Victory lifted the championship trophy for the fourth time and became the first A-League team to win the decider after finishing outside the top two.

Kevin Muscat's men ended the regular season in fourth, but after seeing off Premiers Sydney FC in extra time last week put in a clinical performance to seal the win.

It was a dream start for Victory with Kosta Barbarouses landing the quickest opening goal in A-League Grand FInal history.

James Donachie - who looked to have strayed offside but was cleared by VAR - nodded the ball down and the Kiwi international lashed it in off his left boot in the 9th minute.

Victory players were emotional at the final whistle as they erased last year's loss to the Sky Blues.

"It's amazing - I'm speechless right now," Barbarouses told Fox Sports. "The boys have had to dig so deep especially in the last few weeks.

"We didn't talk much - we just went about our business- and you know we were massive underdogs tonight and the boys came through."

Barbarouses described teammate Lawrence Thomas as "fantastic" and the goalkeeper was a worthy winner of the Joe Marston medal after shutting out the Jets.

It was a full house for the local heroes who went from last season's wooden spooners to the brink of glory but couldn't complete the fairytale in the crunch match.

In the dying minutes, striker Roy O'Donovan was red carded for a karate-style kick to the head of Thomas and the gloveman finished off the game swathed in bandages.

 

The Victory custodian was mostly needed in the first half when he pulled off three cracking saves to keep the Jets attack at bay, including a quick fire blitz from Riley McGree and Jason Hoffman. 

Ernie Merrick's men couldn't find the same intensity in the second half as the visitors doggedly closed down the opportunities.

A moment of defensive bravery by O'Donovan seemed to light a spark for the home side with 20 minutes to go.

The Irishman copped a massive shiner off a Besart Berisha swinging arm during a goalmouth scramble, but managed to keep the Jets in the game,

But he went from hero to villain with his late tackle on Thomas as the Jets fell short at the final hurdle.