Premiers Perth Glory secured a place in their first Westfield W League Grand Final after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Sydney FC at the nib stadium.

The Glory opened the scoring, after only 10 minutes, when Elisa D’Ovidio finished brilliantly.

The goal not only helped calm the Glory’s nerves, but it also marked a big week for D’Ovidio who announced that she will be hanging up her boots at the end of the season.

Perth’s number 13 struggled to keep her emotions in check, as she celebrated in front of a 1,400 strong Perth crowd and her ecstatic teammates.

D’Ovidio said “Getting the opening goal so early was massive for the team and for myself. I’m absolutely delighted.”

She said “Deciding to retire has been the hardest decision that I’ve ever had to make, but I’m so glad I’m going to get to bow out in our first ever grand final.”

Coach Jamie Harnwell was thrilled with D’Ovidio’s contribution.

He said “The early goal settled us and that’s what we wanted. We intended to make it difficult for Sydney early, which we did. It was a great finish from Vidz, she took it so well and we’re all really pleased for her.”

The absence of Sam Kerr failed to dampen Perth’s grand final ambitions as Glory dominated possession and had the better of the attacking opportunities.

Glory capitalised on their dominance in the 37th minute with a wonderful goal from Kate Gill, who chipped goalkeeper Casey Dumont from the edge of the box.

The golden boot winner put on a player of the match performance as she showed, once again, her composure and preciseness in front of goal.

At 2-0 up there only looked to be one winner, as the Glory looked poised to add more to their account.

Sydney’s shining light was youngster Amy Harrison who had the brightest moments for the team in sky blue.

The 18 year old was unlucky on several occasions as Mackenzie Arnold pulled off a wonderful save to stop her shot nestling into the top corner. Arnold proved once again her credentials as a world class keeper to a watching Alen Stajcic.

The second half of the game continued much in the same vein. Glory’s solid team performance was too much for the Sydney siders to handle, as they failed to make their mark on the game.

The Sky Blues leading goal scorer, Jasmyne Spencer, again showed glimpses of her class as Sydney briefly looked threatening. However, Arnold was equal to everything that Spencer fired at her and once again the Glory kept a clean sheet against Sydney FC in Season 7.

Star import Shelina Zadorsky was over the moon at getting another clean sheet under her belt in what has been a remarkable first W League campaign.

The Canadian international said “Getting another clean sheet was so important to us. Sydney did well and they pressured us right until the end, but we held it together and credit must go to everyone at the back and to Macca of course.”

The defenders smile was infectious as she beamed “I’m super excited! It was an awesome team performance today and everyone did so well. I couldn’t wish for a better, closer team. On and off the field everything and everyone has been amazing and we can’t wait for the grand final.”

Glory’s third goal highlighted the team’s closeness and confidence in one another, as Kate Gill unselfishly left the ball for Marzano to slot home after a defensive mix up.

It was Marzano’s first goal for the club and it was one all of her teammates were delighted with, as she cooly rounded out the scoring in the semi-final.

Although Sam Kerr was out injured, she still played her part in the game with goal scorers D’Ovidio, Gill and Marzano all gestured to the elated striker, who showed no sign of her knee trouble during the goal celebrations.

Defender Alanna Kennedy said “it’s so great to have Sammy around the team and it gives us another reason to want to win. It’s great to have her around the place and we’re all thinking of her and wishing her the best in her recovery.”

For Sydney it was tough day at the office with the defence under severe attack from the first whistle. Along with Harrison, captain Teresa Polias put in another excellent display in the midfield as she harassed the opposition and won the ball time and again.

Kyah Simon showed touches of her composure when provided with opportunities and while Jasmyne Spencer worked hard all afternoon, she wasn't afforded any space from the Perth defence.

It was a disappointing end to a promising season where they were unbeaten for the first five games.

Looking forward to next week’s final Harnwell said “It’s going to be a really hard game next weekend against Canberra, it’s going to be a real difficult one. We’ve got a week to prepare and we’ll see what happens, but we know for sure it will be tough.”

In terms of preparation, the coach said that the team can expect much of the same in the build up to the season finale.

He admitted “I didn’t watch the Canberra game as I didn’t want to jinx it, so I’ll sit down and watch that and go through exactly what we’re going to do. We’ll plan and prepare as we did for today’s game and we’ll look forward to Sunday.”

Perth Glory host Canberra United at the nib stadium as they look to finish their season on a high. The game kicks off at 12pm local time and tickets are now on sale.

Perth Glory 3 (Elisa D’Ovidio 10’, Kate Gill 37’, Gabrielle Marzano 70’)

Sydney FC 0

Sunday 14 December 2014

nib Stadium, Perth

Local kick-off: 12 pm

Referee: Casey Reibelt

Perth Glory: Mackenzie Arnold (gk), Sarah Carroll, Bronwyn Studman, Shannon May, Alanna Kennedy, Caitlin Foord (Carys Hawkins 75’), Kate Gill, Elisa D’Ovidio (Gabrielle Marzano 60’), Collette McCallum, Shelina Zadorsky, Marianna Tabain (Shawn Billam 81’)

Substitutes – Gabrielle Dal Busco (gk), Thia Eastman

Cautions – Carys Hawkins 77’

Sydney FC: Casey Dumont (gk), Teresa Polias, Jasmyne Spencer, Servet Uzunlar, Nicola Bolger (Olivia Price 60’), Amy Harrison, Renee Rollason, Chloe Logarzo (Trudy Camilleri 77’), Teigen Allen, Samantha Johnson, Kyah Simon (Natalie Tobin 46’)

Substitutes – Sian McLaren (gk), Liz Ralston

Cautions – Samantha Johnson 82’, Jasmyne Spencer 92’