Perth Glory coach Alex Epakis hailed the resilience of his exiled squad as they fell short in their quest to secure an A-League Women finals spot on Friday.
Perth beat Wellington Phoenix 3-1 in Wollongong, knowing they needed Melbourne Victory to lose against Canberra United to have any realistic chance of sneaking into the top four.
An Isabel Gomez own goal gave them a 1-0 lead at the break before Cyera Hintzen and Aideen Keane extended their advantage after the hour mark.
But Victory secured a 0-0 draw to wrap up the last finals spot which meant Perth's endeavours were all in vain.
"We really wanted to focus so that if this 90 minutes was our last this season it would be one we were proud of," Epakis said.
"Missing out on finals is a difficult pill to swallow but we need to reflect on where we were 12 months ago.
"I don't think it can be understated what we've gone through as a group with all the curveballs thrown our way; no home games, borders closed, relocation ... I'm aware Wellington are in the same situation but they could plan for it whereas we had to do it on the run.
"We've had some great support but the players have sacrificed so much. They were always resilient and always found a way to overcome all the hurdles."
Wellington have also been away from home in their inaugural season in the competition and finished with a flourish when Grace Jale slotted an 86th-minute penalty for her fourth goal in as many games.
Gemma Lewis' inexperienced side have shown glimpses of their potential this season but their innocence has cost them at times.
The Phoenix, who will travel back to New Zealand next week, are currently bottom of the pile but have a chance to avoid the wooden spoon when Melbourne City take on Western Sydney on Saturday.
Wellington require City to win by a five-goal margin and Lewis said her side would be watching with interest at their end-of-season dinner.
"In my head I was like the goal difference isn't great, but I've seen City do it before, maybe it'll happen," she said.
"It'll be nice for the girls to let their hair down and have some time to reflect on the season without the stress of preparing for another game.
"We'll keep up to date with the score and maybe have it on in the background but we want to focus on us."
