Melbourne City entered the second leg of their A-League Women semifinal on Sunday unbeaten all season, eyeing off a spot in this week's Grand Final and the chance to win the second trophy of what they hoped would become a historic treble.
But then everything that could go wrong did go wrong, capped off by an offside 121st-minute winner from Isabel Gomez that secured the Central Coast Mariners a 3-2 aggregate win.
With just seconds remaining, Mariners keeper Sarah Langman blasted an underhit backpass long, with defenders Taylor Otto and Tyla-Jay Vlajnic colliding as they looked to clear before the ball bounced out to Peta Trimis. She then played a ball to Gomez, who lobbed Malena Mieres and set up a date with Melbourne Victory in next Sunday's decider.
The 22-year-old, as replays showed, was at least a metre offside when the ball from Trimis was played. But with no VAR in operation and no flag raised by the assistant referee, the goal was allowed to stand.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, I knew it was offside. But the flag didn't go up, and that's football," Mariners coach Emily Husband acknowledged, showing refreshing candour.
"Unfortunately, these things happen in football, and it's not always as black and white as us coaches always like to believe it will be."
City had already been placed in a hole early in the contest when Matildas striker Holly McNamara was forced off after ten minutes following a collision with Langman left her with a broken nose and concussion.
They then dug themselves even deeper when a moment of madness from Lourdes Bosch saw her lash out at Brooke Nunn's face, earning her a straight red card.
"Of course it's offside; I could see from the dugout, 45 meters away on a 45-degree angle," said City boss Michael Matricciani. "But these things happen. Everyone makes mistakes. We're all humans."
Nonetheless, to focus exclusively on the offside goal would do the Mariners a disservice.
The only side not to lose to City all season, their unheralded but adaptable, determined, and disciplined unit will now play for a title in just their second year back in the A-League Women after a 13-year, financially enforced hiatus.
"We want to continue to make the Coast proud," said a buoyant Husband. "For us, it's not 'oh we've got ourselves into a Grand Final.' It's 'let's go win this f--king Grand Final!'"
