Canberra United 1-3 Melbourne Victory
By Alice de Koster-Kitto 25/4/26
Above: Taylor Ray (right) and her Victory team mates will be leaving Canberra tonight the happiest of campers after defeating Canberra United in this afternoon’s elimination final. Photo: via A-Leagues.
The 2025/26 Ninja A-League finals series kicked off with a bang, as Melbourne Victory defeated Canberra United 3-1 in an intensely stunning showing at McKellar Park this afternoon.
The win sends Victory to the semi-final stage – where they face Melbourne City in a two legged semi final – and they got there thanks to a goal from Rachel Lowe and a brace from Ella O’Grady. Meanwhile the result brings Canberra’s 2025/26 season to a bittersweet end, with a goal from Sasha Grove making things really interesting for Canberra early on but ultimately not being enough.
It was Canberra who kicked off the action, with an early cross from Grove threatening to break down the Victory defence in the early minutes of the game. Emma Hawkins had an early shot just moments later, as the hosts looked to dominate in their first home final since 2017.
While Canberra had a bright start, the Victory were not taking a passive approach, with Rhianna Pollicina and Chelsea Blissett moving the ball dangerously in the front third, creating chances for the visitors. However, the defensive powers of Bethany Gordon kept Victory’s attack at bay with some clever interceptions.
It was a fiery meeting, with Melbourne Victory receiving two yellow cards within the first 10 minutes – one to O’Grady and the other to head coach Jeff Hopkins – setting the precedent for what would be a dramatic afternoon of football.
Lowe put Victory in front, capitalising on a Claudia Bunge header towards goal, finding herself in the perfect spot to tap the ball in and score the first goal of the match.
Just minutes later, O’Grady extended their lead, scrambling the ball into the net after firing through Canberra’s defence just in time to collect a cross from Pollicina.
An excellent save from Sally James denied Victory a third, following an expert run from Holly Furphy, which threatened to further extend the visitors’ dominance.
Canberra quickly found a response, with an outstanding and cleverly calculated goal from Grove, who ran straight through the Victory defence effortlessly, striking the ball past Courtney Newbon in a one-on-one finish against the keeper.
A fantastic delivery from Heyman to the head of Hawkins got Canberra unnervingly close to equalising; however, the ball was headed just over the crossbar.
After 45 minutes of end-to-end, intense play, a third yellow card was awarded to Victory during added time, after Kayla Morrison contested the first official.
The second half was just as alive as the first, as the intensity picked back up quickly with a well-timed chance from Hayley Taylor-Young looking to equalise for Canberra, which just missed the net.
O’Grady netted her second goal of the afternoon, restoring Victory’s two goal lead. The fearless run in with Canberra’s defence that earned her the goal, took O’Grady to the ground, injured momentarily, before returning to play, to the relief of the visiting side.
The following minutes after the match’s fourth goal were somewhat anticlimactic. Though there was no lack of action, with the ball consistently moving cleverly from end-to-end, and injury scares for Taylor Ray and Chelsea Blissett, neither side was able to capitalise on the ever-apparent vigour of the game to create a real chance.
The opportunities arose as stoppage time approached though, which included a fantastic strike from Sienna Dale who had come off the bench to replace Grove. The shot from distance had the power behind it to fly past the opposing defence, but the ball was ultimately too high.
Both ends managed to find some dangerous chances in the dying minutes of the game, with Canberra having the slight upper hand in terms of numbers, while Victory’s chances were more meaningful in nature.
However, despite unwavering efforts and a huge seven minutes of added time, there were no further goals to be found, as Melbourne Victory took the well-deserved win and kept their season alive.
Teams: CANBERRA UNITED (4-4-2): James, Grove, Taylor-Young, Robers, Bertolissio, Gordon, Anton, Sasaki, Aulicino, Heyman, Hawkins. Substitutes: Stanic-Floody, Majstorivic, Wardlow, McKenzie, Christopherson, Dale, Malone.
Goals: Grove 29’
MELBOURNE VICTORY (3-5-1-1): Newbon, Morrison, Bunge, Pickett, O’Grady, Lowe, Ray, Maher, Blissett, Pollicina, Furphy. Substitutes: Techera, Curtis, Woodward, Jancevski, White, Sakalis, Flannery.
Goals: Lowe 21’, O’Grady 24’, 51’
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: 3,290.
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