Preston Lions FC fought their way to the 2026 New Balance Dockerty Cup Final with resilience and the tenacity to write their name into the history books and secure silverware. They will be hoping to get the win over NPLM rivals Heidelberg United FC.
Round 4
Nunawading City 0-4 Preston Lions
Preston Lions started their cup run away, making the trip to Forest Hill against VPL 2 side Nunawading City FC.
It was the start to the cup Preston would have dreamed of, with George Mihailidis opening the scoring in the 13th minute. The Lions went into the first half holding their 1-0 lead. Lleyton Brooks doubled their lead quick into the second half that was followed by three yellow cards in succession for Nunawading.
It took until the 80th minute for Preston to score again as substitute Luke Francis came on to make it 3-0 before grabbing his second of the night in the 93rd minute to seal a comfortable 4-0 win for Preston.
Round 5
Keilor Park 1-1 (2-3) Preston Lions
Round 5 was a tight contest as Preston Lions played away to VPL 2 side Keilor Park SC who took the contest down to the wire.
The pressure was on for Preston as the higher ranked visitors, and got even worse as Rhys Saunders of Keilor Park scored right on the cusp of half time to give the home side a 1-0 lead. The match was tight and Preston couldn’t get on the scoresheet and looked to be crashing out of the Dockerty Cup.
As the fulltime whistle drew closer Preston needed a hero, and up stepped George Mihailidis. The former Melbourne Victory man came off the bench at the hour mark and scored the equaliser in the 91st minute! Dealing a blow to Keilor and sending the match to extra time.
Disaster struck for Preston during the first half of extra time as Jamal Ali was sent off bringing the visitors down to ten and the pressure piled back on. A wounded Preston side held out for a draw, surviving extra-time and sending the match to a penalty shootout.
As the pressure of the moment reached an all-time high, both sides missed their opening penalties and with the shootout locked at 2-2 Keilor’s Andrew Scicluna hit the woodwork leaving the door open for Lleyton Brooks to score and give advantage to Preston. All eyes were on Ryouta Yanagisono who had to score, however he was denied by Preston’s Mayen Mayen, which sealed an extraordinary win for Preston Lions.
Round 6
Uni Hills Eagles 0-2 Preston Lions
After such a dramatic win in the previous round, Preston came up against Uni Hill Eagles away in Round 6 of the Dockerty Cup.
Gian Albano drew first blood for Preston in the 34th minute. A yellow card was dealt to the Uni Hill veteran Ivan Franjic and the first half came to a close. Preston were brought down to ten in consecutive matches as Matthew Bozinovski saw red in the 50th minute, leaving the visitors to defend a tight one goal lead.
However Uni Hill could not capitalise on the advantage, failing to find the back of the net. George Mihailidis sealed a 2-0 win in the 93rd minute to punch Prestons ticket into the seventh round.
Quarter Final
Preston Lions 6-0 Caroline Springs George Cross
After two tense matches in the previous rounds that tested the resilience of Preston, they hosted NPLM side Caroline Springs George Cross FC.
An injury to Daniel Lazarevski led to an early substitution for the home side with Jonas Markovski coming on, this forced change ended up helping Preston as Markovski found the back of the net four minutes after coming on to open the scoring. Gian Albano then scored in stoppage time to double their lead and Preston saw out the first half 2-0 up.
The goals kept coming with Jamal Ali back from suspension and scoring almost instantly, Markovski then got his second of the match in the 54th minute before a Lleyton Brooks brace off the bench closed out a 6-0 demolition of Caroline Springs and booked Preston a place in the Semi Final of the Dockerty Cup.
Semi Final
North Sunshine Eagles 0-1 Preston Lions
Preston Lions found themselves away from home once again in the semi-final, coming up against VPL1 side North Sunshine Eagles SC.
It was a close affair between the two sides with not much action in the first half. It took until the 80th minute for the deadlock to be broken as Gian Albano scored for Preston, scoring in three consecutive Dockerty Cup matches.
The one goal was enough for Preston who saw out a 1-0 win to secure their place in the 2026 Dockerty Cup Final.
2026 New Balance Dockerty Cup Final
Heidelberg United v Preston Lions
On Saturday, August 8th, Preston Lions come up against Heidelberg United at Lakeside Stadium in the 2026 Dockerty Cup Final in what looks to be a close match between the two NPLM sides.