The 2004 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 4 April 2004 between

Parramatta Power Parramatta Power Soccer Club were a professional association football club who were based in the Western Sydney city of Parramatta. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999-00 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were ...

and

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

. 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.

Background

The

Australian Soccer Association Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

(ASA) had decided that this would be the last National Soccer League season ahead of the launch of the provisionally-named

Australian Premier League The Bowls Premier League (BPL) is a biannual bowls competition involving teams from around Australia. The competition was founded in 2013 as a way to popularise the sport by presenting in a modernised format, using the term "made-for-television" ...

(APL) in 2005.

Route to the final

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

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.

League Standings

Finals Bracket

Match

Summary

The match took place in heavy rain which led to a smaller than expected crowd and affected the pitch. Perth had the first real chance on goal in the 14th minute with Damian Mori having a shot from within the

six-yard box A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...

saved by

Clint Bolton Clint Brian Bolton (born 22 August 1975) is an Australian former goalkeeper. He was one of the most experienced goalkeepers in the history of the National Soccer League, which preceded the A-League. He played over 300 games for Brisbane Strik ...

, the Power goalkeeper. A Peter Zorbas cross after 23 minutes was spilt by Perth goalkeeper

Jason Petkovic Jason Petkovic (born 7 December 1972 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He is the brother of Michael Petkovic. Club career He played as a goalkeeper for the Australian A-League club Perth Glory where he ...

, however Power forward

Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; hr, Ante Miličić ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up in Strathfield, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. Mili ...

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. With conditions improving in the second half, Power midfielder

Ahmad Elrich Ahmad Elrich ( ar, أحمد الريش; born 30 May 1981) is an Australian professional association footballer who plays as a right winger for Australian club Parramatta FC. Born in Australia to Lebanese parents, Elrich represented his native co ...

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 Sasho Petrovski ( mk, Сашо Петровски, ''Sašo Petrovski'') (born 5 March 1975) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for South Coast Wolves. Petrovski has two caps for the Australian national team. Petrovski was know ...

shot the ball wide after doing to move past his opponent. 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. 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.

Details

Post match

Power midfielder

was presented 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 of the grand final by

Joe Marston James Edward "Joe" Marston (7 January 1926 – 29 November 2015) was an Australian association football player who became the first Australian to appear in a FA Cup Final when he turned out for Preston North End in their 1954 defeat to West B ...

References

{{National Soccer League 2004 in Australian soccer NSL Grand Finals Soccer in Sydney Perth Glory FC matches