"They've done all the hard work. If they play till they 'die', we can carry them home.
"[Stop Out] are going to hit us hard they've got to.
"We want to get a goal early, that means they have to score a few goals past us.
"We've only conceded five-six goals this season so I don't want them to give up that many in one game."
Athletic got the all-important first goal on Sunday when they managed to put together what both teams struggled at six straight attacking passes to leave Rose Lockett in a one-on-one chance against the keeper.
Coming out of halftime, Downes said while they wanted at least one more score, they decided to strengthen their midfield to defend the half and hoped the likes of their key striker Ella Wiebe could generate something without as much support.
The first priority was not giving up an away goal.
"In the second half, yes, we realised it's home and away and it's going to be a hard trek down there," said Downes.
"We were lacking some execution in what we do sometimes."
Neither team could get the roll-on Stop Out's reliance on forward Laura Dobie was nearly total, with Vanya Hodgkinson having to chase her hard.
What proved the master stroke for Athletic was sending Collegiate player Lulu Carter on at halftime.
While far from flawless, the teenaged Carter had pace to burn and was able to get a series of breaks down the wing, right when Athletic desperately needed to control the territory.
With no-one in firm control of the game, Wiebe made it her's.
Reclaiming a misdirected pass off the Stop Out defenders, she forced the ball into the corner then jinked her way through a sea of white jerseys to feed Carter right in front of the goal.
"It's what's required, she just gets something out of nothing sometimes," said Downes.
Carter was so astonished Wiebe had actually managed to thread the needle to get a pass through three defenders that she instinctively just stabbed her leg at it, rather following through with a full strike.
"She thought, 'no way she's was going to get it [to me]'," said Downes.
"I spoke to her afterwards because I didn't know if she'd actually scored. She said, 'I hit it and it went forward'."
Up 2-0 with 25 minutes to go, Grace Alifi knuckled down to defend the midfield, but Athletic were still getting caught napping by Stop Out being able to get behind them with sideline throws, which could travel up to 30m.
Goalkeeper Tina Kopelic, celebrating her birthday, had a lot of work to do but this was more as a centre back coming forward to gather or clear the ball as opposed to blocking the net.
Jade Morrison looked to put together a couple of breakaways for Stop Out, but lacked for critical support.
Her team had their chances with three promising corner kicks in the last 12 minutes, but failed to find a receiver in good position.
"We defend corners really well, they never really got on to anything," said Downes.
The team will have a long 9am bus ride to Petone Sunday morning, with kickoff in the final game of the year at 1pm.
