Melbourne Victory have kept their finals hopes alive with a gritty 2-1 triumph against a valiant Brisbane Roar side at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Heading into the match, both teams knew they needed a win to keep their finals aspirations alive and Brisbane made a flying start, with Hayley Raso scoring in the second minute.

Raso, like many of her Brisbane teammates, made a slow start to Season 7 but in the last couple of weeks the striker as demonstrated the pace, creativity and improved finishing that saw her selected for the 2014 Asian Cup.

On this occasion she took full advantage of the flat footed navy blues and finished confidently on a slight angle.

To say this wasn’t a good start for Melbourne would be redundant, but what was worse, was that Victory had highlight their slow starts as an area requiring improvement.

It didn't get much better for the home side in the opening 20 minutes as Brisbane's high pressing game made midfield possession hard to come by and time a rare commodity.

Even missing some key starting players, Brisbane made a re-shaped Melbourne side look disjointed and disorganised.

Kim Carroll, who has grown into the number 6, was particularly instrumental in squeezing the midfield for the Victory's engine room.

Her pivot role allowed the always involved Katrina Gorry time to be able to pick out the runs of Raso or Emily Gielnik but the Roar were unable to capitalise on their dominance and, as is the story of their season, it came back to haunt them.

After the early strike from Raso, Steph Catley was able to contain the speedster to the point that Roar coach, Belinda Wilson switched Raso from right to left to swing her away from Catley.

Similarly the matchup of Brooke Spence and Lisa De Vanna was compelling to watch as it stifled Victory’s creativity both on and off the ball.

Brisbane had more chances on the day but the strong aerial ability of ‘keeper Brianna Davey kept Melbourne in the game.

It took some time but slowly Melbourne found a way to begin to navigate the Roar press.

With the return of so many players in form, whether for club or country, Joe Montemurro had a selection headache for the first in weeks.

For the second time this season he went for a more attacking midfield formation with Montemurro with Christine Nairn provided the protection to join the attack higher up the park.

It worked well against Newcastle and even better against Brisbane with their key attacking threat De Vanna supported by Nairn, Racheal Quigley and Beattie Goad.

Melbourne looked at their best when the pinpoint passing of Nairn delivered space for De Vanna who routinely set up a tap in for Racheal Quigley in the box.

Balanced on a knife edge after the break, the importance of this game was outlined by the substitutions of the both Wilson and Montemurro pushing hard for a winner.

In the end it was again the combination of De Vanna, Nairn and Quigley who set up the game winning goal.

As if in slow motion, no-one could stop Nairn as she ran straight onto a pass and headed goalward, putting the ball past Nadine Angerer.

For Brisbane their season is over. For the first time in their illustrious history, they will not feature in the W-League finals series.

There are a lot of questions that need to be asked internally, and externally, for the key reason that the health of the Roar and its players are integral to the health of the national team.

If there is any positive to come out of the season it is the fact that, even with the odds against them, the Roar still fought until any mathematical possibility of finals was gone.

For Victory, it definitely wasn’t a pretty win but it was stubborn enough to get them the points. Points that are vital with only one match remaining and three teams tied on 17.

Every week is finals week currently for the defending champions and it doesn't get easier with an in form Newcastle Jets coming to town.

Melbourne Victory 2 (Rachael Quigley 44’, Christine Nairn 80’)

Brisbane Roar 1 (Hayley Raso 2’)

Sunday 16 November 2014

Lakeside Stadium, Sydney

Local kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Kate Jacewicz

Melbourne Victory: Brianna Davey (gk), Hannah Brewer (Ella Mastrantonio 70’), Lauren Barnes, Stephanie Catley, Amy Jackson, Racheal Quigley (Caitlin Friend 89’), Christine Nairn, Lisa De Vanna, Emma Checker, Beattie Goad, Elli Reed

Substitutes – Cassandra Dimovski (gk), Gulcan Koca

Cautions – Amy Jackson 49’, Lisa De Vanna 81’

Brisbane Roar: Nadine Angerer (gk), Clare Polkinghorne, Brooke Spence, Hayley Raso, Kim Carroll, Larissa Crummer, Katrina Gorry, Vedrana Popovic (Angela Beard 63’), Tameka Butt, Natasha Wheeler (Sunny Franco 77’), Emily Gielnik (Ayesha Norrie 69’)

Substitutes – Kate Stewart (gk)

Cautions – Larissa Crummer 23’, Katrina Gorry 60’, Brooke Spence 71’