The penultimate matchday of the Round of 32 provided the second Cupset of the tournament, a fairytale story, and plenty of goals.
South Melbourne stunned Wellington Phoenix, Melbourne Victory showed their quality against Lambton Jaffas, FC Melbourne Srbija created more history for and Olympic Kingsway became the first NPL side from Western Australia to advance to the Round of 16 in seven years.
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South Melbourne FC - 1 (Harrison SAWYER 4’)
Wellington Phoenix FC - 0
Wellington Phoenix have become the first A-Leagues side to be defeated by Member Federation opposition on three seperate occasisons as South Melbourne secured the 15th 'Cupset' in Australia Cup history.
The winner came within the first five minutes as Zak Spiteri slipped in talisman Harrison Sawyer into the left channel of the box.
The forward steered in a smart first-time effort past Wellington goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald lifting the Lakeside faithful out of their seats.
While the Phoenix dominated possession for the rest of the game, the home side were resilient and restricted their opponents to just one shot on target.
The home side’s discipline out of possession earned them a spot in the Round of 16, upsetting their A-Leagues opposition and creating history in the process.
Lambton Jaffas FC - 1 (Patrick BOND 36’)
Melbourne Victory FC - 4 (Bruno FORNAROLI 9’, Alex LEE 27’, Nishan VELUPILLAY 45+1’ 51’)
It took Melbourne Victory just nine minutes to take the lead when they were awarded an early penalty.
Bruno Fornaroli took responsibility and saw his original effort expertly saved by former A-Leagues goalkeeper Ben Kennedy, however, the striker tucked away the rebound.
In the 27th minute, 17-year-old Alex Lee doubled the visitors’ advantage as he raced in behind down the right and clipped a clever chip over Kennedy.
Nine minutes later, the Jaffas halved the deficit courtesy of Patrick Bond’s sensational strike from outside the area, arrowing into the left corner.
Victory added their third in stoppage when Nishan Velupillay’s curling shot from the edge of the box took a big deflection that nestled inside the left post.
And Velupillay notched a brace soon after halftime, driving a low shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner.
That was Victory’s final imprint on the game as Melbourne Victory cruised into the Round of 16.
FC Melbourne Srbija - 1 (4) (Miloš ILIC 55’)
Modbury Jets SC - 1 (1) (Francesco SCHMIZZI 4’)
Victorian Premier League 2 side FC Melbourne Srbija continued their fairytale run, coming back from a goal down to win on penalties against Modbury Jets.
The visitors silenced the home crowd by grabbing the lead within four minutes when Hamish McCabe burst into the right side of the box with a tricky run, and drilled the ball into the middle for Francesco Schmizzi to slide home.
The hosts restored parity 10 minutes into the second period when Miloš Ilic nodded in from a left-sided corner.
The teams could not find a winner, exchanging chances in what regular time remained, and were forced to go into extra time.
The chances continued for both teams, but they needed penalties to pick a winner - the first and only shootout of the Round of 32 so far.
Four flawless penalties from the hosts, a top save from goalkeeper Jarrod Hill and Jets’ striker McCabe blasting one over got the Victorian third-tier team into the next round.
Olympic Kingsway FC - 4 (Joe HOBSON 36’, Aaron OPPENDISANO 64’ own goal, Mitchell OXBORROW 80, Joe KNOWLES 83’)
Edgeworth Eagles FC - 1 (Flynn GOODMAN 6’)
The Eagles maintained the theme of early goals in Matchday Four, hitting the front within six minutes against Kingsway.
Flynn Goodman profited from a right-sided cross that came all the way to the attacker, who converted at the back post with a low finish.
Joe Hobson restored parity half an hour later when he stayed composed in a goal-mouth scramble to place a shot into the left of the net.
Edgeworth were dealt a major blow just before the hour mark as Chris Fayers saw red after picking up his second yellow card.
Kingsway took advantage of the extra player and hit the front 64 minutes in.
Tyler Garner’s shot from inside the box snuck under Edgeworth goalkeeper Ben Conway and Aaron Oppendisano could only put the ball into his own goal.
Olympic Kingsway carried on their momentum in the match and added two more goals in the final 10 minutes.
Mitchell Oxborrow scored Kingsway’s third, latching onto a ball into the left channel and poking a shot into the far corner.
Three minutes later, Joe Knowles's fierce sliding shot made it four for the home side, adding the final gloss to the game and sending Kingsway into the Round of 16 in style.
