An amateur team from the fourth tier in South Australia has pulled off the biggest upset of the 2019 FFA Cup preliminary rounds on Sunday.
In a major shock, Sunday Division 1 outfit Tea Tree Gully beat NPL1 side - and former NSL champion - West Adelaide 1-0 at Tilley Reserve.
Substitute Scott Williams was the hero for Gully, coming off the bench midway through the second half before scoring a 75th-minute winner.
Williams made a late run into the box from midfield and got on the end of a cross to score to help secure one of the biggest boilovers in FFA Cup history.
“It was unbelievable. The last 10 minutes we were, as you can imagine, on the back foot trying to hold on to the win,” match-winner Williams told www.theffacup.com.au.
“They had three or four corners within the last 10 minutes and it was pretty nerve-wracking. Our keeper pulled off three or four saves to hang on to the win.
“After the game fans ran onto the pitch, we had about 30 of us, a bunch of fans singing the song in the middle of the pitch.
“Everyone was one a massive high. We couldn’t believe what had happened. I think it’s the best moment of my footballing journey.”
It’s not hard to understand Williams and Gully’s elation.
The amateur club is in their second season back in the Sunday Division 1 competition after being relegated four years earlier.
They only just survived dropping back to Division 2 last season and incredibly haven’t even begun their 2019 league campaign.
But despite playing a side dripping with talent and three tiers above them, they somehow found enough to pull off arguably the most famous win in the club’s history.
“We were saying before the game, let’s go out there and just do our best, this isn’t about the result, we’ve got a big chance to prove ourselves,” said Williams, who played under former Adelaide United skipper Ross Aloisi at Salisbury United as a teenager.
“Barry [Crook] our coach said let’s just stick to the game plan, stick to how we usually play and if we get the win, we get the win.
“It was an almost David and Goliath game, we were never expected to win and we were never going out there expecting to cause the upset.”
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Astonishingly, it’s not the first time Gully have got the better of the might of West Adelaide.
The two clubs met back in the 1980’s, with Gully also prevailing on that occasion and members of that team were in the stands on Sunday.
And they are sure to be back as the part-timers look to continue their march to an improbable spot the Round of 32.
“I wouldn’t mind playing Elizabeth Downs. The Downs boys, they’re always good competition, they’re going to be the ones to beat in the season, so I wouldn’t mind beating those boys in the FFA Cup,” said Williams when asked who he’d like to face in the next round.
“An Adelaide City or a Campbelltown would always be interesting as well.”
