South Melbourne will meet Victorian NPL rivals Hume City in the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup after surviving an almighty scare – and an hour long weather-delay – against Olympic FC on Sunday.

Marco Jankovic’s extra-time winner, a booming free kick that deceived Olympic keeper Matthew Lugo from distance, proved another instantly memorable moment in a tournament that’s thus far seen the bulk of its headlines written by Victorian sides. Olympic had led until the last minute of regulation time, but instead it was Hellas who moved into the quarters for the first time since 2017.

South chairman Bill Papastergiadis was full of praise for their beaten opponents, who akin to South were formed by Brisbane’s Greek migrant community in the 1960’s, and were back on the national stage for the first time since 2019.

‘They travelled in numbers for this game, about one hundred of them made their way to Melbourne and supported well, created a terrific atmosphere, and this is the beauty of the Australia Cup. Their president Manos Saridakis and board member Jim [Bazianas], who I met, great guys. We shared beers before the match and embraced afterwards, too’, Papastergiadis told Box2Box.

As Australia’s most decorated club prior to the A-League and one of the most persistent in its attempts to return to national competition since the demise of the old-NSL, any success South enjoy in the Cup is inherently paired with lament as to why there can’t be so much more.

They are one of eight clubs Football Australia announced as inaugural participants in its National Second Division last November; they are certainly one of those clubs frustrated by its continual delay, most recently last month.

Last week’s meeting in Sydney between the Federation and clubs was ‘highly constructive’ and a ‘significant milestone’ in proceedings according to a subsequent Football Australia press release, although it offered little further substance. The forecasted March-April 2025 start date looks increasingly unlikely.

‘I’m incredibly disappointed, I’ll be open about that. We expect more from the administrators, the custodians of the game. We are part of that but not the entire solution, nor can we implement nationwide solutions. So, we rely upon others to work with us to get the best outcome for the code.

‘For me, we expect more from Football Australia. We’re a club that respects the administration and its authority, and know we achieve outcomes when we work cooperatively. We need to unlock all of the talent out there and allow clubs and players to express themselves in a free way and create that pyramid for football.

‘The timeframe for me is important, I think 2025 is necessary to work towards because we’ve already delayed it by one year and don’t want it delayed any further. We’re working very hard with other clubs expressing interest in joining the NSD. Some are being held back by their own federations – that’s no secret and it is unfortunate.

‘We can’t leave it for the next generation because we’re here, it’s now, it’s up to us. We need to show leadership and take responsibility as much as we can. We have to do it within a framework because we don’t have ultimate authority, but we are certainly doing whatever we can within our power to effect an outcome.’

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Victorian clubs represent half of the Australia Cup quarter-finalists, with Melbourne Victory and Oakleigh Cannons still in the mix alongside Hellas and Hume. Although a reflection of their five qualification slots in the final 32 being higher than any other stage, it could also be argued that this is justified by Victorian NPL clubs inflicting a higher proportion of ‘Cupsets’ than any other Federation.

‘There’s enormous competition within the NPL in Victoria, that’s a fact. That competition drives success, drives improvement and aspiration to do well, and I think that’s the reason we are achieving the results we have to date.

‘Im a supporter of aspiration and the NSD is based on the aspirational targets of our clubs. That’s the conversation I had with Manos and Olympic FC yesterday, that a second division would create the opportunity for other clubs to come into that level of competition.’