Image: Jason Heidrich
There were shades of Barcelona against PSG at Lakeside as South Melbourne did the near-impossible to recover from a 1-4 deficit to claim a 5-4 win in one of the most pulsating, rollercoaster contests in Victorian – let alone Australian – football in recent memory.
It wasn’t played over two legs, but it produced more than enough action to evoke memories and talking points for many years to come – and an ideal advertisement for football at this level.
When the dust settles on the contest, most likely South’s elation will turn to relief having avoided another cup disaster – failure to reach its desired national stage. Given the chest-beating about its A-League bid, FFA Cup qualification is – fairly or unfairly – the main audition to rubberstamp such credentials and showcase its capabilities to the mainstream.
South Melbourne have gone no further than the Round of 32 in the competition, and its yearly FFA Cup existence has often ended unceremoniously: Lakeside defeat to bitter rivals Melbourne Knights in the first edition; a penalty shootout defeat to Palm Beach in the second year having let a lead slip; and a thumping at the hands of Bentleigh last season in Round 7.
Likewise, Chris Taylor always seems to suffer a perilous existence at South, with every challenging run or undesired result on a big stage leading to calls for his head, and the knives were no doubt being sharpened against Dandenong City – despite the club’s resurgent league form.
South were, for much of the early season, a laughing stock, making a mockery of its A-League ambitions by sitting in the relegation zone with a long away run due to a lack of access to Lakeside combined with other factors.
A lot of credibility had been restored since then, going unbeaten since round 6 to sit just three points off top spot, but all that goodwill looked like being eroded in 90 minutes via another failure to reach the national stage, especially considering a fairly favourable cup draw – albeit Dandy City are no ordinary second-division side, with more A-League and international experience than most top-flight clubs.
In fact, much of the personnel across the divide were once at South Melbourne, from coach Stuart Munro to players such as Ljubo Milicevic, Steven Topalovic, Shaun Kelly and Luke Eyles.
They all may have felt like having a point to prove, and after Nick Epifano opened the scoring for the hosts, it was one of the former South players in Eyles whose cross was eventually turned in by Shaun Filipovic – a midfielder turned striker enjoying a career purple patch in 2017 – for the equaliser.
It was once again those two who combined when the latter slid in to volley home the former’s cross following his run forward from left-back to propel the visitors into a shock 2-1 lead at the break.
The night kept getting better as another South alumni Kelly got on the end of a speculative lofted pass forward to chest the ball down and tuck it past Nikola Roganovic. Filipovic should’ve had his hat-trick minutes later but the team’s fourth goal did come soon enough as Eyles notched up another assist when Kelly nodded in from a corner to give City the 4-1 advantage.
It looked like a dream scenario for Munro’s NPL2 East ladder leaders: knocking out Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne on their way to the national stage.
But games of this nature tend to force a swing towards the favoured side, something in the human psyche just not permitting a straightfoward win for the underdog.
And that flashpoint came when Enes Sivic bundled down Milos Lujic in the box in the 82nd minute, collecting his second yellow in the process. Lujic converted his 100th goal for the club, and Dandenong City had 10 men to defend a two-goal lead for the last 10 or so minutes.
But the tide continued to turn and South’s attacking guns all clicked, Epifano finding Leigh Minopoulos in the box for a low cross that met Lujic at the back post for 4-3.
The momentum had well and truly swung and the equaliser came in the 91st minute when a partially cleared corner found its way to Jesse Daley, whose effort bounced through a sea of bodies into the back of the net in agonisingly slow motion, no doubt with suspicions of offside in the buildup.
The drama wasn’t to end there as Daley launched another ball into the box, headed by Lujic but ricocheting of John Carroll’s arm, leaving the referee no choice but to call the penalty deep into extra time. The man of the moment Lujic stepped up to seal his hat-trick and progression into the Round 32 in the most dramatic of circumstances, giving the fans who stuck it out an occasion to cherish, disgruntled fans who left at 1-4 a bittersweet ending to the night, and the footballing public plenty to take in during the aftermath.
Like the Barcelona-PSG Champions League Round of 16 game, it was the bigger club that went through on its home turf via a combination of refereeing decisions, momentum and luck all falling its way.
But as Barca found out, it doesn’t necessarily translate to a springboard for later cup or league success, so South’s task is nowhere near complete.
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South are joined by Heidelberg United into the next round, with the duo accompanying last night’s winners Hume City and Bentleigh Greens as the Victorian heavyweight contingent on the national stage.
The Bergers’ progression was sealed tonight in much less contentious circumstances at Jack Edwards Reserve against NPL2 West leaders Northcote City.
First-half goals to Reuben Way and Kenny Athiu did the trick, with a red card to City man George Stavridis all but ending his side’s hopes of a comeback.
George Katsakis’ men will hope to emulate their 2015 efforts, the memories of their quarter-final clash against Melbourne City at a packed out Olympic Village still etched in Magic of the Cup folklore.