An early goal from Kosta Barbarouses has earned Melbourne Victory a 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets in the A-League Grand Final.
Newcastle had finished ahead of Kevin Muscat's team in the regular table, but they were second best to Victory at the McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Jets started the stronger of the two sides but Victory went ahead as early as the ninth minute when Barbarouses's effort deflected into the net off John Koutroumbis, although replays suggested that the effort should have been ruled out for offside.
Newcastle continued to have the better of the play with Roy O'Donovan firing over and Riley McGree seeing a shot blocked, before Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas made an excellent stop to deny O'Donovan.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, Thomas again came to the rescue, first parrying a McGree attempt away from goal before somehow keeping out Jason Hoffman's strike on the rebound.
Victory found a way of ending Jets' dominance before the break and the same pattern of play continued after the restart as the Jets struggled to carve out any more clear-cut opportunities.
As the game entered the final quarter, Victory began to have more joy in the final third and it took a clearance from Hoffman on the line to prevent Melbourne's lead from being doubled.
With time running out for the Jets, space was opening up for Victory and James Troisi almost sealed the win from an acute angle, only to see his shot strike the post.
During the final seconds of the game, the Jets' frustrations boiled over as Donovan was sent off for a foul on Thomas and it enabled Victory to seal what turned out to be a deserved triumph.
Darren Plant
