HE was booed by Perth Glory fans, but it was cheers and applause that Rhyan Grant got from Sydney FC supporters on Sunday night as he helped the sky blues to win the A-League grand final.
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The Bathurst District Football graduate turned Sydney FC stalwart was one of the players to find the back of the net in a penalty shootout which decided the A-League champions, Grant's side prevailing 4-1 in Perth.
Grant was the third Sydney player to step up for a shot after 120 minutes of play failed to produce a single goal. He fired the ball high and to the right of Perth Glory goalkeeper Liam Reddy.
It was his only goal of the 2018-19 season, but one he relished. It added to his successful strike in the 2016-17 decider against Melbourne Victory - a grand final Sydney FC won on penalties as well.
"It was very cagey wasn't it? It was one of those ones with not a lot of chances, but both teams were getting stuck in, which is what grand finals are all about," Grant said.
"I got booed for it, but that's part of the game. It's just one of those games as grand finals go.
"We just knew if we could hang in there we fit, we know they played 120 last week so we backed ourselves. Obviously we didn't do it in normal time, unfortunately it went to pens.
"It's never a good way to lose, but obviously we came away with it, so we were stoked."
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Looking to ice a massive season which saw him earn seven Socceroos caps, Grant lined up on the right side of Sydney FC's defence.
It took just 23 seconds for him to have his first touch and on seven minutes he had an attempt at goal, heading a Brandon O'Neill free kick wide.
In what has become a trademark of his game, Grant not only battled away in defence to shut down the likes of Perth's Chris Ikonomidis and Jason Davidson, but pushed forward in attack at every opportunity.
He and his team-mates thought they had the lead in the 27th minute when Adam Le Fondre found the mark, but it was disallowed as Michael Zullo - who had sent in the cross - was ruled to be offside.
It was referred to the VAR, but the decision came back that it was "Too tight to overturn."
Grant had another attempt in the 44th minute from outside the box spray wide and as the pressure mounted, the physical intensity of the match grew.
Grant drew boos from Glory fans after squaring up with Davidson early in the second half and was yellow carded in the 88th minute for a late slide tackle.
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Both teams had their chances, but after 90 minutes of normal play and additional 30 minutes of extra-time, it remained locked at nil-all.
In the shootout Sydney's custodian Andrew Redmayne came up with two saves with Le Fondre, O'Neill, Grant and Reza Ghoochannejhad finding the mark.
"It's freakish," Grant said.
"Obviously Reders [Redmayne] had a great year, so I always thought it was his year. Then Brosquey [Alex Brosque] retiring, club legend and very great mate of everyone and then Bimbi [Steve Corica], obviously first year in charge, taking over after Arnie [Graham Arnold] which is big boots to fill.
"So just over the moon for everyone involved."