Sunday afternoon saw the first leg of the A-League Women's inaugural home-and-away semifinals take place, with the Central Coast Mariners hosting Sydney FC, while Premiership winners Melbourne City travelled to Newcastle to take on the Jets.

While one game is teetering on a knife-edge coming into the final leg next weekend, another may already be over before it's begun.

Here are the five main talking points from across the two games.

1. Sydney FC bounces back, but the battle isn't over yet

Three weeks is a long time for any team to go without football during a title charge, but for Sydney FC, those three weeks must have stretched into eternity.

After falling at the final regular-season hurdle with two consecutive losses to Canberra and Melbourne Victory, which saw the Premiership trophy slip from its fingers and into the hands of Melbourne City, the Sky Blues then had almost a month to stew in the mistakes and ruminate in the regret of what could have been.

A scrappy draw here, an avoidable loss there: pretty soon, those games started to add up to real danger for the reigning double-winners, who were pipped to the Plate by just two points in the end.

Central Coast Mariners were one of the culprits. They were one of just four teams that Sydney hadn't beaten all season long, with a shock loss to the side in mid-January signalling that maybe this wasn't Sydney's year after all.

But on Sunday, the Sky Blues showed the resilience and finals fortitude that they've become known for, defeating a motivated Mariners side 1-0 in front of a raucous Gosford crowd.

A single goal to stand-out midfielder Mackenzie Hawkesby in the 53rd minute was enough to give Sydney the edge coming into the final leg of the tie at home next Sunday, but the Mariners didn't go down without a fight.

The stats by full-time favoured the home side, with the Central Coast registering more shots, possession, and passes than its opponents, while a flurry of attacks in the final 20 minutes of the game saw three huge chances go begging, including a strike from Chinese international Wurigumula that clanged off the crossbar.

Head coach Emma Husband said afterwards that this is just "half-time" in the overall semifinal tie, but with Sydney now a nose in front, the Mariners will have to deliver an even bigger performance away from home if they're to make their first-ever grand final.

2. Key injuries could affect finals-bound sides

It's kind of remarkable that Sydney FC has made it to this point at all considering the epidemic of injuries that tore through the team this season.

It began in the very first match when captain Natalie Tobin ruptured her ACL in the Sydney Derby against the Western Sydney Wanderers, which was followed by a series of injuries to strikers Fiona Worts and Shea Connors, while star full-back Kirsty Fenton also joined the ACL club towards the back end of the regular season.

Now, the dark cloud of injury has returned, taking down Tobin's stand-in captain Princess Ibini, who dislocated her shoulder in the first half against the Mariners and was forced to come off at half-time.

While it hasn't been a stellar season by the 24-year-old's own standards, her leadership on the field and work-rate off the ball have been important in getting the Sky Blues to the cusp of potentially a seventh consecutive grand final, but now she may not be able to see it through depending on how she recovers from what is her third shoulder dislocation in her career.

But Sydney wasn't the only side to cop an injury to a key player on the weekend.

Melbourne City, who defeated the Newcastle Jets 3-0, was forced to play the majority of its match without former Matildas defender Karly Roestbakken, who limped off in the 21st minute following an awkward collision with Jets winger Lara Gooch.

The full-back, who has struggled with lower-leg injuries for the past two years, was in tears on the turf as she was assessed by the physio, and had to be helped off the pitch by teammates.

On the other side of the pitch, key midfielder MelindaJ Barbieri suffered a knock in the 40th minute of Newcastle's match against City and had to be substituted early in the second half. As one of the team's key creative forces, the Jets will sorely miss the former Victory player if the knock keeps her out of the rematch next Sunday.

3. A moment of recognition for the midfield maestros

While attackers, defenders, and goalkeepers are the players who most often make the highlights reels, this past weekend's games were a shining example of some of the brilliant midfielders currently working in the A-League Women.

Sydney FC's Mackenzie Hawkesby touched just about every blade of grass against the Mariners, and her winning goal was just reward for a tireless effort as the Sky Blues' central driving force, covering the space between both boxes as well as taking almost every set piece they won.

But just as influential was Central Coast wrecking-ball Isobel Gomez, whose league-leading 8 yellow cards speaks to how significant she's been in breaking up opposition play and making last-ditch tackles and interceptions to keep her side in the contest.

She showed these qualities in the second-half against the Sky Blues, making a last-gasp sliding tackle to stab the ball away from the speedy Cortnee Vine as she was just about to score what could have been Sydney's second goal.

Alongside midfield teammate Bianca Galic, who was involved in the build-up of most of the Mariners' best goal-scoring chances, the pair will be crucial for the team if they're to make their first-ever grand final.

Midfield magicians were everywhere in the second semifinal, too, with Melbourne City's central trio of Rhianna Pollicina, Laura Hughes, and Leah Davidson battling against Newcastle's triumvirate of MelindaJ Barbieri, Libby Copus-Brown and Cassidy Davis.

Hughes was particularly impressive at the base of midfield, suffocating the creative Barbieri, maintaining possession, and dictating the direction and tempo of play, with a couple of dazzling forward runs setting up goal-scoring opportunities for teammates, including assisting Emina Ekic just after the hour.

4. An unexpected (but much-needed) record crowd

The Newcastle Jets may be on the brink of bankruptcy off the field, but you couldn't tell that the club is struggling based on the record crowd that showed up for their home match against City on Sunday.

Almost 7,000 people passed through the gates at Maitland Sports Ground to watch the Jets' first leg against Melbourne City, filling the grandstand and all three sides of the grassy hill, creating a brilliant atmosphere both at the ground and on the television broadcast.

Not only did the Jets smash their club record for a stand-alone women's match, but it was also the third-highest crowd for a stand-alone A-League Women's game ever.

It's an even more incredible feat when you consider the two games that sit ahead of them in those standings: Round 1's Sydney Derby, which was the first match since the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and attracted 11,471 people, and last season's grand final between Sydney FC and Western United, which notched 9,519.

This number was arguable vindication for why more A-League Women's games should be held as stand-alone fixtures in smaller, more accessible community grounds (so long as the facilities meet professional standards).

It was also a reminder to the rest of the country of the hugely passionate football fans who live and play in northern NSW, hopefully sending a strong message to the rumoured prospective buyers of the foundation club that their investment will be worth it.

5. Have the City-slickers already ended Newcastle's finals fairytale?

Despite a mid-season blip and loss of key players through injury (Holly McNamara) and overseas transfers (Kaitlyn Torpey, Lysianne Proulx), Melbourne City managed to keep its ship steady for long enough to just pip Sydney FC to the title by defeating Perth Glory in the final game of the regular season.

Its end-of-season stats show exactly why it deserved to lift its third Premier's Plate: while it wasn't the best in any category except wins, it was the most consistent across all of them, scoring the third-most goals and conceding the third-fewest.

Unlike its main rivals, though, there wasn't a single player who was responsible for the bulk of them: responsibility for scoring and assisting was shared around between striker Hannah Wilkinson, wingers Emina Ekic and Bryleeh Henry, and midfielders Rhianna Pollicina and Daniela Galic, while defensively the steady central pairing of captain Rebekah Stott and Taylor Otto was able to keep most teams at bay, keeping 7 clean sheets throughout the season.

It was this well-roundedness that was on display in Sunday's 3-0 defeat of Newcastle, with Pollicina and Galic bursting out of the gates to combine for the first goal in the fifth minute, while Emina Ekic made it two in the second half before teenager Shelby McMahon scored a third off a Henry assist to put the tie effectively to bed.

Stott and Otto, in combination with midfielders Laura Hughes and Leah Davidson, were also able to keep Newcastle's top scorers Sarina Bolden and Melina Ayres quiet: an impressive feat given one of the two had scored in over half of the Jets' games this season.

"To be the best, you've got to beat the best," Jets boss Ryan Campbell said before Sunday's game. It may have been a cliche, but when it comes to this City side, it's a cliche for a reason.

It now takes a convincing lead into the return leg this Sunday, having all but ended Newcastle's historic finals run in the first 90 minutes of the tie, and is in pole position to qualify for its first grand final since 2020.

A-League Women Semi-Final Leg 2:

• Saturday, April 27: Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners (3pm AEST)
• Sunday, April 28: Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets (1pm AEST)