# 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.

## 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 | 1998 National Soccer League Finals |
| 4 | Sydney United | 26 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 43 | 1998 National Soccer League Finals |
| 5 | Marconi Stallions | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 25 | +8 | 43 | 1998 National Soccer League Finals |
| 6 | Wollongong Wolves | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 42 | 1998 National Soccer League Finals |
| 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 | |

### Finals Bracket

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

## Match
### Details

| 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. |