Casey Dumont's heart-and-soul performance carries Melbourne Victory to A-League Women glory

Jellybeans. That was what won Melbourne Victory the 2021-22 A-League Women championship. 

Well, sort of.

It was what goalkeeper Casey Dumont turned to at half-time in Sunday afternoon's A-League Women grand final when she came into the change room feeling light-headed.

And who could blame her? She had just been buffeted by a Sydney FC storm, making four acrobatic saves to single-handedly keep her team in the contest.

But not all was well. The veteran keeper felt her first wobble in the 30th minute after rushing out to smother a one-on-one chance with Princess Ibini.

Dumont realised something wasn't right and called out softly to the referee, but the chaos of the game carried her voice away into the humming Sydney crowd.

And so she stayed standing, pointing, watching, organising. She is not the kind of person to give up, especially not in moments like this. Not when she's needed most.

A few minutes passed. The buffeting continued. Sydney FC had the ball in the back of the net, but it was called back for offside.

Victory tried to counter, tried to find any weakness in this steely Sky Blues team, but they were swarmed and suffocated whenever they got close.

Dumont made another athletic save, diving backwards to slap a Mackenzie Hawkesby header over the crossbar.

Sydney's fans were in full voice, their energy spilling around the stadium, tightening the atmosphere.

It felt like only a matter of time before the Premiers' pressure paid off, before Victory finally cracked.

Mercifully, half-time arrived before they could. Dumont was the last to exit the pitch, walking gingerly across the turf, her face distant and pale.

And now she's here, in the dressing-rooms of Jubilee Stadium, her feet up against the wall, popping jellybeans into her