carries extra significance for two other reasons.

The first being that on November 8, 2008, Catley made her W-League debut against Perth at the tender age of 15.

“It was at Etihad Stadium and I came off the bench for around 25 minutes,” Catley recalls.

“Quite a crowd had gathered by then for the men’s game afterwards and I was so excited to have received the call-up.

“I remember giving away a really nasty foul because I was so keen to get on the ball. I was put on as a left midfielder and put in a few crosses and had a few soft, nervous shots, but I loved every second of it.”

A little over two years later – January 23, 2011 to be precise – came the other crowning moment for Catley.

Just three days short of her 17th birthday, Catley struck an equaliser to earn Victory a share of the points with Glory at 6PR Stadium in Perth.

“I remember that season [2010-2011] as being really tight towards the end in terms of teams making finals,” Catley says.

“Perth were up 1-0 going in at halftime and I remember feeling really good at the start of the second half.

“My best mate Ash Brown made a killer run down the right-hand side and I remember busting my chops to get into the box because I knew it’d be a quality delivery.

“She whipped it in and I was able to take a touch around my defender on to my left foot and score.”

After a winless three weeks, Catley and her teammates return home today to the venue which saw us create another lasting memory against Perth.

It was on this day almost six years ago (November 8, 2008) when we played our very first match here at Lakeside Stadium, defeating Perth 3-0 thanks to an own goal, a Tal Karp penalty and a late strike by Louisa Bisby.

It was the perfect christening and the very first win in the six we’ve had over Perth Glory, and here’s to creating another great memory against our Western Australian rivals today.

Julian is Melbourne Victory W-League’s media manager. Follow him on Twitter: @jtrantino16

Inside the Victory vaultJulian Trantino discovers our rich history against Perth in this all-important clash.

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#20 C

assie Dimovski - GOALK

EEPE

R #2 H

annah Brewer - DEFE

ND

ER

#9 R

acheal Quigley - FORW

AR

D#

13 Alex Gummer - M

ID

FIED

ER

#14 Tiffany Eliadis - FORW

AR

D

#17 G

ülcan Koca - MID

FIEL

DER

#7 Stephanie Catley - D

EFEN

DER #

8 Am

y Jackson - MIDFIELD

ER

#4 Alex Natoli - DEFEN

DER

Melbourne Victory squad Squads confirmed for Round 8 on Friday afternoon.

IN □ SUB □ OUT □ IN □ SUB □ OUT □ IN □ SUB □ OUT □

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Perth Glory squad

#6 G

ema Simon - MIDFIELD

ER

#10 C

hristine Nairn - FO

RWA

RD

#12 Ella M

astrantonio - MID

FIEL

DER

#18 Elli Reed - MIDFIEL

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#30 Tori Snelleksz - GOALK

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R

1. Mackenzie Arnold (gk)

2. Sarah Carroll

3. Carys Hawkins

4. Bronwyn Studman

5. Shannon May

6. Alanna Kennedy

7. Gabrielle Marzano

9. Caitlin Foord

12. Kate Gill

13. Elisa D’Ovidio

14. Collette McCallum

15. Shelina Zadorsky

17. Marianna Tabain

20. Samantha Kerr

18. Kathleen Waycott (gk)

Jamie Harnwell - COACH

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#5 Lauren Barnes - D

EFEN

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IN □ SUB □ OUT □

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ELLA Mastrantonio is fortunate enough to have enjoyed the best of both worlds in the Westfield W-League.

Alternating life between Melbourne and Perth, the central midfielder returned to Melbourne Victory for a second stint in January 2014 following two spells with Perth Glory.

The 22-year-old commenced her second term with the ‘Big V’ towards the business end of the 2013-14 campaign, claiming a championship winner’s medal after coming off the bench as a 69th-minute substitute in the grand final.

Born in Fremantle, Western Australia, Mastrantonio has six caps for the Matildas and kicked off her professional career in the west, playing three seasons with Perth before signing with Victory in 2010.

Helping Melbourne reach its maiden finals series throughout the 2010-11 campaign, Mastrantonio then returned to her home city for a further three years.

The allure of first-team football tempted the midfielder back to Melbourne, a decision that evidently paid dividends.

“It was like I never left [Melbourne] really. I’m friends with all the girls so it was really easy to slide in and I just loved it,” Mastrantonio said.

“I love the culture at the club. It’s very professional. All the coaching staff and all the players do a fantastic job and make it very easy for newcomers to come in and play.

“I like the vision of Joe (Montemurro) and what

we have as a team going forward.”It wasn’t just football which brought

Mastrantonio back for a second stint.Currently residing in Melbourne’s outer-western

suburbs, Mastrantonio explained the important difference between life in Perth and Melbourne.

“I could easily live in Melbourne,” she said.“The shopping and everything is totally different

to Perth because we [Perth] are a bit behind.“It’s [Melbourne] 10 times bigger. There’s more

to do and the shops are open later which is a really good thing.”

Aside from the retail advantages, life in a navy shirt has provided an abundance of fond memories for Victory’s number 12.

Melbourne has finished inside the top four at the end of each season Mastrantonio has played at the club, an omen Montemurro and his side will be hoping to replicate for another year.

“I have enjoyed all three seasons with Melbourne so far. I don’t really have a favourite; I could say last year but I wasn’t there the whole year, but it would be funny if I said that.

“We made the semi-finals in my first year at Melbourne in the 2010-11 season, so that was special too.”

While the Perth native may have a soft spot for Glory, there’s no doubting that Mastrantonio’s heart lies with Melbourne Victory today.

Sean is an intern with Melbourne Victory W-League. Follow him on Twitter: @SeanEllicott

Ella’s back to the futureThe Fremantle-born midfielder faces off against her home state for the first time

since coming back to Victory, writes Sean Ellicott.

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DESPITE making the best start to a Westfield W-League season in the history of the competition, no-one at Perth Glory is getting carried away – just yet.

After six successive victories at the start of the campaign, defeat to Adelaide United a week ago was a wake-up call that coach Jamie Harnwell knows must be heeded if his team is to make the finals for only the second time in the club’s history.

Glory enters this round on top of the table with a five-point buffer over second-placed Sydney FC, which played yesterday. But there is no sense of anyone at the club flicking a switch into cruise mode.

The battle lies ahead and Harnwell, who experienced success with Perth Glory in the old National Soccer League and some tougher times in the Hyundai A-League, knows better than most what is required.

Harnwell has good reason to be optimistic after the early season success, which claimed the scalps of Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets, Adelaide, Western Sydney Wanderers, Canberra and Sydney before last week’s defeat in South Australia.

Influential Matildas midfielder Collette McCallum, who had knee surgery last season, was rested against the Lady Reds at the Adelaide Shores Football Centre, and star striker Samantha Kerr had not recovered sufficiently from a hamstring problem to take part.

Both could return for the Victory clash having trained well this week.

“You’re always going to miss players of their calibre but we have a very good squad and losing to Adelaide was a bit of a wake-up call for us,” Harnwell said.

“We didn’t play particularly well as a team and unfortunately they scored from a ball over the top to win it 1-0. But the players know how important it is to get back into good form and they are capable of doing that this week.”

Harnwell recruited well in the off-season, signing the likes of Kerr and fellow Matildas Caitlin Foord, Alanna Kennedy and Mackenzie Arnold, as well as Canadian international Shelina Zadorsky.

Their seamless transition into a squad which already contained a core of high quality players, including McCallum, Kate Gill, Sarah Carroll, Marianna Tabain, Elisa D’Ovidio and Shannon May, has been crucial to the team’s spectacular start.

But the message from Harnwell has been clear – a good start means little without a good finish, too. Glory has reached the finals only once before when Victory knocked the side out at the semi-final stage with a penalty shoot-out win and there is a deep desire to finish the job this season.

Finals are still some way off, but Glory knows a win at Lakeside Stadium today will put it well on its way.

Glory not yet in sights for Perth Perth coach Jamie Harnwell is keeping his side’s feet firmly on the ground,

writes Perth Glory W-League media manager Lyndsey Valentine.

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HELLO everyone and welcome to Lakeside Stadium for this afternoon’s Westfield W-League meeting with Perth Glory Women.

Our Victory girls go into today’s game with a real point to prove after a frustrating set of results recently against Canberra and Adelaide United.

Whilst the result and performance against Canberra wasn’t what we wanted, the huge positive for last Saturday’s game and for women’s football in general was the record crowd of over 14,000 who attended the match.

These are exciting times for our game in this country and last Saturday’s crowd for the W-League game and the sold-out A-League derby which followed was another clear indicator of how quickly football is gaining momentum.

Wednesday night’s loss to Adelaide was frustrating for other reasons, because we felt that we probably did enough to get something out of the game and certainly didn’t deserve to lose after copping a late goal against us and being denied an even later equaliser by the woodwork from the penalty spot.

What better way to bounce back than to take on the best, and today we welcome the current league leader to Lakeside Stadium in Perth Glory, which has had a stunning start

to the season winning six of its first seven fixtures.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to its coach Jamie Harnwell and all of the Glory squad and wish them a safe trip back home again, hopefully empty-handed of course!

Just like the Banking on Football logo on the back of the shirt, we’re right behind our girls all the way!

Banking on Football is proud to be playing our part in the ongoing growth and development of the game at all levels, from professional to grassroots for men and women.

Our major sponsorship of the Victory W-League team goes hand in hand with our partnership with Football Federation Victoria as we look to stimulate and support the game at grassroots level via our Cash4Clubs program, which donates real money to football clubs whose players, coaches and supporters open an account with us.

Think about it; Can you name your favourite football team’s starting 11 from their last match?

Can you name the CEO of the bank you currently bank with?

If you answered ‘yes’ to the first question, and ‘no’ to the second, maybe it’s time to start thinking about changing over to bank with somebody who shares your passion.

In it for the long haulBanking on Football CEO Margot Sweeny explains why we should

be backing the girls through thick and thin.

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