Sydney FC missed the chance of becoming back to back champions after their 2-1 loss to Brisbane FC in the Grand Final of the 2010/11 Westfield W-League.
Sydney FC missed the chance of becoming back to back champions after their 2-1 loss to Brisbane FC in the Grand Final of the 2010/11 Westfield W-League. The loss halted Sydney FC-s run after doing the double in 2009 and winning the premiers this season.
Star forward Lisa De Vanna proved to be the heroine scoring the winner midway through the second half to bring the trophy back to Brisbane.
Since the inauguration of the W-League in 2008, Sydney FC and Brisbane FC have shared the honours and this season proved to be no different as both teams go head to head from Round 1.
Sydney FC proved to be the team to beat with their 4-2 trashing of Brisbane at Ballymore Stadium in the opening fixture of the season. In a replay of the 2009 Grand Final, Sydney was once-more the better side and never trailed the Roar, who didn-t look close to hitting top gear.
It took Sydney four rounds of action before they suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Newcastle. A 2-1 loss to Newcastle followed by 1-0 defeat to Brisbane Roar in Round 8, both at Campbelltown, were the only matches that Sydney dropped points as they went on to finish the season on top of the ladder with 24 points and a superior goal difference of 20 goals.
From the opening fixture loss, Brisbane managed to recover from the setback to finish second on the ladder with 21 points. Brisbane-s draws against Canberra United (Round 2), Melbourne Victory (Round 10) and Newcastle Jets (Round 11) proved costly as they missed out on becoming premiers for the 2010/11 season.
Although Newcastle finished sixth on the ladder, they managed to create the two upsets of the season, a 2-1 win over Sydney FC in Round 4 and 0-0 draw against Brisbane in Round 11. Perth Glory finished the season with 13 points, two points shy of making it to the semi-final.
Canberra United went one up on their 2009 performance by finishing third while Adelaide United had a disappointing season, finishing at the bottom of the league without a point. Canberra put on a great performance in the semi-final against Brisbane but was unlucky not to go through in the penalty shootout.
Roar goalkeeper Casey Dumont was the hero for the home-side, making a brilliant shoot-out save to deny dual-international Ellyse Perry before setting the Ballymore crowd alight by stepping up to slot the match-winning penalty.
Sydney FC had no problems disposing Melbourne Victory 5-1 in the other semi-final. Three late goals in the last fifteen minutes of the match gave Sydney the confidence they needed in the finals. However once again, Campbelltown Stadium proved to be a favourite hunting ground for Brisbane FC.
Player of the match Tameka Butt set the Roar on their way with the opener on ten minutes before Sydney skipper Kylie Ledbrook restored parity on 34 minutes. De Vanna scored what proved to the winner in the 66 minute after skipping past defender Danielle Brogan and slipping the ball past an exposed Dimitra Poulos.
Another positive that Sydney FC could take from this season is Kyah Simon finishing the season as top goal scorer with 12 goals while team-mate Leena Khamis came in second with 8 goals.
