2004 National Soccer League grand final

The 2004 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 4 April 2004 between Parramatta Power and Perth Glory at Parramatta Stadium. Parramatta Power had gained home-ground advantage by beating Perth Glory in the major semi final, while Perth earned their place with a win over Adelaide United in the preliminary final. Perth won the match 1–0, with Nik Mrdja scoring a golden goal in extra time.^[1][2][3]

2004 National Soccer League Grand Final

Event	2003–04 National Soccer League
Parramatta Power Perth Glory 0 1
(asdet)
Date	4 April 2004 (2004-04-04)
Venue	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Joe Marston Medal	Ahmad Elrich
Referee	Mark Shield
Attendance	9,630
Weather	Wet, windy, 21.2 °C (70.2 °F)
← 2003 (A-League) 2006 →

Background

The Australian Soccer Association (ASA) had decided that this would be the last National Soccer League season ahead of the launch of the provisionally-named Australian Premier League (APL) in 2005.^[4]

Route to the final

Further information: 2003–04 National Soccer League

The two teams were the clear standouts with Perth finishing the season first and Parramatta six points behind. As the top two teams, they earned the right to advance to the second week of the finals series. In the major semi-final, held over two legs at Parramatta Stadium and Perth Oval, Parramatta defeated Perth 6–2 on aggregate to advance to the grand final. Perth defeated Adelaide United in the preliminary final 5–0 at Subiaco Oval to earn the right to face the Power again. After initially suggesting that they might relinquish home-ground advantage to the Glory, the Power eventually decided to host the grand final at Parramatta.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

League Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Perth Glory (C)	24	18	3	3	56	22	+34	57	Qualification to Finals series
2	Parramatta Power	24	16	3	5	58	30	+28	51
3	Adelaide United	24	11	7	6	28	25	+3	40
4	Marconi Stallions	24	10	8	6	29	25	+4	38
5	South Melbourne	24	11	4	9	39	21	+18	37
6	Brisbane Strikers	24	9	5	10	28	33	−5	32
7	Northern Spirit	24	9	3	12	31	33	−2	30
8	Sydney Olympic	24	7	8	9	26	31	−5	29
9	Wollongong Wolves	24	8	5	11	34	41	−7	29
10	Sydney United	24	7	8	9	18	25	−7	29
11	Newcastle United	24	6	6	12	18	33	−15	24
12	Melbourne Knights	24	6	5	13	21	41	−20	23
13	Football Kingz	24	4	3	17	25	51	−26	15

Source: ozfootball.net
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored;
(C) Champions

Finals Bracket

	Elimination Finals							Major/Minor Semifinal							Preliminary Final					Grand Final
								2	Parramatta Power	4	2	6								Parramatta Power		0
								1	Perth Glory	1	0	2								Perth Glory (a.e.t.)		1
															1	Perth Glory	5
	3	Adelaide United (a)	3	1	4
															3	Adelaide United	0
	6	Brisbane Strikers	0	4	4
								3	Adelaide United (a.e.t.)			2
								5	South Melbourne			1
	4	Marconi Stallions	0	0	0
	5	South Melbourne	0	2	2

Match

Summary

The match took place in heavy rain which led to a smaller than expected crowd and affected the pitch.^[3]

Perth had the first real chance on goal in the 14th minute with Damian Mori having a shot from within the six-yard box saved by Clint Bolton, the Power goalkeeper. A Peter Zorbas cross after 23 minutes was spilt by Perth goalkeeper Jason Petkovic, however Power forward Ante Milicic was unable to capitalise. A promising Glory attack was thwarted in the 29th minute with a ball in the penalty area stopping in the mud near the line.^[3][10]

With conditions improving in the second half, Power midfielder Ahmad Elrich put in a cross to Milicic who shot wide. Shortly after, Mori again missed from just outside the six-yard box with only the keeper between him and the goal. In the 74th minute, Power forward Sasho Petrovski shot the ball wide after doing to move past his opponent.^[3][10]

With regulation time expiring, the teams began extra time with the Golden goal rule in effect. Mori missed a clear chance to win the grand final five minutes into extra time after Peter Zorbas slipped while trying to clear the ball from the penalty area.^[2][3]

Nik Mrdja, who had been an 82nd minute substitute for striker Bobby Despotovski, ended the match eight minutes into the first period of extra time with a low shot past Power goalkeeper Bolton.^[11][12]

Details

4 April 2004
15:00 AEST

Parramatta Power	0 – 1 (asdet)	Perth Glory
	Reports[13]	Mrdja 98'

Parramatta Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 9,630

Referee: Mark Shield

Parramatta Power

Perth Glory

GK 1 Clint Bolton DF 3 Alvin Ceccoli (c) DF 4 Simon Colosimo DF 5 Michael Beauchamp FW 7 Travis Dodd MF 8 Andre Gumprecht  86' FW 9 Ante Milicic  68' DF 13 Paul O'Grady FW 14 Sasho Petrovski FW 21 Ahmad Elrich MF 22 Peter Zorbas  97' Substitutes: GK 20 Daniel Beltrame MF 6 Matt Thompson  97' MF 10 Fernando Rech  68' MF 11 Lucas Pantelis DF 16 Jacek Sobczyk Manager: Nick Theodorakopoulos Joe Marston Medal: Ahmad Elrich (Parramatta Power)

GK 1 Jason Petkovic DF 3 Matthew Bingley DF 5 Shaun Murphy (c) FW 10 Bobby Despotovski  82' MF 11 Jade North DF 12 Mark Byrnes  62' MF 15 Tom Pondeljak FW 16 Damian Mori DF 19 Jamie Harnwell FW 21 Adrian Caceres DF 24 Jamie Coyne  95' Substitutes: GK 20 Vince Matassa MF 4 Bradley Hassell  95' MF 6 Wayne Srhoj MF 8 Anthony Danze FW 9 Nik Mrdja  82' Manager: Mich d'Avray

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.

Post match

Power midfielder Ahmad Elrich was presented the Joe Marston Medal for best player of the grand final by Joe Marston.^[14]