The presentation ceremony starts up with a chorus of boos for David Gallop and Damien De Bohun. Frank Lowy, who doesn’t seem to get quite such an unfriendly reception, presents Mark Milligan with the Joe Marston Medal. Alex Brosque is then ‘welcomed to the stage’ with another chorus of boos from the Victory fans, who go on to chant and boo throughout the Sydney captain’s speech. Next it’s the turn of Seb Ryall and finally Graham Arnold, who raises and kisses his Sydney FC scarf in response to his treatment.

All pretty cringe-worthy, so it’s with some relief when Victory’s players are invited onto stage to receive their medals and the boos turn to cheers, the loudest of which is reserved for Kevin Muscat. Milligan is the final player to step up but just before the trophy is presented by Lowy... disaster strikes – the FFA chairman tumbles off stage in a very nasty fall. A nervous few moments follow, as he’s tended to by officials, but eventually he gets up, smiles and waves at the crowd. Thank goodness.

And with that, the toilet seat is presented and hoisted aloft, fireworks go off and ‘Stand By Me’ blasts out. Happy times for Melbourne Victory.

Goalscorer Berisha is one excited, happy man in the post-match interviews. He thanks God before thanking everyone associated with Victory. “If anyone doesn’t think Melbourne Victory is the best club in Australia, they can... they can... shut up.” Did he really just say that? Brilliant! Victory skipper Mark Milligan is entirely more measured in his chat to the cameras as he gets ready to lift the trophy in a few moments’ time.

90+2 min: Another Victory substitution, but it hardly registers amid the euphoria that is engulfing AAMI Park.

90+1 min: It’s party time in Melbourne now as Berisha is taken off and Thompson sent on. The crowd don’t know what to cheer louder – Berisha’s manic, wild-eyed and muscle-flexing celebration on his way, or their long-term hero’s introduction for possibly his last appearance in a Victory shirt.

86 min: Victory make a change – it looks like Archie Thompson’s coming on, but he will have to wait for now, and instead Finkler goes off and Mahazi comes on. Muscat is all smiles now.

84 min: Victory fans are ecstatic, and so they should be. Surely they can relax now, with just over five minutes remaining and Sydney still looking as toothless as a pensioner with dental decay problems.

82 min: Oh dear, Petkovic just runs out the ball out of play, much to the delight of the home fans.

81 min: Sydney aren’t really threatening, but still this is their best patch of the game so far. They’re winning free-kicks in dangerous positions and enjoying some kind of extended possession for pretty much the first time all day.

79 min: Petkovic steps up to take the free-kick, but whilst he strikes the ball sweetly, he can only fire over the bar.

78 min: Here come Sydney now, and Antonis draws a foul from FBK, who is shown yellow for his sins. This is a dangerous area, two yards outside the box, but way off centre. Scrap that, it wasn’t FBK who was booked, it was Georgievski for kicking the ball away.

75 min: Janko! Ooh, that was nearly the moment Sydney fans have been waiting for. Ansell loses flight of the cross and the Austrian gets his head to it, but his effort is straight at Thomas, who gratefully claims.

73 min: Ryall goes into the book before Sydney make their final change – Tavares off, Antonis on.

69 min: Ansell piles into Janko, Sydney win a free-kick and then there’s a bout of verbals in the box as the players await the ball in. Janko’s involved, Georgievski too, and others. It calms down and the free-kick can be taken, but it’s an absolutely awful effort, Tavares playing the ball straight out of play, perfectly encapsulating the Sky Blues’ day.

66 min: 29,843 is the official attendance, which Simon Hill announces is just under capacity, but also a new AAMI Park record. Again, the mind wanders to how many would have been present had the match been played at Etihad...

66 min: Valeri now is shown a slice of American cheese for a desperate, studs-up lunge on Petkovic. That could easily have been worse for the Victory man and then things could have got interesting. If anything the moment just serves to highlight how fragile Victory’s lead is at the moment – this match can turn on its head in a moment such as that.

64 min: Smeltz is the next man to go into the book, for a trip on Milligan. Deserved. Which is also a fair way of describing what a Victory win would be tonight.

63 min: And that’s exactly what FBK attempts to do now, the Tunisian letting fly with a decent effort from outside the box, only to see Janjetovic claim relatively comfortably.

62 min: We’re past the hour-mark at AAMI Park and Victory lead by a goal to nothing. Yet for all their dominance, the lead does stand at just one goal... they really need to put this one beyond any doubt now.

59 min: Sydney simply have no options going forward today. Whenever they do get the ball at their feet in defence, more often than not a misplaced pass follows and possession is immediately ceded back to Victory.

57 min: Muscat really is a sight to behold on the touchline. He’s going mad once again and unloads a gobful of spittle in the middle of his latest rant (although he draws the line at evacuating his nostrils, for which we can only be thankful).

55 min: Milligan loses his cool with the referee as he’s pulled up for a foul on Dimitrijevic. Needless to say the Victory skipper doesn’t agree with the decision. Petkovic is over it, but Dimitrijevic takes it, poorly, and it’s cleared at the first.

54 min: A roar erupts inside AAMI Park as Victory have an opportunity to break. It comes to nothing this time, but it goes to show the huge sense of anticipation inside the ground - the fans know they’re on the brink of the title here.

52 min: Graham Arnold makes his first non-enforced change of the day – Naumoff makes way for Smeltz, which is a move as predictable as it is necessary.

49 min: So, Victory have started in much the same vein as the ended the first half – on the front foot, pressuring Sydney into making mistakes and looking like the only side that will score. Much to cheer about for the Melbourne side so far. Very little for Sydney.

48 min: Good work by the Fox team, who inform us that Jurman has had five stitches in that head wound, which may or may not have affected his judgement a moment ago.

47 min: Oh dear, nearly a complete nightmare start to the second period as Jurman appears to lose track of a high bouncing ball which Barbarouses pounces on before swinging his boot at it. Janjetovic storms off his line to divert the ball the other side of the post and a blooper tape entry is avoided.

45 min: Ooh! Brosque very nearly pulls Sydney level right at the end of the first half, but his well-struck, low drive is repelled by Thomas in the Victory goal.

44 min: The commentators point out that Muscat has blown a gasket on the sideline but by the time the camera heads the Victory coach’s way he’s calmed down. A minute later they play a replay of the moment though and they’re right – he’s all red face and bulging veins, just the way we like Musky.

43 min: Here’s a moment of confusion as Berisha, jogging back to an onside position, receives a headed ball forward. For a second it looks like the lino isn’t going to put up his flag but he does in the end, and Sydney’s defence can breathe again.

40 min: Ben Khalfallah bends over a beauty of a cross looking for Finkler in the middle, but Ryall extends a leg to get there first and put behind for a corner. That was a crucial inteception if there ever was one.

38 min: Victory have simply been too hungry for the ball so far; Sydney haven’t been able to cope with the high tempo pressing of the hosts. Graham Arnold has a great deal of work to do at half-time.

35 min: Sydney have it all to do now. They haven’t been helped by the loss of Faty, but to be fair, they were under the cosh way before his departure – all afternoon so far to be honest.

34 min: Well, that had been coming.

31 min: So far it’s level in terms of the ‘blood spilled in the name of glory to booking’ ratio – 2:2

29 min: Substitute Rhyan Grant joins Berisha in the book, for a late challenge on FBK with what I think is his first challenge. Meanwhile, Nick Ansell now has blood pouring from his nose. He claims he was on the receving end of an elbow, and it’s difficult not to imagine that was the case. This is getting brutal.

28 min: Victory’s dominance of possession is total – 71% at the last reckoning.

26 min: Jurman’s now got blood trickling from the gash in his head. Simon Hill thinks the Sydney defender looks like “something out of Braveheart”. On goes the petroleum jelly. Lashings of the stuff.

24 min: Sydney win a corner, as as the players prepare for Naumoff’s delivery, the cameras focus on the penalty box. There’s Jurman, with a bandage wrapped around his noggin, others are jostling, there’s plenty of gesticulation... you just get the feeling that this one is just below boiling point at the moment.

22 min: Lovely feet from Khalfallah as he shimmies past Tavares before running straight into Dimitrijevic. No dice this time, but the Victory man’s danger is all apparent.

20 min: Ben Khalfallah steps up to take the resulting free-kick... but it’s poor and the ball balloons high up over the frame of Janjetovic’s goal.

19 min: Berisha makes a Ryall-esque tumble to the ground (actually, it’s not that bad, and there is contact, but still, there’s no real need to go down quite so dramatically) right on the edge of the box. Real chance here for Victory.

18 min: Faty is on the ground, head in hands. He knows his game is up and he departs with a rueful look on his face. Rhyan Grant comes on to replace him, although he takes up his position at right-back, with Ryall moving into the middle.

16 min: Faty goes down, and it looks like his match is over. It’s his hammy by the looks of things and that could be disastrous for Sydney.

13 min: For all the Sydney ‘aggression’ so far, it’s Berisha who goes into the book first, for a flailing elbow which catchs Jurman right in the face. Berisha immediately signals for the trainer, no doubt in a bid to elicit some sympathy from the ref. He sees yellow, and walks away wiping blood off his elbow.

11 min: Here’s a chance for Barbarouses! But his first touch is slightly heavy and the angle is too narrow by the time he pulls the trigger. Janjetovic makes the save.

9 min: A stat on the screen a minute ago told us Victory have had 75% of possession. They certainly have flown out of the blocks.

8 min: A flashpoint! Janko fells Milligan who reacts with what can only be described as a head butt to the Austrian’s chest. It goes totally unnoticed though. Meanwhile FBK and Ryall are having a bit of a set-to as well but, again, no action is taken.

7 min: The corner comes across and Janjetovic looks a bit shaky as he’s challenged in the air by Milligan. But there’s no harm done this time and Sydney survive the fleeting scare.

6 min: Berisha! The first chance of the game falls to the Victory striker, Milligan starting the move forward with a lovely ball to Barbarouses on the right who then lays it inside for Berisha to strike at goal from outside the box. Deflected behind for a corner!

4 min: There are some tasty challenges being put in out there so far. Berisha and Ryall both raise their boots as they fly into a mid-air tussle, but it’s Berisha who is penalised. What odds a red card before the day is out?

2 min: Boom! Just seconds into the match and we’ve got our first free-kick. Janko protests with gusto and referee Gillett toots on his whistle in an agitated way a couple of times to calm the situation down. Soon after Faty upends Ben Khalfallah and the scene has been set early on.

Question from Paul Connolly, that’s been sat in my inbox for five minutes:

It’s 4.05 and the players aren’t yet on the field, crowded as it is with kids and banners. When is the last time a major sporting event started at the advertised time in Australia?

Fox commentator Simon Hill’s usually grandiose match introduction is rather flat today – he just gives a potted history of the Melbourne-Sydney rivalry before outlining team news. Even his pay-off line doesn’t quite prompt the usual stratospheric excitement levels – which hue of blue will be celebrating tonight, he asks, simply.

Meanwhile, the teams are lined up in the tunnel, ‘focus’ etched on each players’ face. Out they come to a volley of league-sanctioned pyrotechnics and the national anthem is sung by a young lady in a red and black feather coat (a Wanderers fan?) whose name I didn’t catch. Excellently sung though.

Yes, Etihad is much bigger, but AAMI is a wonderful place to watch football. The fans are on almost on top of the pitch and are very much part of the game. Not a bad seat in the house and it’s reflected in the atmosphere.

And again:

The cherished toilet seat is circumnavigating the stadium now (not by itself, it’s being carried) as Melbourne’s song, Stand by Me, is sung with gusto. Despite the efforts of the Sydney fans to drown it out it’s impressively loud.

In fact, I think I may just pass the baton over to Paul now. Enjoy the game.

Here’s Paul Connolly again:

Teams are out on the pitch, warming up with small sided games, no goals. Kevin Muscat is on the sideline chatting to various people in suits and though he is chewing his gum with manic urgency there is no other obvious sign of nerves. Plenty of smiles, and now Ange Postecoglou hoves into view wishing him well.

Sydney are having shots on goal… they’ve missed their last six, including ugly shanks to Janko and Ibini. Get em out if the way early, isn’t that the logic?

Foxtel nonsensical hyperbole of the day so far: “We haven’t got microphones but look at the noise flying out of AAMI Park!” Just look at it!

A quick word on today’s referee Jarred Gillett, the best the A-League can get. Interestingly, the razor-sharp (boo) Gillett officiated Sydney’s 3-0 defeat to Adelaide United on Boxing Day, but also one of their best results of the season, a 5-1 away win over Central Coast in January. He’s assisted today by Matthew Cream and David Walsh, with Kris Griffith-Jones the fourth official.

Guardian Australia writer Paul Connolly has made it to his seat in the stadium and filed his first despatch.

A perfect day here, faultless blue sky for the battle of the blues, the sky of Sydney, the navy of Victory. As you’d expect the Victory fans are in full voice and they outnumber Sydney fans to the extent that spotting a Sydney jersey on the way in was harder than finding Wally. In the stadium, however, there’s a decent contingent of Sydney fans behind the southern goal. I imagine they’ll be embracing their underdog status. As much as you can gauge a mood in a whole stadium it feels optimistic. They are here for a party and they’ll be mightily gutted if it doesn’t happen.

Pre-match snacks: my colleague Graham Russell (a Mariners fans, by the way) has just offered me a Palazzo, which will go superbly with a cup of tea as we await kick-off. Indeed, the sugar rush from the luxurious dark chocolate, combined with the raw, unfettered excitement of grand final day may have me bouncing off the ceilings before the thing even starts. Paaaaaaaaallll-azzo!

Pre-match entertainment: show me a fan who is into the band playing at the beginning of any major sporting event and I’ll show you a liar. That’s nothing against Peking Duk (that’s not a typo), they’re doing a decent enough job I think, it’s just that days like this aren’t about music. The lead singer’s behaviour at the end of their show goes some way to backing that view up – she walks (storms?) straight off with a bit of a scowl on her face, although that could just be some kind of Melbourne rock attitude. I’m really not sure, to be honest.

Fox Sports has already been making a bit of a meal out of Seb Ryall’s ‘dive’ during a match between the two sides earlier in the season, as if anyone needed reminding. The right-back is sure to get an, er, ‘special’ reception when he appears on the field today. This is why:

And here’s Marc Janko horsing around this week. Just because.

Here’s Ange Postecoglou on Fox Sports. The Socceroos coach looks pained. And he is, he can’t bear grand final day, apparently. But he loves Kosta Barbarouses, which should bring a smile to his face. It does, as he reminisces about signing the Kiwi twice.

Pitch: an equally beautiful surface awaits the players. It looks immaculate and will suit teams that want to play football. So, both sides involved today. No excuses for any ball-pinging-off-shins today then.

Weather: it’s a beautiful day for grand final football in Melbourne – clear blue skies and sunshine. I’ve just had a quick chat with Paul Connolly, the Guardian’s man on the ground at Melbourne Park today, and he informed me there’s a celebratory mood around the stadium. He was talking about Victory fans, by the way.