{"id":80835,"date":"2026-08-26T12:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80835\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:06:07","slug":"australia-cup-preston-lions-v-south-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80835\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia Cup: Preston Lions v South Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arran Cocks\u2019s 86th minute thunderbolt sealed South Melbourne\u2019s progress to the Australia Cup final four after a pulsating 2-1 win over Preston Lions in front of 6, 673 fans in a clash between the Victorian National Premier League clubs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hosts took a 1-0 lead against the run of play but South Melbourne, who have already made an OFC Pro League final this season, have joined Lions from Queensland, as well as Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory in the final four. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cian Cuba scored for Preston against the run of play with a decisive finish three minutes into the second half, before South Melbourne were rewarded for their pressure; Jack Painter-Andrews set up a riveting last half hour before Cocks\u2019 classy lone range strike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnfortunately one team had to lose but we still kept believing,\u201d South Melbourne coach Sinisa Cohadzic said on Paramount. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe went 1-0 down but we still kept believing, that we can play, play through the lines and create something. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe got rewarded in the end\u2026if we were a little better in the final third it would\u2019ve been an even better result. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t fault the players \u2013 to press on this big ground for 90-95 minutes against a very good team\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the third time the two-time National Soccer League champions have made the semi finals \u2013 but they are yet to make it to the decider and will get a great chance when they host Lions FC in the semi final, with the date to be announced. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SOUTH MELBOURNE ARE IN FRONT! \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa Live on Paramount+<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/AustraliaCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#AustraliaCup<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/MagicOfTheCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#MagicOfTheCup<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3SOUegRhN7\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/3SOUegRhN7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hahn Australia Cup (@AustraliaCup) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AustraliaCup\/status\/2092572966080991476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 26, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paramount pundit Grace Gill added: \u201cIn the first half South Melbourne probably could\u2019ve made more of their game,\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPreston looked like they had got away with one but\u2026Cocks, (Yuki) Uchida, David Yoo \u2013 those three, standouts. Cocks really deserved that moment. He was brilliant.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A-League champion McBreen added: \u201cA goal worthy of winning any Cup match.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTwo rivals going toe-to-toe,\u201d praised Paramount pundit Daniel McBreen after the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt wasn\u2019t bitter\u2026there were some hard challenges, great football being played, crowd\u2026 was fantastic, standing room only \u2013 that\u2019s the atmosphere you want\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHeartbreaking for the home team but wild scenes for Hellas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A perfect start to the half for <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prestonlionsfc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@prestonlionsfc<\/a> \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n<p>Preston break the deadlock only 3 minutes after the half, as Cian Cuba strikes on the counter to open the scoring in the quarter final<\/p>\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/AustraliaCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#AustraliaCup<\/a> live and exclusive on Paramount+ \ud83d\udcfa <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jvDTIJnsKA\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/jvDTIJnsKA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ParamountPlusAU\/status\/2092565730419957887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 26, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">All square for @southmelbournefc \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n<p>South Melbourne hit back at the hour mark, as Jack Painter-Andrews laces it past the keeper to lock the score at 1-1<\/p>\n<p>Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/AustraliaCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#AustraliaCup<\/a> live and exclusive on Paramount+ \ud83d\udcfa <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JTJVr80vkd\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/JTJVr80vkd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ParamountPlusAU\/status\/2092568773718888647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 26, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The win comes after the club declared once again that they aim to be in Australia\u2019s top flight, after Western United\u2019s recent demise. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McBreen said: \u201cThese are two clubs who bring the fans when needed\u2026they have a great community of support behind them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is what they want \u2013 to be one of the best teams in the nation, whatever competitions they\u2019re in\u2026they want to be in the top tier\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf they go on here and make the final, make a statement there, what more can they do?\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/341A1995-1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50613\"  \/>Delighted South Melbourne fans. Photo: Lucas Petrou<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arran Cocks\u2019s 86th minute thunderbolt sealed South Melbourne\u2019s progress to the Australia Cup final four after a pulsating&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[260,68252,381],"class_list":["post-80835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-melbourne","tag-preston","tag-south-melbourne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}