Adelaide Blue Eagles have progressed to the second round of the Westfield FFA Cup South Australian qualifying competition —120 minutes, and five goals later.

On Saturday, Blue Eagles left it late to find the victory against an inspiringly battered and fatigued Cobras, who fought boldly, and held the home team to a deadlock at full time.

It was a set up that had the potential for a huge underdog story, and it almost turned out that way.

The game could have gone either way, at any stage, and the scoreline of 4-1 for Blue Eagles, doesn't reflect the evenness of the game, which lasted 120 minutes.

"The end result of 4-1 was a little disappointing, but not because we lost, more because it was a disappointing scoreline for the players, because the majority of the effort, the attitude and character displayed, was better than that," says Ben Dale, Head Coach of Adelaide Cobras.

It's a testament to the determination of the team, who were at a provisional disadvantage from the get go—having not yet played a single game, in a season that is yet to start.

"As far as on the job training, and character building goes I would say [this is a good base for next week]."

Despite that disadvantage, the team put on an incredible show, holding the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia team, to a draw well past halftime.

"We were very satisfied with our defensive performance in particular, and happy to go into the break not having conceded against a quality outfit that had scored five against Metro the week beforehand."

Their commitment and resilience showed particularly in the second half, after Anthony Dimas scored for Blue Eagles on 58 minutes, putting Cobras a goal down.

"I thought after our goal we would settle down and play our game, as we had been [sic] under pressure throughout the game.

"But, after the goal it still looked [sic] a very tight and even game," says Chris Atsikbasis, Captain of Adelaide Blue Eagles.

The pace had slowed, but Cobras never gave up, and none of the players accepted the limitations of their own fitness—they each found true grit, and it was inspiring.

"[We] showed a lot of resilience, and courage.

"By the end of it I think most of [the players] were spent, and to be honest as our season hasn't even started yet—we're only conditioned to play 90 minutes—and [we] haven't even done that yet, in a competitive sense yet, as in for three points."

They returned fire with an equaliser from Niko Visvardis at 68 minutes, and for a moment there was hope that just maybe, they could pull off a monumental comeback.

"… [T]he boys did get some self-belief from this, I could see how deflated they were after initially conceding a goal to go 1-0 down.

"So, to go on and not concede another in normal time, and equalise … gave a bit of wind in the sails and some thought that maybe, just maybe we could snatch this.

I believe we stepped up another gear for a while there," says Dale.

The goal must have sent chills through the Blue Eagles' camp, and the game, up to full time, was tense and highly strung.

"… [T]hey scored and I was definitely worried.

"I felt [that] getting to extra time was the key, as a restart may have helped the team refocus," says Atsikbasis.

Between the 70^th and 80^th minute four cards, were shown—two apiece for each team—and the game was evidently close.

Cobras fought throughout, never giving up and pushing on through a barrier of match fitness and a deadlocked disadvantage of league displacement, finishing the game at 1-1.

They took Blue Eagles through to extra time, holding on for 90 minutes—which is more than a lot of NPL teams have been able to do this year.

"I was extremely proud [about going into the break at 1-1], but also a little concerned that we'dperhaps, already given everything we had, and that the next thirty minutes was going to be extremely tough," Dale says.

Unfortunately, they couldn't keep it up, and their fatigue became more evident as time drew on, which allowed Blue Eagles to take a hold, and capitalise on Cobras' lethargy.

Their three goals came at 97 minutes (from Anthony Trimboli), 102 minutes (from Marco Balsamo), and 105 minutes (from Yvan Boyokino).

"Blue Eagles are a very good, solid outfit—they have quality all over the pitch."

However, against all the odds that were placed on them, Adelaide Cobras were able to pull off what many teams before them have been unable to do—they finished 90 minutes, at 1-1.

"At the end of [the game]—I felt … that the boys showed guts, heart, passion, emotion, hard work and determination.

"… I was extremely proud, and I hope that this is an opportunity to show them—the playing group—what they are capable of if they remain disciplined and work hard."

It was an underdog story in the most cliché kind of way, and it almost seemed that Cobras could pull off the impossible by going the distance against one of the top dogs of the NPL.

"We have to take all the positives from a performance like that … now we switch our full focus and attention to round one, and getting a positive result."

At the end of that day, Cobras may not have won a place through to the next round, but Dale believes they won something more valuable.

"I felt like we had won something, I know it sounds a bit corny, but I think we won some respect from within our own playing group, and from within the club."

Written by Christian Fleetwood