1998 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 1998 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 16 May 1998 between South Melbourne and Carlton SC at Olympic Park Stadium. South Melbourne gained home advantage as they won the major semi-final against them two weeks earlier. John Anastasiadis scored in the ninth minute for South Melbourne as they went up 1–0 at the half time break. In the 78th minute, Marcus Stergiopoulos netted a goal for Carlton to equalise, however, an 87th minute winner from Con Boutsianis clinched the victory for South Melbourne, gifting them their third NSL championship. Fausto De Amicis won the Joe Marston Medal.

1998 National Soccer League Grand Final

Event	1997–98 National Soccer League
South Melbourne Carlton SC 2 1
Date	16 May 1998 (1998-05-16)
Venue	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia
Man of the Match	Fausto De Amicis (Joe Marston Medal)
Referee	Eugene Brazzale
Attendance	16,000

Route to the final

League Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	South Melbourne (C)	26	13	9	4	56	41	+15	48	1997-98 National Soccer League Champions
2	Carlton SC	26	12	9	5	44	24	+20	45	1998 National Soccer League Finals
3	Adelaide City	26	13	4	9	45	30	+15	43
4	Sydney United	26	11	10	5	37	26	+11	43
5	Marconi Stallions	26	12	7	7	33	25	+8	43
6	Wollongong Wolves	26	13	3	10	51	33	+18	42
7	Melbourne Knights	26	11	6	9	37	35	+2	39
8	Perth Glory	26	10	6	10	35	40	−5	36
9	UTS Olympic	26	10	5	11	37	43	−6	35
10	West Adelaide	26	10	4	12	32	38	−6	34
11	Gippsland Falcons	26	8	7	11	28	36	−8	31
12	Brisbane Strikers	26	6	5	15	23	40	−17	23
13	Newcastle Breakers	26	4	9	13	30	50	−20	21
14	Canberra Cosmos	26	3	8	15	29	56	−27	17

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Finals Bracket

	Elimination Finals							Major/Minor Semifinals							Preliminary Final					Grand Final
																				16 May 1998
								2	Carlton	1	0	1								South Melbourne		2
								1	South Melbourne	2	1	3			10 May 1998					Carlton		1
															2	Carlton	1
	5	Marconi Fairfield	1	0	1
															5	Marconi Fairfield	0
	4	Sydney United	0	1	1
								5	Marconi Fairfield			2
								6	Wollongong Wolves			1
	6	Wollongong Wolves	3	2	5
	3	Adelaide City	0	2	2

Match

Details

16 May 1998
20:00 AEST

South Melbourne	2 – 1	Carlton SC
Anastasiadis 9' Boutsianis 87'	Reports	Stergiopoulos 78'

Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne

Attendance: 16,000

Referee: Eugene Brazzale

GK	1	Michael Petkovic
MF	2	Steve Iosifidis
DF	3	Fausto De Amicis
DF	5	Con Blatsis
MF	6	David Clarkson
MF	7	Steve Panopoulos
FW	9	Paul Trimboli (c)
MF	11	Bill Damianos
MF	15	Goran Lozanovski			74'
DF	16	Tansel Başer
FW	17	John Anastasiadis			85'
Substitutes:
FW	8	Vaughan Coveny			74'
FW	10	Michael Curcija
MF	12	Con Boutsianis			85'
MF	19	George Goutzioulis
Manager:
Ange Postecoglou
Joe Marston Medal:
Fausto De Amicis (South Melbourne)

GK	1	Dean Anastasiadis
DF	2	Rob Trajkovski
DF	5	Sean Douglas (c)
MF	7	Krešimir Marušić
MF	10	Lupo Lapsansky
FW	11	Andrew Vlahos		65'
DF	12	Simon Colosimo
FW	14	John Markovski
DF	15	David Cervinski		78'
MF	17	Mark Atkinson
MF	23	Mark Bresciano
Substitutes:
MF	3	Marcus Stergiopoulos		78'
FW	9	Alex Josifovski
DF	18	David Della Rocca
FW	25	Adrian Cervinski		65'
Manager:
Eddie Krnčević

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.