LIONS FC came within 45 minutes of reaching a historic Australia Cup final before a devastating second-half hat-trick from South Melbourne substitute Bul Juach ended the Queensland club’s remarkable run.
The Queensland side went down 3-1 after taking a first-half lead at Lakeside Stadium.
Lions appeared on course for another famous result when Jackson Hart-Phillips opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, finishing a Luke Broderick cutback to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
Daniel Barber’s side defended strongly throughout the opening half and remained dangerous on the counterattack, frustrating a South Melbourne outfit chasing its own piece of Australian football history.
But the contest was transformed by the halftime introduction of 25-year-old attacker Bul Juach.
Juach equalised in the 53rd minute before striking again just seven minutes later to put South Melbourne ahead, with his goals coming from crosses supplied by David Yoo and Hassan Ramazani.
He completed a stunning hat-trick in the 83rd minute, sealing a 3-1 victory in front of 5268 fans and bringing Lions’ memorable Australia Cup campaign to an end.
The defeat nevertheless capped an impressive national cup campaign for Lions, who represented Queensland’s National Premier Leagues competition in the final four.
Their run came after a strong domestic season which culminated in Lions defeating Peninsula Power 1-0 in the NPL Queensland Men’s Grand Final just days before their trip south.
South Melbourne will now face Melbourne Victory in the Australia Cup final on October 10, marking the first competitive meeting between the two Melbourne clubs.
The victory also made South Melbourne just the third semi-professional NPL club to reach the Australia Cup final and the second in consecutive seasons.
For Lions, however, the disappointment of falling one victory short of the national decider does little to diminish a campaign which carried the Queensland club onto one of Australian football’s biggest stages.
For 45 minutes in Melbourne, they were within touching distance of making history.
