Melbourne Victory knocked out of Australia Cup by a club from NPL WA
Melbourne Victory’s dreams of winning a third Australia Cup are over after being knocked out by a West Australian NPL club team in a huge upset.
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Former A-League midfielder Mitch Oxborrow has praised the attitude of his Olympic Kingsway team after the NPL West Australian outfit stunned the nation’s “biggest club”, Melbourne Victory, in an Australia Cup boilover.
Kingsway shocked the A-League heavyweights and two-time Cup winners with a 4-3 extra-time round-of-32 victory at Kingsway Reserve on Tuesday night.
Oxborrow, Kingsway’s 30-year-old skipper who had A-League stints with Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar, said it was the “biggest night” in his club’s history.
“This is what the club’s all about,” he said.
“The attitude of the boys was superb, We had a chance. Everyone underestimates us, but we’ve got that mongrel, and it means a lot.
“They (the Victory) are the biggest club in Australia for me, and to beat them, it’ll go down … as the biggest night in this club’s history, for sure.”
The Victory was reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when substitute Joshua Rawlins was sent off, but the four-time A-League champions seemed destined to progress to the round of 16 when another replacement, Reno Piscopo, scored 10 minutes later to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.
However, Kingsway substitute Liam Boland equalised in stoppage time to send the contest into extra time.
Boland then completed the fairytale when he scored from the penalty spot in the 101st minute
after the Victory’s Keegan Jelacic fouled Kingsway’s Laat Mathiang.
“Staying in the game was a priority for us,” Oxborrow said.
“They’re only three weeks into pre-season, and we’ve played 18-19 games, so that was going to come into factor.
“They had a red card but I feel we overran them in general anyway.”
Fans streamed on to the ground after the final whistle to celebrate the home side’s win.
“I’m just so proud of the club and so proud of the boys,” Oxborrow said.
In Tuesday night’s other round-of-32 results, Cup holder Macarthur FC thrashed Southern District Raiders 5-0, Auckland FC beat Gold Coast Knights 4-0, and Sydney FC defeated fellow A-League club Western United 1-0.
Originally published as Melbourne Victory knocked out of Australia Cup by a club from NPL WA
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