Olympic Kingsway Stun Melbourne Victory in Australia Cup Thriller
Well, what a wild night it was in Western Australia as Melbourne Victory were knocked out of the 2025 Australia Cup in dramatic fashion by Olympic Kingsway, who came out on top 4-3 after extra time. It’s one of those matches that had absolutely everything—goals, controversy, late drama, and even a red card—really reminding everyone why the Australia Cup has earned its reputation for producing magic moments.
Melbourne Victory came into this one looking to go one better than last year, when they fell at the final hurdle. With a strong squad featuring new recruits like Keegan Jelacic and Louis D’Arrigo, and after some solid pre-season friendlies, they looked ready to start their campaign with confidence. And early on, it seemed like they were on the right track. Jordi Valadon opened the scoring with a beautiful curling finish in the 23rd minute after some lovely link-up play on the edge of the box.
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But Olympic Kingsway, reigning NPL WA double-winners, weren’t going to just roll over. A penalty was awarded minutes later after a handball, and Mitchell Oxborrow made no mistake from the spot to level the scores. Victory struck again just before halftime, with Jelacic scoring on debut, giving them a 2-1 lead going into the break.
Kingsway came out firing in the second half and made their pressure count when Joseph Hobson smashed home an equaliser from a poorly cleared corner. Tension really started to build after that, and things got even tougher for Victory when Joshua Rawlins was shown a red card with just over 10 minutes to go. But despite being a man down, they pulled ahead once more through Reno Piscopo, who scored an absolute rocket into the top corner in the 88th minute.
Just when it looked like Victory had done enough, Olympic Kingsway pulled off a last-gasp equaliser in the 93rd minute. Liam Boland, the Australia Cup’s all-time top scorer, headed home from a perfect cross, sending the game into extra time and the home crowd into a frenzy.
In the first half of extra time, Boland struck again—this time from the penalty spot—after Jelacic was judged to have tripped Laat Mathiang in the box. Victory pushed hard to level things up again, with young players like Luka Kolic and Alex Lee coming on and doing their best to inspire a comeback, but despite six shots on goal in the final moments, the equaliser never came.
So, Olympic Kingsway progress to the Round of 16 in what’s already being called one of the standout games of this year’s Cup. As for Melbourne Victory, it’s back to the drawing board as they prepare for the A-League Men’s season, but no doubt this loss will sting for a while.
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