South Melbourne became the first non-A-League club to win the Australia Cup, beating Melbourne Victory 4-3 in a penalty shootout before 29,911 spectators at AAMI Park on Saturday night. It was the venue’s biggest sporting crowd. South didn’t need a fifth penalty after Victory players Harrison Sawyer and Jason Davidson both missed.
A record crowd and a first
The final stayed level through extra time. Penalties settled it. Davidson sent his attempt over the crossbar, while South goalkeeper Javier Lopez saved Sawyer’s spot kick. Sawyer received a second chance after the goalkeeper was ruled to have moved too early, but Lopez saved again.
Lopez won the Mark Viduka Medal as player of the final. Sawyer had previously played for South. The match account describes Davidson’s father, Socceroo Alan, as a great of South from the club’s National Soccer League days.
The victory made South the first club outside the A-League to lift the Cup. The 29,911 people at AAMI Park also set the venue’s sporting-event attendance record. A first successful penalty for South, against two misses from Victory, decided the final.
Late goals changed the final
Victory substitute Denis Genreau scored five minutes into extra time. Victory thought the goal would secure the Cup for the third time in the club’s history, but replacement Maximilian Mikkola equalised for South with three minutes of extra time remaining. South’s supporters celebrated, and the club carried that momentum into the shootout.
South started the match better, but didn’t convert its early dominance. In the 25th minute, Victory winger Clarismario Santos forced Lopez to save, tipping the Brazilian’s shot onto the post. Santos tested the goalkeeper again six minutes later, and 35-year-old Lopez parried his strike to safety.
South striker Bul Juach found space and moved into the penalty area for a second-half chance, but Victory goalkeeper Jack Duncan saved his left-footed shot. Juach had also played in the 2025 Cup final for Heidelberg United.
Lopez denied Genreau in the 69th minute. Six minutes later, he saved a long-distance effort from Victory midfielder Jordi Valadon. In the 78th minute, Lopez stopped another Santos shot after substitute Guillermo May found him unmarked in the penalty area. May, from Uruguay, made his Victory debut after joining the club last month following two seasons with Auckland FC.
NPL recognition before kickoff
South Melbourne captain Marco Jankovic was announced as 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 from Queensland, spoke to Network 10 about the medal: “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 the son of former Real Madrid midfielder Milan Jankovic, who moved to Cairns in 1991. Lopez made several saves. Mikkola scored late in extra time, and South’s shootout ended before the club needed a fifth attempt.