South Melbourne and Heidelberg United will face off in the final of the 2025 Dockerty Cup, Victoria’s prestigious football competition.
In the knockout semi-finals held on Saturday, South Melbourne defeated Avondale 3-1, while Heidelberg United crushed Nunawading City 5-0.
At Olympic Village, in a David vs. Goliath clash, Heidelberg United were dominant, securing a sweeping 5-0 win over Nunawading, a team playing two divisions lower. Goals for “Megas” under coach John Anastasiadis were scored by Asahi Yokokawa (17’), Bul Juach (53’), Chok Dau (59’, 77’), and Max Bisetto (75’).
Later at Lakeside Stadium, South Melbourne defied the odds and some questionable refereeing to overcome Avondale 3-1, booking their place in the Dockerty Cup Final for the second consecutive season.
The defending champions, featuring Japanese midfielder Yuzo Iwakami, started strong, dominating early and creating several chances. They opened the scoring in the 32nd minute through Jack Pope (1-0). Despite being mostly on the back foot, Avondale equalised in the 38th minute through Yusuf Ahmed, sending the teams into halftime at 1-1.
The second half saw South Melbourne come out firing. Nahuel Bonada made it 2-1 in the 47th minute with an acrobatic effort, and again played a key role in the 56th minute when he dispossessed Kalilou Kamara, broke into the box, and set up Andy Brennan for a close-range finish to seal the 3-1 result.
Controversy struck in the 82nd minute when the referee issued a second yellow card to Maximilian Mikkola, reducing South Melbourne to 10 men for the final 15 minutes despite the absence of any serious foul.
Earlier, in the 74th minute, the same referee ignored a blatant second-yellow-card-worthy foul by Ayden Brice on Charlie Leech, a decision that favoured Avondale. Fortunately for the “Blues,” the biased officiating did not change the outcome of the match.
The Dockerty Cup Final will be played on Saturday, August 9, at a venue and time to be announced by Football Victoria.
