The 1995 National Soccer League Grand Final was the championship match of the

1994–95 National Soccer League The 1994–95 National Soccer League season, was the 19th season of the National Soccer League in Australia. The season ended with Melbourne Knights winning the championship and minor premiership double. Changes from 1993–94 In August 1994 ...

season and was played between

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

and

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...

on 7 May 1995.

Road to the final

Adelaide City

Adelaide City entered the final series having finished second in the league to the Melbourne Knights. In the major semi-final, they won both legs with an aggregate score of 3–1, qualifying for the grand final ahead of the minor premiers.

Melbourne Knights

The Knights finished the NSL season as minor premiers. After losing the major semi-final to Adelaide City, the Knights followed up with a narrow 3–2 preliminary final victory over

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

, who had finished sixth in the league.

Match

First half

Melbourne Knights opened the scoring with defender

Andrew Marth Andrew Marth (born 10 February 1969) is a retired Australian soccer player who played 380 times in the National Soccer League (NSL) over 15 years for Sunshine George Cross, Melbourne Knights and Carlton SC. He also represented Australia 16 ...

scoring a goal from outside the penalty box after 36 minutes.

Joe Spiteri Joseph Spiteri (born 6 May 1973) is an Australian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels as a striker. Personal life Spiteri is of Maltese descent and lives in a Maltese neighbourhood of a Sydney subu ...

followed up with a second five minutes later.

Second half

Brad Hassell had a shot hit the crossbar in the 76th minute which was Adelaide City's best chance.

Details

Post-match

The championship was the Knights' first win after having lost three grand finals since 1991. Melbourne Knights defender

Steve Horvat Steven Horvat (born 14 March 1971) is an Australian former professional soccer player. Club career A graduate of the Australian Institute of Sport, Horvat began his career with Melbourne Croatia. He later played with Sunshine George Cross, No ...

was awarded the

Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal i ...

for best player in the grand final.

References

{{Adelaide City FC matches 1995 in Australian soccer NSL Grand Finals Soccer in Adelaide May 1995 sports events in Australia 1990s in Adelaide Sports competitions in Adelaide Melbourne Knights FC