By contrast, City coach Rado Vidosic was not satisfied with his team’s performance. 

“Happy with the result, but not happy with our performance,” he said. 

“We must do better than what we did today; both halves we didn’t play the way we can play, didn’t move the ball quickly enough, didn’t create enough chances. At the end of the day, we’re lucky to get three points.”

In a warning shot to the rest of the league, Spencer revealed that City are treating every game like it’s a grand final because these are the performances that are necessary to reach the finals for the fourth time in as many seasons.

As Vidosic reiterated, “From last week we said we have six grand finals before the semis, we’re treating every game like a grand final that we must win or we will miss out. The competition is very strong this year, four or five teams competing for first and second spot, so we must treat every game as a grand final from here.”

Despite another loss, Western Sydney can take confidence from a much improved defensive performance against a team laden with superstars.

It’s unfortunate that the length of the W-League means the Wanderers have started to click far too late to rescue their campaign, but have demonstrated a solid foundation for future seasons. Meanwhile, City continues their tradition of a strong end-of-season run, finding themselves one ladder spot closer to another finals appearance.

Precisely what heights this City team could reach with a longer season, one can only imagine.