The Newcastle Jets hope their fairytale run to the A-League Women semi-finals can remind Australian football why the club needs to survive.
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The Jets pushed through ongoing uncertainty around the club's future to go on a brilliant run to make the finals, before toppling Western United 4-2 in extra-time in their elimination final in Tarneit on Saturday night.
The win, Newcastle's first ever finals triumph, tees up a David-and-Goliath semi-final with premiers Melbourne City, who are the best-resourced club in the league, over two legs.
"The girls are unreal," match-winner Melina Ayres said.
"We tried so hard and we've had troubles with facilities and everything that's going on with the club and the girls have just dug so deep.
"This is a first win in a final series for Newcastle, so that's unreal. I'm so happy to be proud of that part of the history.
"I came here wanting to do what we've done today and I just want to keep it rolling."
Coach Ryan Campbell, who took over in January after Gary van Egmond quit to take up a job with the Chinese Football Association, knew how important the win was for the region.
"I know there were so many people that were so behind the team," he said.
"For Newcastle, the Jets are something that we need as an area. There's so much love for football in the area.
"You can see with young players that are coming through as well - we've got an academy with heaps of girls who are on the edge of playing A-League.
"They're doing the job of putting the club on the map and making sure that people know that it's a necessity to have the Newcastle Jets."
Campbell hailed his players' resilience amid difficult conditions.
"I'm really proud of the girls, they just keep on turning up. They never complain," he said.
"We're in a situation where even at training, we using multiple training venues at the moment. We're going from one venue to another to train.
"The girls just get on with it, they do the best for the club and the team and it's really admirable."
The Jets will host the first leg of their semi-final. "We've had such great crowds and with all the things going on, one thing certain is that we get people to watch us in Newy and the community supporting us," Ayres said.
"We go for coffee and people are wishing us good luck.
"It's a pretty awesome atmosphere and I'm stoked to be part of it."
Australian Associated Press
