I'm not one to beat around the bush, especially when we are simply not good enough. That second-half performance was nowhere near the standard that our girls normally hold themselves to.
This season has been spoilt for up and down moments, winning a whopping eight from our first 11 games, before falling off the horse dramatically with only one win from the last six matchdays. Simply not good enough.
The girls maintained fantastic control for the majority of the match, recording 32 shots, and keeping 64% of possession. A real 'CFG' performance, one would say. With that in mind, it is truly embarrassing to then ship four goals in only 17 minutes. How?
With silverware looking less and less likely, here are three things we learned:
Too many mistakes
Shipping four goals in less than 20 minutes will obviously scream from the rooftops, "something is wrong!". This case was no different, there were glaring holes in our defence that are incredibly concerning.
First off, there is the issue with concentration. The lack of focus in the closing stages of the game was obvious. City fans would have found themselves calling out to the screen (to no avail, of course) of the impending danger, before watching the ball fly into the back of the net.
The inability to stay focused and on task for the entire 90 minutes has been an issue discussed many times this season, and it all came to a head against Perth Glory. They took their chances, and we paid the price severely.
Bubs is normally on the ball, but even the veteran goalkeeper founds herself in bad positions and was even chipped from distance after a poor clearance.
For me, this points towards a deeper issue within the playing squad. Dario has a serious task on hand.
Conversion rate issues
Although we conceded four, let's look at the positives.
We did score three goals. However, is it really a positive when you look at how many shots we had overall? Looking at Perth, they had a 57% conversion rate; four of their seven shots went in. Meanwhile, our three goals arrived despite an incredible 32 total shots. Most concerningly of all, Fotmob recorded us as having an additional FOUR big chances missed. Inexcusable.
Our City girls are top quality, and should be able to trouble the keeper at a higher rate of consistency and quality, especially if we are going to even think about challenging for the Championship.
Some considerable work is to be done on the track, hopefully looking at the quality of our shots and focusing on working to our strengths. Hannah Wilkinson demonstrated her finishing ability with a wonderful hit into the top corner against Perth; more of that, please!
Finals position under threat
This last round will be massive. While commonsense prevailed and Canberra United were given their three points back after a controversial APL decision (how many of these have there been?), this puts us in a precarious position.
Our last match of the regular season places us up against our biggest top-four threat, Canberra United. If we lose or draw, we can almost kiss our top four place goodbye, as that opens the door for Victory, who only need a win in that case, or Perth, who require two wins from their final two games.
Looking at their respective formlines, I wouldn't be overly confident that we will remain safe.
A win, however, secures a finals appearance. From then on, who knows what can happen?
Hope is not enough. Dario Vidosic needs to pull the girls' heads in, get to work on the track, and come out against Canberra as a united squad.
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