It was a game that promised so much, but admittedly delivered very little for the country’s last remaining minnows.
A visit from the A-League front-runners was always going to a tough ask for the Bentleigh Greens – who this past week christened themselves as the unofficial champions of Asia.
And the night ran true to the script of the realist, as a rather assured Perth Glory outfit moved into the inaugural FFA Cup final with a 3-0 victory over the underdogs from South East Melbourne.
In truth, the Greens were industrious in defeat, but the Glory’s individual quality proved the difference – Nebojša Marinković in particular continuing his silky start to the season.
The Serbian scored two and had a hand in the third – his first effort a gorgeous crossbar-down free kick that trumped his weekend strike against the Mariners.
It sure is a great time to be a Glory fan, and despite an accumulating travel schedule, the boys from the West are showing little signs of wear and tear.
But for Bentleigh, the defeat signalled the end of a seven-game streak that stretches all the way back to February.
To their credit, John Anastasiadis’s men showed bravery and a second-half spark that delighted the capacity 3,300 crowd at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.
Yet the contest was effectively decided with Marinković’s second goal in the 50th minute, before Chris Harold sealed the win with minutes remaining.
Sadly, what we now have is a Cup devoid of fairy tale storylines; no longer will we be able to dream of the unlikely, or collectively swoon over the wonders of forgotten suburban grounds – at least until next year.
Welcome to the cold reality of football.
We should be thankful though, that the romance has extended this long.
Bentleigh’s run to the semi-finals was aided by the structure of the initial FFA Cup draw, which guaranteed the place of a least one state-based club in the final four.
Whether the FFA next year continues with this manufactured format in lieu of the more traditional out-of-the-hat sequence remains to be seen.
In it’s inaugural year however, it was imperative that the FFA Cup captured the imagination and hearts of the people. Two all-A-League semi-final fixtures would have been an infinitely less captivating prospect than what we’ve been treated to this year.
After seeing the euphoria surrounding Bentleigh, and indeed their NPL counterparts before them, one would have to say that things have largely been a success – and so it’s difficult to argue with this structure.
There of course still remains a hearty chasm between the quality of teams in the A-League and our state leagues. Perhaps only once this gap has been reduced, should we look at altering the format.
The timing of the Cup, which sees the latter stages fall in the NPL off-season, may also be an issue worth visiting in upcoming editions.
Not that it should deter the NPL clubs. Rather, what Bentleigh have achieved and attracted this year will stand as burning incentive for 2015.
Many of the state league clubs, I think, may have undervalued or overlooked the potential of the Cup when they approached qualifying earlier this year.
What we will see in 2015, are these clubs tackling the qualifying process with an added measure of thought, now knowing full well the spotlight the Cup is able shine on teams, coaches, players and communities alike.
But before then, we still have an untouched trophy to hand out.
Tonight, the Central Coast Mariners will have the opportunity to put their forgettable start to the league behind them with a trip to Coopers Stadium.
Standing in their way is an unbeaten Adelaide United, who will be confident of joining Perth in the final.
Although without the injured Bruce Djite, Josep Gombau will be keen to attack a Mariners side that is beginning to look more and more toothless with each passing game.
The Reds are hot, the Mariners are not. Only a brave man would tip Phil Moss’s side for victory here…says the writer who scored a perfect zero in last weeks’ tips.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Totally disagree. I've watched English football since the 1970s. I consider the best clubs today are technically, tactically & physically better, or equal, to the past. But, it's all relative. Other leagues may have improved even more.
Steve
Guest
What's that got to do with the EPL being stronger? 7-10 years ago would be a good start, though. Only Manchester City has more WC players now than 7-10 years ago. The EPL is now a better marketed league, that's not in question. But in terms on quality, it's quite clearly regressed in the past couple of years, with this year the quality looking worse than it has for quite some time.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Name an era when more world class footballers chose to earn a living in the EPL?
Steve
Guest
Ummm no, I'm not UK Steve, born and bred in Sydney. I love football, it's my favourite sport. Let's just be realistic though. Football in this country will never grow until the sugar coaters are able to analyse things critically. I state a clear fact that BBL01 metrics, a new competition, out-performed the inaugural FFA Cup. That's a fact, not an opinion. Football is heading in the right direction domestically, it doesn't need hubris and complete BS though - all that does is give ammunition to the real football haters. But of course unless you are a willing yes man like Fuss than you must be a "sockah hater". What a joke.
Steve
Guest
"The EPL has never been stronger, or contained more world class superstars than current" I suspect you don't watch as much football as you claim. English clubs are really sub standard when it comes to Europe these days. Only Chelsea can hold a candle to the top European sides. And the FA Cup has certainly lost appeal, plenty of publicly available research to back up this fact.
Bondy
Guest
Fuss Interesting ...
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Bondy I'm pretty certain this "Steve" is the poster formerly known as "UK Steve" who used to troll the football discussions.
Bondy
Guest
Steve Why the hate for football f me ..
Steve
Guest
"the FFA Cup has to be the most successful Australian Sports competition in it’s inaugural season in living memory" BBL? BBL01 attendance and viewership was about 4 to 5 times higher than FFA Cup metrics. I guess with the attention span's in today's world 4 years ago is an eternity ago. It's also completely disingenuous to compare the NRC and FFA Cup - for starters no Super Rugby club played in the NRC, unlike all A-League teams (taking up the majority of TV games) played in the FFA Cup.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
True, very true.
Midfielder
Guest
9:45 News, Fairfax & ABC did not check others had match reports running .....
haydos
Guest
Yep third most watched thing on Foxtel last night behind Modern Family and Family Guy.
James
Guest
If they keep this system in place the non a league team will never be able to challenge in the semi final stage due to it being npl off season, league play for bentleigh finished 9 weeks ago, upon completion of the season they lost all 3 of their forwards overseas. Seems like an impossible task imo. In any case bentleigh did very well, maybe a team that's built for cup football cos in the league then finished 25 points behind south melbourne.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Now to be fair Paul the term "Eastern Scum" hasn't only been popular with Glory fans whilst atop the league, it also gets a run whilst sitting in mid table or bottom of the league.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
The EPL has never been stronger, or contained more world class superstars than current. Have the lower tier clubs in England lost interest in the FFA Cup?
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
More fans in the A-League, to an extent. More fans of football, yes. The FFA's mandate is the growth and the health of the game as a whole, not just the A-League. It is another step in making the pie bigger.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Sorry, but I cannot help but think of this :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aspp1r0tS4
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I thought Bentleigh Greens were terrific last night. Adelaide City also played well, as did Sydney United & others. Maybe, some teams in NPL are stronger than others. Maybe some NPL teams focused on winning on-field, rather than win in the courtroom? Let's hope the famous NPL (Vic) from NSL years have a good run in the competition next season.
Steve
Guest
Here's a question. What if the A-League teams get stronger and dominate the competition for the next couple of years. Do you think the semi-pro sides will lose interest in the competition?
Midfielder
Guest
Sent an article to the Roar on the rugby tab comparing the launch of the NRC and the FFA Cup wonders aloud if they publish ... the FFA Cup wins hands down...