Adelaide ecstasy and Cahill heroics: History of FFA Cup Finals

Their triumphs have bookended the four years of the FFA Cup and now Adelaide United and Sydney FC are set to meet in the Final for the second successive season.

Two of the more successful clubs across the last five years of Australian football will attempt to become the first to claim the country's premier knockout competition twice.

Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City are the other sides to have lifted the trophy and, ahead of the October 30 showdown at Coopers Stadium, we reflect on the engaging Finals that have already been fought.

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Reds make silverware breakthrough

Adelaide United were starved of success in the years preceding the introduction of the FFA Cup.

Premiers in the inaugural season of the Hyundai A-League, they had to wait eight years for a new competition to offer salvation.

Josep Gombau's side did it the hard way as they beat four Hyundai A-League sides to reach the Final, where they faced a Perth Glory side which downed Melbourne Victory in a six-goal extra-time thriller in the Quarter Finals.

After a tight first-half, the Reds were buoyed when Josh Risdon was dismissed just prior to the hour and they did not waste the advantage.

Sergio Cirio - the tournament's top scorer - delivered the decisive goal in the 67th minute, a strike that perhaps set the launching pad for the Hyundai A-League Grand Final success that came two years later.

Final score: Adelaide United 1-0 Perth Glory

Adelaide United 2014

Victory inflict more pain on Perth

Melbourne Victory carried their excellent form of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 Season into the second edition of the FFA Cup.

Kevin Muscat's men scored no fewer than three goals in each outing as they stormed into the decider for the first time.

Perth, meanwhile, were back for a shot at redemption following defeats of three Hyundai A-League teams, but more heartache was all they would receive at AAMI Park.

Oliver Bozanic turned home the opener in the 35th minute before Besart Berisha added a crucial second before half-time to seal the trophy.

Final score: Melbourne Victory 2-0 Perth Glory

Besart Berisha 2015

Cahill sets City soaring

Arguably the most memorable FFA Cup Final included multiple fascinating threads that added up to an unforgettable conclusion.

Tim Cahill had debuted for City in the Round of 16 and proved the catalyst for a scintillating run that included a 4-1 thrashing of Western Sydney and a 2-0 win over rivals Victory.

Standing in the club's way of a maiden men's trophy was a formidable Sydney FC that progressed without conceding a single goal and was in the infancy of a dominant era.

It all combined for a tight, heated affair that seemed perfectly poised for one man.

Naturally, Cahill delivered in trademark fashion, heading home Ivan Franjic's cross shortly after half-time to give City their moment in the sun.

Final score: Melbourne City 1-0 Sydney FC

Tim Cahill 2016

Sky Blues get their way

Sydney FC did not miss out often under Graham Arnold.

Spurred on by the frustration of 2016, the newly minted Hyundai A-League double winners returned to the FFA Cup with a point to prove.

Brazilian striker Bobo was the unstoppable spearhead of another commanding sequence of victories that set up a showpiece date with Adelaide United, who had seen off Newcastle Jets, Victory and Wanderers along the way.

But while Marco Kurz's men fought bravely on their return to the Final, taking the match into extra-time through Nikola Mileusnic's sublime curler, Sydney FC were not to be denied a hat-trick of domestic trophies.

The winner came from Bobo, as he buried a 111th-minute header to settle the contest.

Final score: Sydney FC 2-1 Adelaide United (AET)

Alex Wilkinson Sydney FC