Carney's praise for South Melbourne following Sydney FC's FFA Cup win

Sydney FC winger David Carney believes his side’s class shone through in the end but paid tribute to South Melbourne following the Sky Blues’ Westfield FFA Cup Semi Final win on Wednesday night.

The Hyundai A-League outfit appeared to be cruising with a 2-0 lead at half time before the Victorian PS4 NPL outfit pulled a goal back just after the break to set up a tense finale.

But after absorbing a wave of pressure from the hosts, the Sky Blues netted three goals in the final 24 minutes to record a comfortable 5-1 victory.

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“They’re a good side, they played very well. They came at us in the second half and caused us problems,” Carney told Fox Sports.

“I think we were a little bit more clinical in front of goal. Overall that was a fair result.

“Full credit to South Melbourne as well. You can tell why they got this far, they’re a good footballing side.”

Despite the lopsided scoreline, South Melbourne dominated the early period of the second stanza and went close to grabbing an equaliser with Matt Millar almost netting a spectacular long-range lob.

Carney admitted the Sky Blues dropped their intensity and says his side will need to rectify those lapses as the focus returns to the A-League.

“We started off very poor [in the second half]. We can’t let that happen, especially against A-League sides,” Carney said.

“We’ll definitely take the positives out of it and move on from there.”

Sydney FC will play either Western Sydney Wanderers or Adelaide United in the FFA Cup Final.