Marconi Stallions and South Melbourne will be the first-ever teams to contest an Australian Championship Final after a drama-filled and tense Saturday afternoon of Semi-Final football.
Marconi Stallions 1-0 Moreton City Excelsior
The Stallions made their way into the Australian Championship Final, edging past Moreton City Excelsior in the earlier kick-off.
Marconi made a bright start to the match, forcing Moreton City goalkeeper Nathan Foster into two good saves within the first 10 minutes.
The Stallions looked more likely to find the opener in the first half, and just before the break, James Bayliss' free-kick was diverted onto the crossbar.
The windy conditions saw the ball blown all around the pitch, with Moreton City struggling to create meaningful chances.
Moreton City had a rare foray forward 72 minutes in. A determined Luka Jankovic shifted the ball inside from the right and blasted an effort that James Hilton had to repel in the Marconi goal.
In the 76th minute, Marconi had an excellent opportunity to take the lead as Will Akio raced through on goal. The ball fell into Damian Tsekenis' path, but he failed to make contact, facing an open goal.
The hosts finally made the breakthrough four minutes later. Tyren Burnie drilled in a right-wing cross toward Matej Busek, who skillfully guided the ball home from close in to make it back-to-back goals in the Championship.
Marconi stayed resolute for the remaining minutes, including hacking away a late in-box scramble, and earned their place in the big dance.
South Melbourne 1-0 Heidelberg United
South Melbourne battled to a narrow victory over Victorian rivals Heidelberg United to confirm their place in the Final.
The game got off to a frantic start, with two Football Video Support (FVS) penalty reviews inside the opening 15 minutes, but neither was given.
The first half featured several half-chances for each team, but both goalkeepers remained relatively untested as the sides went into the sheds level.
United had a good spell around the hour mark and were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty as Thomas Giannakopoulos pulled Asahi Yokokawa's shirt in the box.
Bul Juach took responsibility from the spot and fired an effort towards the right of the goal, but South Melbourne goalkeeper Javier Lopez produced a vital stop to keep the scores level.
The visitors would be left to rue this penalty miss as South Melbourne opened the scoring in the 72nd minute. Max Mikkola unleashed one of his specialty throw-ins from the left, as the ball came through to Manny Aguek at the far post, who nodded in with his first touch since coming off the bench.
Heidelberg stepped up their attacking impetus after falling behind, with Lopez called into action with a few sharp stops as the game trickled into stoppage time.
The home side saw out a nervy conclusion to the game to give themselves a shot at the inaugural Australian Championship trophy.