Adelaide City face Metro United in the inaugural PlayStation 4 Women’s Premier League SA Grand Final after defeating Fulham United in a tense 5-4 penalty shootout on Friday night.

In a rematch of the Women’s Premier and State LeagueCup Final, the roles were reversed as Fulham took the lead in the first half through Georgia Macri after a dominant performance in the opening half an hour.

City worked its way back into the contest towards the back end of the first half, and continued that momentum into the second as Fulham struggled to get the ball out of their defensive third.

City eventually drew level via the boot of the ever-reliable Daniela Di Bartolo to bring things level late in the game.

The scores remained all square at the end of regulation time to send it to an extra 30 minutes - but with no change in the score, penalties beckoned.

In heartbreaking fashion, Fulham Captain Thomai Kezios had her penalty saved by City goaleeper Sarah Willacy to earn her side the win and the remaining place in the Grand Final.

City Coach Edoardo Rosso was happy with the effort shown by his team to come out after the break and force the equalizer.

“Fulham have some great players who have played at the top level and obviously they were able to capitalize on some interceptions,” he said.

“Perhaps there was a little bit of nerves and we gave away a silly ball and got punished but there was never the feeling that we were under pressure.

“In fact, we kept the ball and created a few more chances in the first half and in the second half we just knew that we had to do what we were doing with a little bit more intensity and a little more belief and sooner or later things turn your way.”

Rosso was coy on whether or not he would change much from the starting eleven, with Captain Isabella Scalzi returning from an illness that left her warming the pine for the majority of the contest.

“We will definitely maintain our mentality which is the trademark of the way we play football.

“I will go through an extensive post-game analysis and make sure I know exactly how the core of the team is during the week.

“But I will really only decide the formation on Friday and I wouldn’t know now if I am going to make changes.”

Goal scorer for Fulham, Macri, said it was a disappointing end to the season especially given the circumstances.

“I think it's disappointing for any team to end their season with penalties, especially when the team was full of confidence and were determined to finish our season in the Grand Final,” she said.

“We all felt for Thomai, she did an incredible job at holding our team together this season.

“The whole team came together after the game and made sure she knew that we were proud of her, she's a great leader on and off the park and is a big part of the reason as to why we had such a successful season.”

Despite the loss, Macri was still proud of what the team had achieved this season.

“I'm very happy with how the season turned out and I know the rest of the team is too,” she said.

“It was a tough road to get there as we had a few injuries during the season but the team stuck together and continued to work hard for each other.

“It had been six long years since the club had won any silverware so winning the Cup Final was an amazing feeling for the team and also the club.”

Written by Brendan Simpkins - @RealSimpkins

Photo by Adam Butler