<\/p>\n
Ante Juric insisted Cortnee Vine was fit to play after Sydney FC were upset by A-League Women newcomers Western United, who claimed a 1-0 win to reach the grand final in their inaugural season.<\/p>\n
Hannah Keane’s 26th minute goal was the difference between the two sides in Sunday’s semi-final, with the forward sending her side to the decider at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium on April 30.<\/p>\n
Sydney will play off with Melbourne Victory next Saturday to get there, and will need Vine firing on all cylinders if they are to have the chance to avenge Western.<\/p>\n
Vine – arguably the best Australian player in the ALW – was unable to hit top gear against Western after returning to Sydney on Friday following the Matildas’ victory over England.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old sustained a calf strain while overseas and Juric, who took a thinly-veiled dig at the national team set-up, said he had no concern selecting her at Allianz Stadium.<\/p>\n
“She was fit, but I did have issues when she played against England,” Juric said.<\/p>\n
“That’s five games in 16 days. I can’t comprehend that.<\/p>\n
“She seemed OK and we got the all-clear to play her.”<\/p>\n
Juric said it was initially planned that Vine would play 45 minutes but he’d told her to “put her hand up if she struggled a little bit”.<\/p>\n
She came off with half an hour left on an evening of toil for Sydney’s attack against a resolute Western defence.<\/p>\n
Western were feeding off scraps but Keane showed her calmness when she grabbed her 14th goal of the campaign in the first half.<\/p>\n
Princess Ibini, Mackenzie Hawkesby and American forward Madison Haley all fluffed good chances or were denied by Western goalkeeper Hillary Beall.<\/p>\n
“It’s unbelievable, 12 of our girls hadn’t been exposed to an A-League environment (before this season),” said Western coach Mark Torcaso.<\/p>\n
“We knew we might not be overly entertaining in the way that we play but we were definitely going to give a fight.”<\/p>\n
Torcaso said leftback Angie Beard, who is expected to play for the Philippines at this year’s World Cup, had sprained her ankle but would be fit for the grand final.<\/p>\n
Sydney will face Victory next week, who have beaten them in the last two grand finals.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got to look at the bright side of things – we’re playing next week,” Juric said.<\/p>\n
“We refresh and we go again and if we get through that then we will have some momentum.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n