Wellington Phoenix have fallen short of club history, bowing 2-1 in extra time to Melbourne Victory in their A-League semi-final decider at their packed-out home of Sky Stadium.
In front of their biggest-ever crowd of 33,297, the Phoenix could not deliver their fans a first Grand Final appearance, with Chris Ikonomidis heading the game winner from a corner in the 102nd minute.
The home side had a royal chance of scoring first in the 63rd minute, when they won a penalty for handball in the area, but captain Alex Rufer could not put his spot-kick past Victory keeper Paul Izzo and the opportunity slipped away.
Melbourne had the first real attacking chance, with a free-kick outside the penalty box, but the lofted ball was easily cleared.
The Phoenix broke to the other end and Ben Old put Kosta Barbarouses in front of goal with just the keeper to beat, but his depowered shot was safely fended away Izzo, with the striker left begging for a penalty.
Barbarouses broke down the middle of the park and fed Old, whose left-footed effort found the side net. Sam Sutton provided a delightful cross from the left, but Izzo covered the threat.
At the other end, Victory forward Daniel Arzani unleashed with his right, but it soared tantalisingly over the crossbar.
Nicholas Pennington fed Old in front of goal, but he mistimed his header and Izzo was safely across it. Still scoreless at halftime, Old provided an early chance after the restart, lobbing a cross to the far post, but Bozhidar Kraev poked it wide with his head.
Melbourne were in utter disbelief, when an attempted cross from Tim Payne struck the arm of Arzani inside the penalty box and the matter was referred to video review. After review, the penalty was awarded.
Rufer stepped forward for the spot-kick, but Izzo was equal to the task and then deflected a follow-up attempt from Kraev wide.
Moments later, the Phoenix defence were dispossessed and Nishan Velupillay found Bruno Fornaroli in front of goal, but keeper Alex Paulsen made a brilliant reflex save. Old had another chance, but struck the left upright from close range.
With less than 10 minutes of regulation time to go, Adama Traore put the Victory in front, after Salim Khelifi's initial shot was blocked by defender Finn Surman, but fell back to the Melbourne attackers. Traore's left-foot rocket beat Paulsen and flew inside the right post.
With the final seconds of added time ticking down, Oskar van Hattum played a speculator into the Victory area and Barbarouses nodded it to fellow striker Oskar Zawada, who slotted the ball past Izzo to force extra time.
Rufer had the first half-chance of overtime, sending his right-footed shot over the crossbar from a corner, but Melbourne regained the lead from a corner flicked on by Roderick Miranda and headed into the net by Ikonomidis.
Old put another ball into the goalmouth, but Youstin Salas' diving header went over the bar. Zawada had a leftfoot attempt blocked for a corner, as the first half of overtime ended.
With time running out, Old had one last chance to force penalties, but his shot was high and wide. Van Hattum lofted a corner to the far post and Zawada's header was smothered by Izzo, as their hopes were finally dashed.
"We're heartbroken... lot of emotion," reflected Rufer. "We might not have got the result tonight, but extremely proud."
The result sees Melbourne through to their seventh Grand Final, where they will meet the winners of Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC, where the competition premiers lead 2-1 after the opening leg.
Melbourne Victory 2 (Traore, Ikonomidis) Wellington Phoenix 1 (Zawada)
