Four NPL Victoria clubs can now look forward to a potential bumper payday when they go into the hat for the national phase of the FFA Cup next month.
Hume City, Bentleigh Greens, Heidelberg United and, remarkably, South Melbourne all won their way through to the last four of the state-based Dockerty Cup in Victoria in games played during the week.
It is the Dockerty Cup semi-finalists who qualify to be Victoria's non A-League representatives when the round of 32, the first of the national rounds, takes place in the FFA Cup. The draw will be made in late June, with the first matches played in late July.
Depending on the rub of the green, any of the quartet could face A-League champions Sydney, who have just played Premier League giants Liverpool, or get a local derby against Melbourne Victory or Melbourne City.
Hume and Bentleigh Greens came through their ties against Moreland City and Green Gully respectively early in the week.
Heidelberg saw off NPL 1 side Northcote easily enough, winning 2-0 on Wednesday night after the lower-ranked side had a man sent off in the first half.
But the real drama took place at South Melbourne's Lakeside Stadium, where the hosts won an incredible game 5-4 after trailing 4-1 with just eight minutes left against second-tier club Dandenong City.
Dandenong, who fielded former Socceroo defender Ljubo Milecevic in their line-up, looked to be romping to victory as the game ebbed into junk time before Milos Lujic gave South a spark of hope with a penalty in the 82nd minute.
That sparked a three-goal scoring spree, with South first catching, then overtaking, their rivals - all without even needing to play 30 minutes of extra time.
