“Soccer Australia can’t catch a break,” emails Chris Paraskevas. “Needed a fairytale final in Auckland and didn’t get it (Victory ruining it again after the VAR debacle vs Jets). Now the team with no fans win (one guy had a Melbourne Heart flag!). Tragicomedy.”

But the generation of memes continues apace.

Michael Zappone is the emcee for the presentation ceremony. He begins by inviting the referees to accept their medals. Adam Kersey had an excellent night. It was a tricky match to navigate but he found the right balance between letting everything flow and nipping spotfires in the bud.

Paul Marioni’s email is headed: “The worst game of football in history”, which is a big call, but it was a far cry from Italy v Brazil at Spain 82. “I have never seen such a load of absolute nonsense ‘football’ in all my 70 years,” Paul adds, “no skill, no excitement, no pace, one goal, a trillion non fouls. Take a poll from those that had the time to watch this rubbish and see where it rates. Pile of garbage.”

Victory only really tested Beach once, in the first half, while City missed one gilt edged opportunity in the second, and a couple of other presentable ones across the 90 minutes. Victory fans could point to the ball hitting Fereyra’s hand inside his penalty area late on, but it would have been a harsh penalty.

There was a level of commitment, physicality, and desperation from City that stood them in good stead tonight. You could tell they wanted to get the ball down and control the tempo but Victory denied them that opportunity. But City’s leaders: Ferreyra, Leckie, Behich, and Atkinson in particular, relished the scrap and matched Victory in every scuffle and spotfire.

It wasn’t a grand final full of champagne football, but City looked the more poised throughout. Victory gave everything but lacked composure in the final third in the first half, then ran out of ideas in the second.

Delight for Aurelio Vidmar on the City bench. Disbelief for his players on the pitch. An unknown emotion for Matthew Leckie, wrapped in blooded bandages.

90+7 min: And when play resumes Vergos concedes a dreadful foul competing for the first header.

90+6 min: Tilio time-wastes his way into the book, allowing his team to reset and force Miranda to take a free-kick deep in his own half.

There’s a further delay while the goalscorer Cohen is substituted for Talbot.

90+5 min: A minute of attack is just what City ordered and Ugarkovic holds the ball in the left corner to milk the clock.

90+4 min: It’s scrappy, desperate, and frantic, and still City manage to find a toe or a head to anything sent their way. Piscopo wriggles free on the left but Ferryra is equal to his cross, then City buy a foul in transition.

90+3 min: Victory are unable to find any momentum. City’s defensive structure and midfield desperation has been too much all night.

90+1 min: Another flashpoint, this time on Victory’s right touchline as Ugarkovic and Behich scrap for possession but concede a foul. Teague swings over a deep cross that finds Rawlins at the far post. He leaps high, but can’t direct his header on target.

90 mins: Leckie is a little lucky to stay on the field. Already booked, he dives in to a challenge that could well have been punished with more than a foul, but Kersey keeps it 11 v 11.

A minimum of seven minutes added time to be played.

87 mins: Arzani and Atkinson have battled hard all night and the latest flashpoint sees the Victory man needlessly bundle over his opponent on the touchline. A City substitute runs over to get involved and Arzani wafts his hand in front of his mouth dismissively in an indication his interlocutor has poor oral hygiene.

86 mins: City deal with a decent Arzani set-piece then Teague gives away a blatant yellow card for holding back Ugarkovic as City try to break. That felt like a significant moment. Victory were pressing, now City can slow everything down again.

85 mins: Victory keep coming though and earn a decent free-kick opportunity when Ugarkovic legs the marauding Miranda.

84 mins: City again allow Victory a spell of possession and territory, backing themselves in to find a challenge when required – which is borne out. Arzani continues to look dangerous, but as soon as he shaped to shoot his path to goal was blocked.

83 mins: The seagulls have arrived.

81 mins: Down the other end, Arzani has time on the left wing, cuts inside, and curls over a dangerous cross towards the far post. It beats Ferreyra and is headed away by Trewin – but straight into the arm of the flailing Argentine as he struggles to retain his balance. Victory are adamant it’s a handball penalty, but Kersey is unmoved. VAR chooses not to intervene either. Good. The VAR-era handball law is usually not fit for purpose, but on this occasion common sense prevailed.

80 mins: Lopane is straight into the action, winning a header then shooting smartly on the turn, but straight at Duncan.

79 mins: The classy Kuen is coming off for City with Lopane taking his place.

78 mins: Tilio is hacked down again and another Victory player is booked – Inserra this time. Leckie is incensed and runs in to remonstrate, sparking another minor melee. There’s been plenty of feeling on-field tonight. On another night it could have all kicked off. It still might.

76 mins: HOW IS THAT NOT 2-0!? City find Behich free on the left. He cuts back onto his right and has two unmarked men at the far post to cross towards. The delivery is faultless but Cohen, the farthest of the two, somehow heads wide from point blank range. That was an absolute stinker.

75 mins: Atkinson wins a full blooded 50:50 with Bos, then gets into a tussle with Arzani. It ends with him wrestling his former teammate to the ground and giving the assistant referee an earful for their correct evaluation of the fray.

74 mins: Cohen clips over the resulting free-kick, Trewin has a free header, but it’s always going high.

Fornaroli, who did little tonight, is replaced by Inserra. The injured Jackson also makes way for Vergos.

73 mins: Then City break and Rawlins hacks his way into the referee’s book after being skinned by Tilio.

71 mins: City concede territory for a spell and prove too compact for Victory to break down.

69 mins: Fornaroli buys another foul where he just stands and looks aggrieved when an opponent tries to win a ball he has no interest in actually controlling. That’s pretty much all he’s done tonight. He’s really cornered himself into a one-dimensional back to goal striker.

67 mins: Arzani wins a corner out of nothing, but before he can deliver there’s a melee in the penalty area with a stack of players from both sides involved. Jackson is irate, so is Behich, Ferreyra (on a booking) looks sheepish. Kersey lets it fizzle out and keeps his cards in his pocket. Replays show it all started when Ferreyra and Jackson got in each other’s grills trying to establish front position.

The corner does not cause a similar amount of comment.

66 mins: And that’s Caputo’s last action. He’s put in a decent shift leading the line, but he makes way for Memeti. Elsewhere, Jackson was down for quite a while after stumbling in the process of being wrongfooted by that long ball, and doesn’t look happy now he’s back on his feet.

65 mins: Massive opportunity wasted for City! A long ball downfield wrongfoots Jackson giving Caputo time and space to pick out one of two teammates. Instead he swivels and hammers a snapshot narrowly wide, seemingly unaware of how advantageous his situation was.

64 mins: Bos bursts clear out of defence and bullocks through midfield. Breaking the lines he feeds Machach to his left and the Frenchman is unceremoniously blocked off the ball by Ferreyra, who earns a booking for his professionalism. Arzani curls in a dangerous free-kick. The first ball is headed up in the air. The second is glanced into the hands of Beach.

62 mins: City have done such a good job at repelling Victory’s transitional attacks it’s time for plan B and some slower tempo build-up. The ball is worked methodically downfield until Machach earns a corner with some close control on the byline. Arzani’s delivery is headed clear on the edge of the six yard box.

60 mins: Victory’s first change of the night sees the ineffective Santos replaced by Badolato.

59 mins: The resulting corner is authoritatively punched clear by Duncan. Then there’s a break in play for Ferreyra to receive treatment after he landed very heavily winning a header.

58 mins: City are starting to go through the gears. Ugarkovic links well with Cohen to earn a corner and the ball is almost nodded into his own net at the far post by Teague, under pressure from Ferreyra.

56 mins: Leckie wins a crucial tackle on the edge of his own box to curtail a Victory attack. The bandaging doesn’t seem to be affecting his performance. Credit again to Kersey, who continues to let the game play when he could easily blow for fouls or lecture the players.

54 mins: Victory work the ball out to Arzani on the left. He feeds to the overlapping Bos, but the cross isn’t delivered, the player with the ball slips, Atkinson intervenes and wins a foul. City look more comfortable now than at any point in this match so far. Diles needs to shake things up a bit.

52 mins: Back to the football and City get in behind Victory on the right – thanks to the Mummy formerly known as Leckie - but Atkinson’s cutback is dealt with. Victory then waste another moment in transition after springing the City offside trap on the left.

50 mins: Leckie is being mummified in a bid to keep him in the game. He has a massive roll of gauze wrapped around his nose and face. Can he continue like this? How does he breathe? Add this to the A-League meme mountain.

49 mins: Just as I type that the boots go flying again – literally – with Leckie caught in the face by an accidental flick of one of Machach’s hooves as the Victory man tumbled to the ground. The Socceroo has a very nasty gash on his nose that is bleeding profusely.

48 mins: Victory have had a couple of chances to create attacking transitions but their passes have gone astray and City’s defence have read the game well to step up and intercept. This has been the calm start to the half Vidmar would have been hoping for.

47 mins: City on the attack early and Duncan is drawn into a very good save after Cohen curls a sumptuous effort with his left foot from 25 yards out following lovely build-up with Kuen. The corner is wasted.

46 mins: No changes from either team at the break.

You’re not alone there Phil. The question for you, and many of us, is how many times can we keep being teased and frustrated before we give up for good?

The teams are back out for the second half. Can Victory find a way back into the contest?

“I must confess, I have sinned,” begins Phil Withall. “Once I was a season ticket holder for the mighty Brisbane Roar, not just for the glory years but back when they were crap and nobody went to watch them. Years of nomadic existence and mismanagement drove me away, I’m fortunate to have a state league club at the bottom of the road.

Anyway, that’s a long winded way of saying I’ve neglected the A league for some time, however, this season has shown that there is quality in the league, genuine intrigue and progress. I’m loving it, though still won’t be back at the Roar anytime soon...”

45+1 min: Fornaroli buys another wrestling foul near halfway, then Ferreyra collects Arzani on the spin. This has been a physical half.

44 mins: Behich goes down holding his face after colliding with Santos. Kersey has done well to keep this game flowing considering the potential for so many flashpoints.

43 mins: Arzani’s duel with Atkinson is fascinating. I interviewed them both many years ago in a shed at the old Melbourne Heart training complex just as they were coming through the ranks. Lots was expected of them both, and while neither has perhaps reached the heights they might have wanted, here they both are central to a domestic championship decider.

42 mins: Victory are looking for Arzani at every opportunity, but he’s dropping deeper and deeper to find it, and the deeper he goes the closer he’s marked by City’s midfield pushing up.

40 mins: Machach has another thump from range. This time it evades the blockers but it’s straight at Beach. Down the other end Miranda only just gets a toe to a long throughball to Tilio that could easily have ended up as a straight red card. City assistant coach Scott Jameson is apoplectic. Plus ca change.

39 mins: Now victory dash down the other end, reach the byline, but can’t find a navy jersey with the cutback. Every ball in midfield is being contested, anything loose results in contact, this is a full blooded football match.

38 mins: The third dangerous Behich cross of the night is defended well at the nearpost by Victory’s centre-halves with Caputo bearing down on goal.

37 mins: City enjoy a nice spell of slow possession and threaten to get in behind on the right but there’s a miscommunication between Cohen and Atkinson.

35 mins: Victory are applying plenty of pressure, but a needless foul from Arzani shortly after he threw himself to the ground in possession allows City to slow the tempo.

33 mins: Adam Kersey can no longer resist the urge to book someone. Cohen is the first man to see yellow for a foul on Arzani, but the caution was likely more for repeat infringements than one single indiscretion.

32 mins: Miranda with another majestic long pass, this time to Bos, and now he’s brought down by Cohen. Arzani’s free-kick into the box is flicked on and should be Beach’s to claim but Atkinson heads away instead – only as far as the trigger happy Machach, who larrups another effort straight at a City defender. There are wildly optimistic cries for a handball penalty. Nothing doing.

30 mins: Now it’s City’s turn to plead innocence as Atkinson brings Santos down on the left wing. It was poor control from the Victory man after a superb crossfield diagonal from Miranda. The free-kick is delivered dangerously, Miranda wins it in the air, but it dribbles unthreateningly wide.

28 mins: Victory fans are furious that Arzani is adjudged to have fouled Tilio on the touchline just in front of the dugout. Victory, led by Arzani, are doing their utmost to keep the tempo high and make the game a transitional one. City are trying to slow things down and keep everything methodical.

27 mins: Now Arzani lets fly from range but Trewin is down to block.

26 mins: Another Machach effort, this time wildly optimistic and blocked on the edge of the box with teammates in better positions.

25 mins: Now it’s Beach’s turn to make a crucial save! Arzani is the driving force for Victory again, running the ball at City’s defence before Machach has the latest in a series of snapshots, this time beating the initial block and forcing the keeper into a save diving low to his right.

24 mins: Tilio’s delivery is straight at Duncan, who punches clear, but the second ball is much better and is met by a firm Mat Leckie header, low to Duncan’s left from six yards out, but the Victory keeper gets down low to paw the ball off the line! That was very close to a second.

23 mins: A rare move down City’s right sees Jackson forced into conceding a corner.

22 mins: City build beautifully from the back, playing through the lines with confidence. Practically every player in sky blue touches the ball as it’s recycled from right to left to right to left until Kuen is in acres of space and able to dink a throughball to Tilio, but Miranda does enough to snuff out the danger.

20 mins: A reminder that Melbourne City have the best defensive record in the A-League this season. And they haven’t lost when taking the lead.

18 mins: Fornaroli does Fornaroli things, standing under a high ball with no intention of playing for it, waiting for the defender to engage then hitting the deck theatrically. It leads to a free-kick in a dangerous position that is fed through to Santos who gets around Behich to the byline. He pulls back to Machach but his snapshot is deflected behind off Leckie. The resulting corner is headed clear.

17 mins: Victory are furious with a Ugarkovic challenge in midfield. He wins the ball, but with his studs up sliding into Bos, who takes a whack for his troubles. The referee calms things down and keeps his cards in his pocket. He gets a spray from Arzani soon afterwards when he’s pinged for a clear foul on Leckie.

16 mins: In transition City get the ball in that same left channel again and Behich scoots over a tempting cross but there’s nobody steaming onto it in the box and Duncan gathers.

14 mins: Ugarkovic has settled City in the middle of the park but a promising move down the right ends when Arzani tracks back to rob Atkinson, then threaten to break inside the City fullback before he’s brought down. The Socceroo winger has been very bright.

12 mins: Miranda goes down “professionally” after Kuen trod on the defender’s foot late. Chance for Victory to regroup after that early setback.

9 mins: City are not yet at the races. Another spell of passing across the back four ends with Trewin spraying a long diagonal straight out of play.

7 mins: City are starting to get on the ball in defence, but Tilio is robbed on halfway and Victory counter with purpose. Tilio caught Santos in his bid to regain possession and the Victory star returns to his feet a little gingerly.

5 mins: The camera cuts to a pensive Aurelio Vidmar, who is rocking late career Rafael Nadal levels of hairline chutzpah. His City side have settled, but Victory remain on the front foot. Arzani is very busy, popping up on the right touchline now only to turn away from his marker and into touch.

3 mins: The corner is good and a snapshot is blocked. Arzani then has another dribble, this time to the byline, but his cutback is cleared. Machach then has a dart towards goal. Victory have started very brightly.

Behind play Ferreyra is a tad groggy after wearing that previous Machach effort on his scone.

2 mins: 30 seconds of 50:50s in the middle of the park indicate the nerves on display, but Arzani quickly shows his class, playing the ball to the left then following up for the return pass, skinning Atkinson on the touchline and driving towards the box. Nothing comes of it, but Victory have a corner soon afterwards when Beach horribly miscontrols and lets the ball run under his foot. Yikes!

The match ball is delivered onto the field by a diddy remote controlled ISUZU Ute. Early player of the match contender.

There’s a hum around AAMI Park, the kind that you only hear on major sporting occasions. Tens of thousands of people unable to contain their nervous energy. The background noise is welcome as a beautiful a cappella rendition of the national anthem is distorted somewhat by an effects mic too close to one of the players, who is singing heroically flat and without any hint of gusto.

Here come the two sides along the AAMI Park race. Victory all in navy blue, City in sky blue shirts and white shorts. The past ten minutes or so have contained an elaborate son et lumière, culminating in club legends Leigh Broxham and Jamie Maclaren placing the A-League championship toilet seat onto a plinth.

Tonight’s team of officials is led by A-League referee of the year Adam Kersey. George Lakrindis and Emma Kockek will run the lines, Shaun Evans will bear the brunt of both coaches’ anger as the fourth official, with Lara Lee operating VAR.

Conditions are perfect in Melbourne. It’s been dry and still all day, and despite the temperature dropping into single figures, the full house under lights at AAMI Park will make for a fiery atmosphere.

For City, Mat Leckie is fit to start so Ale Lopane moves to the bench. Lawrence Wong is among the subs after missing last week with a wrist injury.

For Victory, Nishan Velupillay has not proven his fitness, but Kasey Bos does make the starting XI. Mitch Langerak is on the bench and a potential matchwinner if the game goes to penalties.

City (4-1-3-2)
33 Beach
13 Atkinson, 22 Ferreyra, 27 Trewin, 16 Behich (c)
6 Ugarkovic
7 Leckie, 30 Kuen, 23 Tilio
17 Caputo, 10 Cohen

Victory (4-2-3-1)
25 Duncan
28 Bos, 4 Jackson, 21 Miranda (c), 22 Rawlins
6 Teague, 14 Valadon
11 Santos, 8 Machach, 7 Arzani
10 Fornaroli

Martin Pegan sets the scene:

Australian football has been here many times before, with visions of a grand spectacle that might reignite the passion of casual observers. The Mariners’ back-to-back championship triumphs will live long in the memory but so too does the last time Victory and City met under the glare of the spotlight in the wake of the Socceroos’ stirring 2022 World Cup campaign. With fans railing against the APL’s decision to break with tradition and hold three grand finals in Sydney – a deal that would have concluded with this year’s decider – the Melbourne derby descended into humiliating chaos when spectators invaded the pitch and forced the match to be abandoned for player safety reasons.

This time, with no new clouds hanging over the competition and the grand final being given clear air in Melbourne, the focus can turn to matters on the pitch and a tussle between two evenly matched teams playing for more than just championship glory.

Plenty of pyro and police on the streets of Melbourne this evening.