Avondale starting XI: Manos (GK), Wellsmore, Reid, Brice, Carpenter, Towns, Valentini, Trajceski, Tevere, Zinni, Aguek

Bench: Ott, Kur, Courtney-Perkins, Kamara, Cuba, D’Argenio, Mayen

Goals: Aguek 4’ 16’ 56’, Tevere 61’ (Pen), Valentini 77’ 89’

Brisbane City starting XI: Langdon (GK), Brown, Plusnin, Docherty, Crociati, Mudnic, McGrath, Soto Galindo, Bolton, Yokoyama, Love-Semira

Bench: Beagley, Halliday, Waldock, Barnes, Rossi, Sadozai, Flannery

Goals: Crociati 68’, Yokoyama 81’

The home side struck early and never looked back. Aguek opened the scoring in under four minutes when he capitalised on a poor back pass to slot the ball into an empty net, albeit from a very tight angle.

He soon doubled his tally with a sharp finish from close range on 16 minutes that left Brisbane’s defence reeling.

If there was any doubt about the outcome, Aguek ended it just after the break, completing his hat-trick with a thunderous half-volley from outside the box. By the hour mark, it was effectively over as Luca Tevere converted a penalty awarded for a poorly-timed sliding tackle to make it 4–0 and send the Avondale faithful into party mode.

Brisbane City rallied briefly, pulling one back through Matteo Crociati on 68 minutes, but Avondale immediately hit back. Stefan Valentini restored the four-goal margin by finishing off a counterattack before Brisbane found a second consolation late on. The hosts, however, had the final say, adding a sixth to cap off a ruthless attacking performance with a cheeky chip over the keeper for Valentini’s second.

The result is a statement of intent from Avondale, who are chasing a first-ever Australia Cup final appearance. With Aguek in electric form and the side playing with relentless attacking energy, they will head into the last four brimming with confidence.

Avondale now await their semi-final opponents, with momentum firmly on their side and their cup dream very much alive. They will take one either Newcastle or Macarthur, who play on Sunday in one of two A-League cup showdowns this weekend.