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Perhaps the biggest lesson to take from an intriguing week of Australia Cup quarter-finals came from a state league ground in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Melbourne Knights’ 3-2 win over fellow Victorian Premier League side Heidelberg United wasn’t just the most dramatic result of what was an enthralling round of cup action.
The Knights needed a 90th-minute equaliser from Swedish striker Lars Kinnander after the Bergers had midfielder Antony Lesiotis sent off 10 minutes from full-time, before Mitch Hore struck a swerving extra-time winner to send Somers Street into delirium.
The fence underneath the Mark Viduka Stand collapsed under the weight of supporters when the Knights scored their last-minute equaliser, with more than 2200 spectators generating a raucous atmosphere inside a ground owned and built by the club.
And when Hore arced home a long-range winner in extra-time, they almost blew the roof off the joint.
It was cup football at its most dramatic and a reminder of what it is that makes football special.
Less impressive was the suggestion by South Australian NPL side North Eastern Metro Stars that A-League outfit Melbourne City had skipped out on a traditional post-match meal after City’s fractious 2-1 win in front of another 2000-strong crowd at Shutter Reserve on Wednesday night.
City needed late goals from Curtis Good and new German midfielder Tolgay Arslan to see off the stubborn South Australians, with Arslan converting a stoppage-time winner at the second attempt after goalkeeper Isaac Carmody got down low to save his initial spot-kick.
City substitute Terry Antonis was spotted giving it large to the home fans behind the goal following Arslan’s winner, with MetroStars tweeting that City skipped out on the post-match meal the South Australian side had prepared for them.
Visiting Director of Football Michael Petrillo later countered by saying that City’s players and staff had been abused by MetroStars officials – with the whole thing a bit of an unedifying end to what was another cracking cup tie.
It was a reminder, at least, of the passion generated by the Australia Cup – even if some of it often feels misdirected.
You have to wonder what sort of connection there could ever be between the A-League Men and this mooted National Second Division when just about every Australia Cup tie prompts an endless barrage of ‘franchise football’ vitriol from fans of lower league sides.
Nowhere else in the world do you find such aggressive hostility between supporters of clubs in competing divisions.
At any rate, it was a fallen A-League giant who led the way in terms of atmosphere when Brisbane Roar downed Western Sydney Wanderers 4-2 at a packed Perry Park on Saturday night.
The travelling Wanderers fans played their part – urging their side on in a frenetic first half and generating plenty of noise, which in turn prompted the Brisbane Roar supporters behind the goal to get loud themselves.
The locals ended up having plenty to cheer about as Carlo Armiento cancelled out Marcus Antonsson’s opener for the visitors, before teenage striker Thomas Waddingham flicked the Roar in front.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Even after Jack Clisby had pulled Western Sydney level in a pulsating tie, Ross Aloisi’s side refused to lie down, as diminutive Joe Caletti and finally Henry Hore – whose brother Mitch scored the winner for Melbourne Knights a few days earlier – put the seal on proceedings.
It was a hugely entertaining night of football and one that sadly wasn’t replicated on Sunday afternoon, as Sydney FC steamrolled Western United 3-0 under a blazing hot September sun at Leichhardt Oval.
It ended up being an advertisement of everything that’s wrong with Australian football, as fans sought shade on the broadcast side while the two teams did their best to play attacking football on a rock-hard pitch blighted by rugby league markings.
Football’s administrators continue to make baffling decisions – the Australia Cup Final is literally scheduled to take place on the same weekend as a truck rally at AAMI Park – and we can’t trust them to do what’s right for the game.
But you can make your own fun in the Australia Cup – something a handful of small but vocal crowds proved this week.