South Melbourne’s path to the decider certainly hasn’t been an easy ride, matched up against some of their biggest rivals away from home, with plenty of thin margins towards the latter stages of the competition.
Round 4: Melbourne Knights away, 2-0
There was no gentle introduction into the Cup for South, drawing the Knights in the Cup for an astounding fifth time in the past 10 years, when they entered the competition in the fourth round. The game was capped off by a brilliant solo run from Brennan, moving past two Knights defenders and slotting home well, a foreshadowing moment for the rest of his tournament.
Round 5: Eastern Lions home, 4-3
If ever the footballing cliché of ‘a game of two halves’ was appropriate, it was South’s fifth round tie against the Eastern Lions. 3-0 up at half time thanks to a Sawyer brace and solo effort from Bonada, a second half resurgence from the Lions had South fans sweating. A few breathless moments in the final minutes of the game survived, and South would advance on to what would become a massive fixture in the history of Victorian football.
Round 6: Preston Lions away, 5-2
Over a decade since their last competitive fixture, South were to travel to Preston for a cup tie that commanded a spectacular crowd of over 6000, on a cold Tuesday night.
Both clubs were announced by Football Australia last November as part of the eight inaugural teams for the proposed National Second Tier (NST) , and their matchup in the Docherty Cup was billed as a teaser for what the best of the NST could look like.
What on first glance appears as a blowout was anything but. The game was on for all money when Preston took the lead after just 35 seconds, lighting up the atmosphere even further at BT Connor Reserve.
A Ross Archibald header tied the score in the final moments of the first half, before Brennan and Jake Marshall opened up a South Melbourne lead at 3-1. An unlucky deflection brought the margin back to one in the 83rd minute, but what would follow will live long in the memory of South supporters.
A bullet from Jordon Lampard and a long-range free kick from Sawyer - placed right up where the spiders live – sent the embracing away end into absolute raptures. It was immense, both the goals themselves and the celebrations alike, an end to the game befitting the fixture’s stature.
Round 7: St Albans Saint home, 1-0
The seventh round would be where the high scores tallies would end for South, a flurry of goals instead replaced by a few incredibly important and well-timed, clutch moments. Hosting St Albans in the seventh round, it was a delightful chip from Nahuel Bonada early in the second half that proved the pivotal difference, South seeing out the remainder of the match to make the final five of the competition.
Play-off Round: Heidelberg United away, 2-1
Drawn into the extra play-off round to bring the five Australia Cup qualifiers down to four Dockerty Cup Semi-Finalists, South would face another stern test away to Heidelberg, especially after a mix up at the back condemned them to go behind in another cup tie this season. Converting off an intelligent cutback from Sawyer, it was Brennan yet again popping up at the important moment, levelling the score for South.
But just like in the previous round against St Albans, it was Bonada who scored the ultimately decisive goal, this time in the 88th minute to take the glory for South.
Semi Final: Hume City home, 1-0
It was the long throw again that provided the difference for South in the penultimate stage of the tournament. The solitary goal, this time within the first five minutes of the game rather than the last, again came off the boot of the prolific Brennan, as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. From there it was a typical resilient South Melbourne defensive performance that saw out the game and granted them passage through to the Final of the Dockerty Cup.