FC Melbourne books history-making Australia Cup Round of 32 place

High-flying VPL2 club FC Melbourne’s dream season continues to reach new heights after defeating Kingston City to reach the Australia Cup national stages.

Cameron Davies celebrates his goal for FC Melbourne.

FC Melbourne’s dream 2024 continues to reach new highs.

The VPL2 high-flyer booked its ticket to the Australia Cup Round of 32 on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over VPL1 Kingston City.

It marks a historic first for the Burnley-based club, reaching the competition’s national stage, where it could be drawn to host an A-League heavyweight like Melbourne Victory or champion Central Coast Mariners.

The win also earning it a place in the Dockerty Cup playoffs for the first time.

Srbija is the lowest ranked Victorian qualifier, joining heavyweights South Melbourne, Heidelberg United and Hume City in the draw.

Goals to Cameron Davies and Maksim Ilic secured a memorable win, on the road, at The Grange.

Coach Zeljko Popovic said after just three days rest, his players never failed to show up.

“It’s history-making for the club, getting this far, with a bunch of boys that show up every game,” he said.

“The first 20 minutes we dominated and created a few half chances but didn’t score a goal then the rest of the half was Kingston.

“We scored the (opening) goal and then the second half we dominated most of the play, so I have to say a deserved win.”

“We had a couple of players who had a lot of minutes in the first half of the season resting, so we’ll have a couple fresh for the weekend.”

Davies opened the scoring in the 35th minute, pouncing on a rebound after Kingston keeper Ben Nassiep parried Maksim Ilic’s free kick.

Ilic then got his name on the scoreboard from the penalty spot when Jack Foden handballed in the box just before the hour mark.

FC Melbourne prepares for a game. Picture: Luke Radziminski

After one shot on target each in the first half, Melbourne asserted its dominance in the second, finishing with an 8-1 shots on target advantage.

Srbija will now wait for next week’s draw to find out who it will face in the Round of 32.

A-League club or interstate NPL qualifier, Popovic said anything was possible.

“It would be amazing to run out against an A-League team but we still dream of progressing another round if we have some luck,” he said.

“There are no weak teams in the competition but I tell the boys with a dream and hard work anything is possible.

“An NPL team is beatable, every team has weak points, so I’m probably looking forward to an NPL team in the draw.

Whoever it faces, the match will continue the club’s meteoric rise having played State League for 21 years before winning last season’s State League 1 South-East premiership.

The club also sits joint top of the VPL2 competition with back-to-back titles and promotion within reach.

Club treasurer Neb Velis said until it experienced the moment, it was hard to know what was coming for the club.

“We understood the hype and the words we used in the build up was “potentially historic moment”, he said.

“The fact we’ve now achieved that, it hasn’t sunk in, here’s a local community club that’s been battling for 61 years playing in the metro leagues that’s now been elevated to the national stage.

“Until we go through the experience we won’t understand what it means, we don’t know what to expect, but at the moment it’s pure excitement.”

“For us to be in such elite company, it’s the cliched Cinderella story.

“The inexperience of us says we’d love to get an A-League club, that would be another historic moment and keep raising the level.

“A couple of the players said we want someone from the Gold Coast, let’s go to BrisVegas, and we’re like ‘just focus’.

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“It would be great to get a local club that gives us a chance to get through but I think where we’ve got to already nobody would have dreamed off so we already feel like winners.”

In Wednesday night’s other results, South Melbourne earnt its place in the Round of 32 for the first time since 2017 with a 1-0 win over St Albans at Lakeside Stadium.

Hume City will return to the national stage for the first time since 2019 after a commanding 4-0 win over VPL1 club Caroline Springs George Cross.

Heidelberg United booked its ticket with a 6-0 win over Bentleigh Greens on Tuesday night, while Oakleigh Cannons and Avondale will battle for the final place next Tuesday.