Football
AAP 6y

Melbourne Victory's Terry Antonis inspired by barracking from Sydney FC fans

From the lowest of lows to the most extraordinary high, Terry Antonis felt all the emotions of an A-League season in one action-packed semifinal.

Antonis miscued a clearance into the roof of his own net with just 13 seconds remaining on Saturday night, gifting Sydney FC an equaliser and extra-time.

The 24-year-old admitted to being "shattered" after 90 minutes, requiring an intervention from coach Kevin Muscat to help him regain focus.

He did so in the most remarkable manner.

In the 117th minute, Antonis gathered with the ball near the halfway line and beat three defenders en route to the decisive strike of a five-goal thriller.

And all against his former side.

No wonder he couldn't help but cry as he celebrated his wonder strike.

"I was here since I was a young kid, since I was 16," he said. "To score against them, to play here in the semifinals against them, it's a big win.

"It was a crazy night.

"The last minutes of the game, to score the equalising own goal and then to get the winner, it's just an unbelievable feeling."

Antonis said he dug deep when he was targeted by the Sydney FC fans; supporters that at one time had his back.

"When I heard the Sydney fans singing my name, giving me crap it just made me more angry, made me motivated," he said.

"You dig in deep. There were different things going through my head.

"I kept thinking about my family, my wife, everything we've been through.

"For an extra 30 minutes we kept going and dug in deep and got the points."

Antonis's goal was the second extraordinary goal in as many nights.

Riley McGree found the net with a scorpion kick to help Newcastle reach the Grand Final, which the Jets will host on Saturday.

Antonis said the two efforts didn't bear comparison.

"That goal last night was crazy," he said. "To be honest I'm just happy we got the result and that's it."

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