It may not be El Clasico or the Old Firm Derby, but make no mistake, Perth Glory v Canberra United is a genuine grudge game.
The rivalry, which will resume at McKellar Park on Saturday in Round One of the new Liberty A-League season, has been something of a slow burner.
It has been built not on a quest for local bragging rights, trophy counts or league supremacy, but upon a sequence of hotly-contested clashes, dramatic goal-fests and controversial decisions.
The stats alone cast more than a little light on the reasons why the women in green tend to darken the dreams of their counterparts in purple.
The clubs have met on a total of 23 occasions, with Glory winning only two of those games.
None of those victories have come in Canberra.
That’s 11 trips to the nation’s capital with only two points to show for it.
Then there’s the goals.
93 in total across the 23 games at an average of 4.04 per 90 minutes and a host of crazy scorelines including consecutive 4-4 draws, two 3-3 draws, a 5-1 and a 7-2.
Late drama and red cards?
This fixture has you covered there too with Sarah Carroll twice receiving her marching orders against United, Glory scoring three times in the last eight minutes to come back from 4-1 down in November 2018 and as recently as last season, the women in green finding the net twice right at the death to salvage a point at McKellar Park.
January 2019 marked the last time Glory claimed the spoils in this fixture, although last season’s two clashes could and perhaps should have yielded six rather than two points for Alex Epakis’ side.
Factor in that potential Glory debutant Rylee Baisden scored twice in her only previous appearance against Canberra for Brisbane Roar and you could argue the case for a momentum change beginning to take shape.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that the story of Glory’s Liberty A-League 2022/23 Season could hardly have a more intriguing and potentially explosive opening chapter.
Kick-off at McKellar Park is at 12pm WST and you can catch all the action live and free on 10Play.
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