South Melbourne beat Melbourne Victory 4-3 in a penalty shootout on Saturday night to become the first non-A-League club to win the Australia Cup. A crowd of 29,911 watched at AAMI Park, the venue’s biggest attendance for a sporting event. Victory’s Harrison Sawyer and Jason Davidson both missed, so South didn’t need to take a fifth penalty.
A record crowd and a first for South
South Melbourne started better but couldn’t turn its early dominance into a goal. Neither team scored in regulation time, sending the clubs into extra time.
Victory substitute Denis Genreau broke the deadlock five minutes into extra time. Victory thought the goal would secure the Cup for the third time in the club’s history. But South equalised with three minutes remaining, when replacement Maximilian Mikkola scored.
South’s supporters celebrated the late equaliser. The club carried that momentum into the shootout and claimed the Cup, becoming the first non-A-League club to win the competition.
The 29,911 attendance set a sporting-event record at AAMI Park. The two Melbourne clubs met before a record crowd, and the final ended in a shootout rather than a winner during regulation or extra time.
Lopez saves twice from Sawyer
South goalkeeper Javier Lopez saved Sawyer’s first penalty. Officials ordered a retake after ruling that Lopez had moved too early, but he saved Sawyer’s second spot kick too. Davidson sent his penalty over the crossbar.
Lopez later received the Mark Viduka Medal as player of the final. His shootout saves followed several stops during the match, including efforts against Genreau in the 69th minute and Victory midfielder Jordi Valadon six minutes later.
Victory winger Clarismario Santos tested Lopez in the first half. In the 25th minute, Lopez tipped Santos’s shot onto the post. Six minutes later, the 35-year-old goalkeeper parried another strike to safety.
Santos had another chance in the 78th minute after substitute Guillermo May found him unmarked in the penalty area. Lopez saved the shot. May, a Uruguayan, made his Victory debut after joining the club last month following two seasons with Auckland FC.
South striker Bul Juach also threatened in the second half. He found space and moved into the penalty area, then hit a left-footed shot that Victory goalkeeper Jack Duncan saved. Juach had also played in the 2025 Cup final for Heidelberg United.
Medals and club histories
South Melbourne captain Marco Jankovic was announced as the winner of the Mike Cockerill Medal just before kickoff. The award goes to the Cup’s best-performing NPL player for the year. Jankovic, a 31-year-old defender, told Network 10: “There have been some amazing NPL players that have won this medal in the past. It’s great to be along those amazing list of names.”
Jankovic is a Queenslander and the son of former Real Madrid midfielder Milan Jankovic, who moved to Cairns in 1991. Davidson’s father, Alan, is a Socceroo and is described as a great of South from the club’s National Soccer League days. Sawyer had previously played for South before facing his former club in the final.