Sydney FC's star midfielder Milos Ninkovic appears to have escaped a serious injury after suffering a horror tackle in the Sky Blues night of celebrations, ending their seven-year quest for silverware with a record-breaking win.
The Sky Blues reached their target of becoming the best performing side in the history of the A-League regular season after a 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets, one of eight records set in their incredible march to the A-League premiership. However, the celebrations that followed were dampened by a suspected injury to star player Milos Ninkovic on the eve of their finals campaign.
The man most likely to be crowned the Player of the Year, the driving force behind Sydney FC's stellar season, was forced off the field in the 72nd minute with a suspected ankle injury after a crude tackle by Newcastle's Ben Kantarovski.
The former Serbian international was visibly in agony after a rigorous tackle from behind and limped straight down the tunnel to receive medical treatment. He didn't reappear for the awards ceremony, however coach Graham Arnold believes Ninkovic escaped a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Winners are grinners: Sydney FC players celebrate with the Premiers Plate.Credit:Getty Images
Sydney are set to experience the greatest benefit to the week's rest before the final - the reward for finishing in the top two - which should give Ninkovic enough time to recover from the ankle injury sustained on Saturday night.
"No he didn't come out, his ankle is a little bit sore but we have that week off and he'll be ready," Arnold said. "It's a little bit swollen, his ankle but the first indication is that he didn't want to come out because he didn't want to hobble around but he'll be fine."
It cast a concerning shadow over the Sky Blues, who lifted the Premiers Plate immediately after the match. The result ensured they could already lay claim to being the most successful team during a regular season in the 40 years of national football in Australia.
The first night of genuine celebrations in Moore Park since 2010 began early when Brandon O'Neill's defence splitting pass found the feet of Filip Holosko inside the box in the second minute. However, the Slovakian marquee's first time volley was thwarted by the outstretched fingertips of Jets' goalkeeper Jack Duncan.
Cruel night: Milos Ninkovic scored, but then limped off later in the match.Credit:Getty Images
Against such a deep-lying defence, Sydney would require some of their most creative work and a free-flowing move worthy of their Premiers' status nearly did just that. Ninkovic was played through on goal after a tidy exchange and the Serbian looked certain to score his ninth goal of the season, only to be beaten by an inspiring challenge from Kantarovski.
They were made to rue their barren run in front of goal when a clumsy challenge by Rhyan Grant on his former teammate, Andrew Hoole, gave referee Shaun Evans little option but to point to the spot. With one of their first chances on goal for the match, Andrew Nabbout blazed his spot-kick painfully wide.
No official bids for free-to-air A-League rights came before the Easter deadline.Credit:Getty Images
In a season that has seemed to follow a script, a sense of uninterrupted order, the inevitable happened for the rampant Sky Blues.
For all of Sydney's exciting and crafty build-ups, it was the more rudimentary that unravelled the Jets' backline. After industrious work by Bobo through the middle, Holosko's weak cross into the box trickled past three Newcastle defenders and, in an apt summation of their poor season, Ninkovic embarrassed them with a simple finish.
Sydney's talismanic midfielder was unmarked at the rear post to comfortably slot the opening goal 10 minutes after the restart to put Sydney FC on course for a plethora of records. By contrast, Newcastle set an unenviable one of their own: 18 goals conceded without reply.
There were little signs of the rot ending any time soon. Hoole was gifted what should have been a certain equaliser but instead fluffed his shot from inside the box closer to the big screen than the back of the net. Jets' coach Mark Jones responded with a minor tantrum on the sidelines.
While the Jets couldn't make their mark on the scoreline, Kantarovski left one on Ninkovic after a crude tackle forced the playmaker off the field with a suspected injury that ended his night, and perhaps, too, his hopes of finals football.
It soured the celebrations, but couldn't stop Sydney FC who wrapped up the match through Alex Brosque. The captain immediately made amends three minutes from full-time, emphatically slamming a close-range volley to make it 2-0 and spark long-awaited celebrations in Moore Park.
Dominic Bossi is a football reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.