Last night was the 24-year-old's first match since Sydney FC’s A-League Grand Final loss to Melbourne Victory in May 2015.

Ibini’s dream move to Europe with Belgian side Club Brugge turned into an 18-month nightmare when he broke his leg in his first training session.

After going through a frustrating rehabilitation period, Ibini said helping the Sky Blues to the FFA Cup final was a special moment.

“Obviously it’s a great feeling to be back on the pitch,” he told FourFourTwo. “It’s been a long time coming for myself and to be back on the pitch last night was an amazing feeling.

“It was a long time I was out for and to be finally at the end of the tunnel is always great. It took a lot of hard work to get down the line and cross that ball in, I was happy I could be at the back post to score”.

Ibini hailed the dedication of Sydney FC head physiotherapist Elias Boukarim and strength and conditioning coach Andrew Clark in getting him back on the pitch.

“Since I’ve come back my injury has improved a lot,” he said. “I’ve got to say a lot of work has been done by Elias, he’s helped me out a lot and made me get back to the point where I can be back on the pitch. Obviously then Clarkey took over from there so I really can’t thank them enough especially Elias enough for all the work that he put into me and helped me with.”

Sydney hasn't lifted a trophy since winning the 2010 A-League Grand Final.

Ibini said he was looking forward to adding more silverware by helping the club claim the FFA Cup.

“Obviously it’s very exciting,” he said. “It’s the first time Sydney have done it and all the boys are looking forward to it. We are all very excited and we are looking forward to who will match up against in the final.

“Being back at Sydney FC and with Arnie has been great, obviously I know quite a fair few of the boys already and even the new boys I feel like I’ve known them for a long time as well. I feel like it’s been an easy transition and I’ve enjoyed my time being back.

After getting back on the field against Canberra Olympic, Ibini is hopeful of more game time when the Sky Blues take on Wellington Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

“We are not too sure yet,” he said. “By Saturday we will have an idea. For myself I would definitely like to and after playing some minutes last night I would like that to continue.”