It is the first time the competition's biggest club has won silverware in six seasons, but the harder task now awaits: to justify favouritism through the finals and win the championship for the first time since 2009. They now get a two-week break before hosting a semi-final at AAMI Park early in May.

Victory began at a lively tempo, determined to make a statement from the outset. They moved the ball at pace and crisply as the Mariners, sitting back and focused on containment, struggled to win the ball or get out of their own half in the opening period.

After 10 minutes an on-screen graphic showed Victory had enjoyed 70 per cent of the possession, which seemed misleading as it felt like more.

However the Navy Blues had nothing to show for this early domination save for a Besart Berisha shot over the bar inside two minutes and an effort from Archie Thompson shortly afterwards when the veteran frontman's shot was deflected away by Zach Anderson.

The game settled into a rhythm from this point on with Victory pressing and the Mariners holding out, offering sporadic threats when they could get forward.

Mariners defender Josh Rose was booked after 23 minutes for a foul on Mark Milligan, while Kosta Barbarouses linked well with Gui Finkler down the right although nothing came of some adventurous approach work.

Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas, for so long the man in the background as Nathan Coe's number two but now in the spotlight following the former's season-ending injury, had little to do for most of the half. When called on to deal with a free kick in a crowded penalty area he came out and punched clear with confidence.

Mariners captain John Hutchinson, who ended a long and decorated career in this match, was the next name in referee Peter Green's notebook and the Mariners seemed likely to get more bookings than shots on target in the first half.

Victory got the goal the occasion expected shortly afterwards, and a finish worthy of any game it was too.

Daniel Georgievski, Victory's left back, carried the ball forward from the halfway line and found Berisha in the Mariners' penalty area. The striker twisted and turned and laid the ball back for Georgievski, who had continued running. The full-back then lifted a delicate chip over Matthew Nash to put his side in front. That was in the 32nd minute. Three minutes later Victory had doubled the advantage and it was the evergreen Thompson who did the damage, notching his tenth goal of the season when he got on the end of a Finkler corner to flick past Nash.

Georgievski found himself in the wars just before the interval when he was felled by Anthony Kalik's heavy challenge, and then he took another blow as Mariners centre half Eddy Bosnar silenced the crowd, at least temporarily, with a goal for the visitors.

Bosnar only knows one way to take free kicks, and that is to hit them with maximum power. He did this time, and the ball took a deflection from Finkler and hit Georgievski, deflecting wickedly to give Thomas no chance of keeping it out.

Victory took less than two minutes after the restart to restore their two-goal cushion, and it was Berisha who got himself on the scoresheet after Thompson had initially chased down a loose ball and kept it alive.

He pulled a pass to Barbarouses, who fed Finkler. The Brazilian's chip to the far side of the penalty area found Milligan, who laid the ball back for Berisha to finish for his 13th goal of the season.

The game opened up more now, and at the other end Nick Fitzgerald had a great chance to put the Mariners back into the contest when he was one-on-one with Thomas.

The goalkeeper stood tall and denied the forward, although Cernak should have at least hit the target rather than blasted over when the rebound came to him. Thompson began to show off his repertoire of tricks, and Berisha was denied by a Nash diving save before Milligan fired just wide as Victory went in search of more goals.

Barbarouses slalomed through and shot wide, while at the other end Thomas twisted acrobatically to tip Matthew Sim's shot over the bar.