A-League Women's: Mikayla Vidmar realises the start of her ALW dream with Canberra United in side's historic loss

On the one hand she was realising a dream she had been working hard towards, and on the other, her side suffered one of its biggest losses ever.

The 19-year-old made her A-League Women's debut in December in the final minutes of the side's 3-3 draw with Brisbane Roar.

Last weekend, however, she earned herself more than a few minutes - 74 minutes in central defence to be exact - and a starting XI debut.

"It was very exciting. I was a bit nervous, more so before I actually got out there. During the warm up and walking out, I was actually just really really excited and ready to make that next step," she said.

"It's been a really good step up. I've learned so much, not only from the coaches, but also the players. There's so much experience in the squad and so many talented players that I have really been learning every session and applying it to my game. So it's been a really good experience.

"[Although] it was a bit of a weird feeling, it was very bittersweet. I'd worked very hard to get my start and it was a really big game, and exciting game to be a part of."

MORE IN CANBERRA SPORT:

Although it was not the fairytale debut reflected in the 6-0 scoreline, Vidmar was ready for the challenge United faced at Jubilee Stadium. As she had come up against some of her Sydney FC counterparts in Adelaide's NPL.

"It was a bit daunting at the beginning but I did believe in myself and I knew that the girls had the belief in me as well," she said.

"Looking at the score line it was disappointing, not only for the score line, but considering that we actually played quite well and probably could have been up in the first half. I think that was the most heartbreaking thing about it.

"I'm just looking at the next game and looking at the rest of the season, that's a lot more important."

The young defender is in isolation, like the rest of her teammates, as they prepare for their round nine fixture on January 30.

Canberra will analyse every aspect of the historic loss, and offer individual and collective areas for improvement, as well as praise.

Like many athletes, parents and loved ones also want to provide their two cents into the mix on a player and team's performance.

For Vidmar, however, one of those people in her life has some extra credentials, as her father is former Socceroo and professional coach Tony Vidmar.

"He definitely gave me his opinion and his thoughts but he always does try to kind of separate his coaching and his dad side of life," she laughed.

"So it was me kind of asking him a little bit more and pestering him a little bit, to get a bit more out of him."

Vidmar was not the only young player who earned herself increased minutes again Sydney, with 17-year-old Sasha Grove coming into the game off the bench and Hayley Taylor-Young finding herself in the starting XI once again.

Senior United player Ash Sykes praised the younger players stepping up during the match.

"I was super proud of Hayley. She's been thrown in out of position, somewhere she's kind of trained a little bit with us, so she's not completely out of depth, but still in a national competition playing out of position," Sykes said.

"She did herself proud and was a real positive ... for us over that game. It's always great to see a young player work hard and succeed. And she's not the only one.

"It's just great to see the girls like that getting stuck in and giving it a go, and doing themselves proud."