Tara Murray
The reality that he’s likely to be playing in an A-League grand final is only starting to settle in for Caroline Springs’ Dylan Pierias.
Having dreamt about this moment for a number of years, Pierias and his Western United teammates will play in the final game of the year for the first time on Saturday night against Melbourne City.
For a club that’s just three years old, it’s the biggest moment in its history.
“There’s a really good vibe at the club,” Pierias said.
“It’s really exciting and we’re really happy to be able to play in a grand final.
“Being such a young club we’re really excited for the players, the staff and the backroom staff.”
United has spoken about big dreams since the moment they got their license. Coach John Aloisi in his first year at the club, continued that focus.
It was something Pierias said the whole playing group had brought into.
“Half way through the season we were on top of the ladder, and you start thinking that maybe we could do something special,” he said.
“There’s always talk about it, but it’s about the ability to do it. It’s only just started to sink in now. I didn’t believe it for the first couple of days.”
United won through to the decider in stunning fashion. After trailing Melbourne Victory 1-0 after game one of the semi finals, United dominated the second half of game two, winning 4-1 and claiming an overall 4-2 win.
Pierias said he hadn’t seen anything like before.
“The club was up against it,” he said. “Melbourne Victory were favourites to win it as they had 15 games undefeated.
“Going into the second leg 1-0 down, made it more special to put in a performance like that. It was one of the best moments of my career.”
Pierias watched the game from the bench, as an unused sub. He said there was no disappointment in not getting on the pitch, with winning the most important thing.
For United, grand final week hasn’t been too different from a normal week.
There’s a little bit of extra media, but they’re still sticking to their routine that has got them where they are.
For Pierais, who lives in Caroline Springs and has grown up in Melbourne’s west, it’s exciting to see the west, Geelong and the Ballarat region get behind them.
“I think it’s really important for the club to be in a grand final,” he said. “To win it would be even more special.
“The west region is starting to take more interest. The fans at the stadium went nuts… I’ve had 20 to 30 messages from fans.
“They’re happy for us and without our fans we don’t have a game. I’ve been on Instagram telling everyone to get behind us.”
The grand final is at AMMI Park on Saturday night at 7.30pm.
Pierais knows they will have a challenge ahead of them.
“City is a big club and will go in favourites after winning it last year,” he said.
“We have not lost to them this year, we have the edge. We’re confident going into this game.’
