Oakleigh Cannons (Men) and Heidelberg United (Women) have been crowned 2024 NPL Victoria champions after thrilling grand final victories at the Home of the Matildas on Saturday, September 7.
A record crowd for the venue was treated to two epic games back-to-back in what was the first Senol NPL Grand Final Double-Header at the headquarters of Victorian football.
The La Trobe University venue was rocking when Heidelberg scored twice in the last eight minutes to secure the most dramatic of 3-2 wins over Preston Lions in the NPLW decider, before Oakleigh Cannons edged rivals South Melbourne 1-0 in a tense NPLM showdown.
Oliver Kubilay of Oakleigh won the Jimmy Rooney Medal in the NPLM final, while Heidelberg’s Asuka Miyata was awarded NPLW Player of the Match honours.
Oakleigh’s win is its second Grand Final triumph in three seasons. Heidelberg’s success is its first since winning the VPLW championship back in 2007.
Bright lights and a buzzing atmosphere made for a perfect backdrop for the men’s finale, and the stars of the show did not disappoint in what was an enthralling tactical battle.
It took until the 72nd minute for the game’s only goal to be scored.
Emlyn Wellsmore wrote his name into the history books with a composed left-footed finish from inside the penalty box, before he and his Cannons teammates held on for the remainder of the match to take the title.
The result was the reverse of last month’s Dockerty Cup final between these two sides, which South Melbourne won on penalties at the same venue.
Oakleigh captain Joe Guest said: “I want to say a big congratulations and thank you to everyone at the Club, right to the top. The boys have been absolutely immense this season and I’m so proud to share the pitch with them every single week.”
“Football in Victoria is definitely on the up. You can see by the standard of the league this year, there were five teams within six points of each other at the final game, so that speaks volumes. It should be something we should be collectively proud of in this state,” Guest added.
Earlier, kicking off in 20 degree conditions, it didn’t take long for Heidelberg to assert itself on the NPLW finale, taking the lead after 11 minutes via an Alana Jancevski penalty.
But Preston quickly turned the tables, scoring not one but two wonder goals, the first from 35m out by Rasamee Phonsongkham in the 28th minute and the second, a top corner effort from Hayley Johnson in the 36th minute, which gave the Lions a 2-1 lead at half-time.
That was the way it stayed until the 88th minute when Keely Lockhart equalised from close range.
And just when the game seemed destined to go to extra time, Mami Ambo scrambled home a header from close range in the sixth minute of stoppage time in what proved to be the second last touch of the game.
Heidelberg captain Steph Galea said: “I’m so proud of each and every one of (our team). We stuck together through the most difficult times.”
“A few months ago we were sitting a relegation battle and I thought ‘oh no, here we go again’. But we stuck together and fought to the very end and today just proved that,” Galea added.
“I don’t know what minute (the last goal) was, I don’t want to know, but I’m just so glad we kept fighting.”
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