Darwin's Hellenic Athletic has defeated Alice Springs' Verdi FC to book their place in the Australia Cup Round of 32 for the first time since 2018.
Hellenic lifted the Football NT Cup and in the process secured their Final Rounds spot with a 3-1 win over Verdi FC at Darwin Football Stadium.
On the end of a slick move, Simon Bell opened the scoring for Hellenic before Stelios Vrontos' long range effort proved too difficult for the Verdi goalkeeper to handle putting the Darwin side up 2-0 after 32 minutes.
Verdi FC pulled a goal back in the 61st minute through Tayvian Ludvigsen who dispatched a rebound after goal line clearance making for a tense final 29 minutes.
Unfortunately a heartbreaking own goal from Verdi FC would hand Hellenic Athletic a 3-1 lead after 83 minutes and ensure the Darwin side lifted the NT Cup, progressing to the Australia Cup 2023 Round of 32 in process.
