It’s no wonder Melbourne Victory captain Kayla Morrison was beaming from ear to ear at the end of Round 5.
The Victory defender’s gamebreaking performance in a 5-2 win over Newcastle Jets didn’t just help her side jump to within three points of top spot on the Liberty A-League table. It was a performance that signified her emphatic return to her best form after an arduous season spent sidelined by an ACL injury.
In that time Morrison watched the side she captains win the A-League Women championship in 2021-22; it was an experience which made Morrison ponder: “how could they possibly get here without me?”
Morrison returned to action in Round 1, but has taken time to click through the gears on the patient road back.
By Round 5 Morrison was ready to obliterate the Jets, scoring a hat-trick from central defence.
Morrison had scored just two goals for Victory prior to the weekend’s A-League Women fixture – including a goal in the opening round of 2021-22 – the game in which she would go on to suffer that dreaded ACL tear.
The Victory skipper was a menace from set pieces all afternoon at AAMI Park, scoring two goals from corners and one from a free-kick, feasting on the delivery of both Alana Murphy and Alex Chidiac. Morrison capped off her offensive display with a perfectly-timed, crunching sliding challenge on Jets striker Sarah Griffith late in the piece which reminded all watching on of her defensive prowess.
The post-match shots said it all: radiant grin, match ball in one hand, three fingers raised on the other.
A titanic display in Victory’s third win on the bounce from the skipper who has shown remarkable resolve to come back from the brink and create that moment to savour.
Whilst Morrison was basking in the afterglow of Victory’s 5-2 win over Newcastle, Canberra United were getting to work at Macedonia Park, going toe-to-toe with Perth Glory in an enthralling contest in the West.
Perth Glory went on to stage the ultimate comeback, surging from 2-0 down to win 3-2, but amidst the disappointment for the visitors came a special goal to Nickoletta Flannery who, just like Morrison, spent the last A-League Women season recovering from an ACL tear.
READ: FLANNERY’S PATIENT STEPS ON ROAD BACK FROM INJURY
Flannery suffered the injury at a Matildas identification training camp in May, 2021; in pre-season, Flannery told KEEPUP her goals for the new campaign were simple: to build slowly but surely, and continue to “see glimpses of the player I was before my injury.”
The flying Canberra winger would have relished the moment her first-half strike hit the back of the net as one of those moments where a glimmer of that potential shone brightly at Macedonia Park.
KEEPUP followed along live throughout four games on Sunday, December 18, bringing you all the goals and highlights from the A-Leagues. Catch up with all the action below.
SUNDAY AGENDA
A-LEAGUE MEN: Western United 1-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
MATCH REPORT: PRIJOVIC STRIKES WESTERN UNITED PAST WANDERERS
A-LEAGUE MEN: Macarthur FC 1-0 Perth Glory
MATCH REPORT: MAIDEN ARABULI GOAL HELPS BULLS PAST RESILIENT GLORY
A-LEAGUE WOMEN: Melbourne Victory 5-2 Newcastle Jets
MATCH REPORT: MORRISON HAT-TRICK INSPIRES VICTORY TO BIG WIN OVER JETS
A-LEAGUE WOMEN: Perth Glory 3-2 Canberra United
MATCH REPORT: INCREDIBLE! PERTH COME FROM TWO GOALS DOWN TO NOTCH HISTORIC WIN OVER CANBERRA
