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Sport

21st Nov 2017

Ball boy refuses to return football in final, sparks brawl and receives winner’s medal

All in a day's work

Darragh Murphy

Someone had an evening to remember.

Chaotic scenes brought a close to Tuesday’s FFA Cup final as Sydney FC claimed a 2-1 victory over Adelaide United in extra time.

The sides couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes of action but Bobo gave Sydney a 2-1 lead in the 111th minute and, shortly thereafter, it all kicked off!

After a ball boy engaged in some classic shithousery and refused to return the football to Michael Marrone, the Adelaide full-back lost the rag.

Marrone grabbed the youngster, who needed no excuses to hit the deck and then a brawl broke out between both sets of players.

Following the melee, Marrone was shown a red card by referee Kris Griffiths-Jones, and Sydney held out for the win and the trophy.

After the game, Sydney star Michael Zullo felt obliged to hand his winner’s medal over to the ball boy and the young boy was even allowed to lift the trophy in the presentation ceremony.

https://twitter.com/JarradHD/status/932943069023952901

“I said sorry to the boy and his Dad — what happened was not in the character of Mickey, he is a very quiet boy,” Adelaide coach Marco Kurz said of the incident.

“In this moment we can only say sorry. Mickey is very down, I think he spoke with the boy.

“It’s not in his nature, but we will apologise for the club and the players.”