A scrappy goal in the 87th minute from Katie Thorlakson handed the Victory (14 points) the three points which sees them leapfrog Canberra (11) into fourth position ahead of next weekend's final round.

United holds on to a slim hope of a finals spot. Canberra must defeat the winless Adelaide next Saturday and then sit back and hope Melbourne loses to Perth later that night.

United coach Ray Junna thought his team deserved a draw yesterday, but admitted his team failed to create enough chances.

''I don't think they deserved a win, I think a draw would have been a fair result,'' Junna said. ''We lacked a bit of penetration up front, we didn't really get in behind them.

''Just that decision around the final third is the critical factor in football and we didn't have that today, but I don't think we deserved to lose.''

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times