Holders Sydney FC needed to come from a goal down to book their FFA Cup quarter-final spot by beating Cairns FC 2-1.
Sky Blues keeper Andrew Redmayne saved a penalty to help secure the win in North Queensland.
The visitors fell behind on 16 minutes to a goal against the run of play from young forward Ryan Cavanah, who rifled a loose ball past Redmayne after a corner wasn't cleared.
Steve Corica's side had plenty of chances to equalise before the break, though they weren't able to get back on terms until midway through the second half when skipper Alex Brosque converted a penalty.
Youngster Trent Buhagiar put the visitors ahead just three minutes later, but they were denied a third goal when the referee ruled a Jop van der Linden free-kick that came back off the woodwork hadn't crossed the line.
Redmayne's penalty save came with 15 minutes left when he kept out a Chris O'Hare effort.
The Sky Blues had defender Rhyan Grant making his long-awaited return from injury.
Grant missed the whole of last season after suffering the second ACL injury of his career last July.
He said: "It's pretty rewarding, you go through a lot of rehab and a lot of hours and the majority of that is by yourself or just with the physio so it goes a bit unnoticed.
"You definitely have your days where it's a bit of a punisher and you question if you really need to be doing it when there's no one around and no one watching."
The 27-year-old added: "It becomes a mental battle with yourself. At the end of the day it's not going to get any better without work so you just have to get on with it and do what you have to do and tick all the right boxes before you can push on."
Sydney FC are 4/1 to win the A-League Grand Final.
The Sky Blues are 6/4 to win their first game of the season against Adelaide United, who are 17/10 with the draw 12/5.
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Holders Sydney FC needed to come from a goal down to book their FFA Cup quarter-final spot by beating Cairns FC 2-1.
Sky Blues keeper Andrew Redmayne saved a penalty to help secure the win in North Queensland.
The visitors fell behind on 16 minutes to a goal against the run of play from young forward Ryan Cavanah, who rifled a loose ball past Redmayne after a corner wasn't cleared.
Steve Corica's side had plenty of chances to equalise before the break, though they weren't able to get back on terms until midway through the second half when skipper Alex Brosque converted a penalty.
Youngster Trent Buhagiar put the visitors ahead just three minutes later, but they were denied a third goal when the referee ruled a Jop van der Linden free-kick that came back off the woodwork hadn't crossed the line.
Redmayne's penalty save came with 15 minutes left when he kept out a Chris O'Hare effort.
The Sky Blues had defender Rhyan Grant making his long-awaited return from injury.
Grant missed the whole of last season after suffering the second ACL injury of his career last July.
He said: "It's pretty rewarding, you go through a lot of rehab and a lot of hours and the majority of that is by yourself or just with the physio so it goes a bit unnoticed.
"You definitely have your days where it's a bit of a punisher and you question if you really need to be doing it when there's no one around and no one watching."
The 27-year-old added: "It becomes a mental battle with yourself. At the end of the day it's not going to get any better without work so you just have to get on with it and do what you have to do and tick all the right boxes before you can push on."
Sydney FC are 4/1 to win the A-League Grand Final.
The Sky Blues are 6/4 to win their first game of the season against Adelaide United, who are 17/10 with the draw 12/5.
View all Soccer betting
Source: bet365.com