A composed second half finish from Emlyn Wellsmore gave Oakleigh their 1-0 advantage to win the 2024 NPL Men’s Grand Final, denying South Melbourne a Victorian treble at The Home of the Matildas on Saturday night.
A tight and hard-fought encounter was the theme throughout, players not afraid to be physical and push for every advantage in what was always likely to be a low-scoring affair.
Having already claimed both the Dockerty Cup (against Oakleigh) and the NPL Premiership, South Melbourne have fallen just one game short of a historic treble-winning season.
The desperation from both teams to earn a result was clear straight from the outset, as Robert Harding was cautioned inside the first five minutes of the match for a strong challenge on Brodie Boyce, setting a very explicit precedent for the rest of the game.
Oakleigh’s Connor Hampson followed suit around 20 minutes later, diving in with a late challenge and receiving a yellow card of his own.
An Alex Salmon volley and a Cameron McGilp strike from range were the best chances for Oakleigh early on, but neither looking too likely of seriously testing South keeper Javier Lopez.
Ross Archibald’s header off a corner for South was the best chance of the first 45, forcing a brilliant save out of Nicholas Feely to keep the scoreline at 0-0 at half-time.
Oakleigh versus South is a matchup that Victorian football fans are used to in recent big finals, with the familiarity between the two teams meaning chances were never going to come easy.
The familiarity between the two teams meant chances were never going to come easy, both sides very aware of the attacking threats posed by their opposite numbers.
A quickly taken free kick from South Melbourne was the chance that will lead to sleepless nights ahead, the ball fizzing across the face of goal just begging to be tapped in by an awaiting South toe.
The touch didn’t come, and just a few minutes later it was a silky run down the left from Stefan Valentini, whose cross found Emlyn Wellsmore, just a simple composed finish required to give Oakleigh the goal they needed.
South fought hard to earn the equaliser, but it wasn’t to be, the full-time whistle blowing, crowning Oakleigh Cannons as the 2024 NPL Men’s Champions, goal scorer Emlyn Wellsmore clearly overjoyed by the occasion.
“It was amazing, and the boys worked so hard, it was a very tough game against South Melbourne but, we backed each other and just went for it,” he said.
“It’s never easy against South, but we got the win, so it worked.”
Oakleigh Head Coach, Chris Taylor was full of praise for his team, not just for their Grand Final victory, but for the entire season.
“Fantastic group of guys, come back from the dead now and again, just the effort and the courage has been fantastic,” he said.
Oakleigh don’t have too long to celebrate however, a date awaits against Macarthur in Australia Cup next Saturday, back at The Home of the Matildas.
“We’ll enjoy this one tonight and worry about Macarthur on Monday,” said Oakleigh’s Oliver Kubilay, who was awarded the Jimmy Rooney Medal as player of the match in the NPLM Grand Final.
South Melbourne also have to gather themselves quickly, their Australia Cup matchup against fellow NPLM Victoria outfit Hume City, coming thick and fast on Wednesday night.