The stage is set for A-League road warriors Macarthur FC to put their stellar away form to the ultimate test after booking a shock semi-final clash with premiers Melbourne City.
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Coach Ante Milicic is backing his newcomers to pull off yet another upset after a 10-man Bulls upstaged Central Coast Mariners 2-0 in extra-time in Saturday night's opening elimination final at Gosford.
After finishing sixth to scrape into the finals, Macarthur dug deep to overcome James Meredith's 75th-minute sending off and register their first ever win over the third-placed Mariners at a hostile Central Coast Stadium.
They now face the daunting prospect of taking on Melbourne City away in a knockout semi-final on June 30.
However, no road assignment appears to faze Milicic after the Bulls extended their away record in their rookie season to an impressive eight wins from 14 games, with just four losses following Saturday night's boilover.
"We are the best away team in the competition," he said.
"I said to the players during the week, in a one-off game against any opposition I back these boys.
"There is a lot of quality in there, a lot of belief, and in big games we have big players at Macarthur."
He may not be a big name just yet but Charles M'Mombwa was the toast of the Bulls camp after he capped an impressive display by drawing first blood against Mariners three minutes into extra-time.
After Markel Susaeta hit the far post, young gun M'Mombwa's header found the back of the net.
"He plays with no fear. Now he really feels he belongs. That goal will give him a lot of confidence," Milicic said.
The visitors iced an unlikely victory on their finals debut when teenage substitute Michael Ruhs scored a second in added time.
They may be A-League rookies but Milicic hinted the Bulls now felt they belonged in the finals mix.
"We have been in the top six from round one to the end," he said.
"We believed in ourselves and in the end we scored two goals with a player down - we got what we deserved."
The Bulls finished the game without M'Mombwa (cramp) and fellow key stars Matt Derbyshire (hamstring) and Susaeta (leg) but Milicic expected them to back up as Macarthur look to extend the career of their skipper Mark Milligan who will hang up his boots at the season's end.
"To be honest I am not quite ready to retire," the 35-year-old former Socceroos captain told Fox Sports.
"In these one off (finals) games I would back our guys to get it right when we need to."
Australian Associated Press
