IT was a day Hunter football faithful will never forget - February 24, 2008.
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The convoy of cars snaking down the freeway, Jets flags flying in the wind.
The Newcastle United tifo which blanketed the bottom tier at the southern end of the Sydney Football Stadium.
Mark Bridge's 64th minute bullet strike, which nearly put a hole in the net and killed the Mariners' hopes.
Andrew Durante defending like a man possessed on the way to collecting the Joe Marston Medal.
The noise.
The controversy.
The euphoria when referee Mark Shield blew full-time.
Jets owner Con Constantine storming onto the ground like a madman, hugging and kissing anyone in a 10 metre radius.
Constantine then waving the A-League 'toilet seat' trophy out the car window as he travelled up the freeway.
The after party.
The civic reception in which thousands turned up at city hall to get a glimpse of the champions.
The feeling that after 30 long-suffering years, the Hunter football fraternity could stand proudly and say their team was the best in the land.
Fairytales do come true. They certainly did on that glorious day in February.
The Jets had qualified for their first A-League decider after an epic 3-2 extra-time win over Queensland Roar in the preliminary final at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
"You have to enjoy these moments," Jets coach Gary van Egmond said in the lead up to the GF.
"The feeling on Sunday night was of utter jubilation and euphoria. These boys are going to be lifelong friends now because of what they have achieved together as a group. It is important to enjoy these moments, but by the same token we will ensure everyone knows what the focus is, and that focus is winning the grand final."
As he had done all season, van Egmond adopted a horses-for-courses approach to team selection and promoted crafty Korean Song Jin-hyung for fellow teenager James Holland.
But it was his gamble to change the team's formation that proved the masterstroke.
The Jets had played a 4-2-3-1 formation for the majority of the season, but reverted to a 3-4-3 system, with the league's leading scorer, Joel Griffiths, in a midfield role.
Van Egmond's intention was to run the ageing Mariners off their feet and cut off the supply to strikers John Aloisi and Sasho Petrovski.
Never had the stakes in an F3 derby been so high.
And it showed.
The match was not even 10 seconds old when Mariners midfielder John Hutchinson crunched Griffiths in a fierce tackle.
Griffiths returned serve on Greg Owens a minute later, setting the scene for a brutal encounter.
The match erupted in the 11th minute after a late tackle by Griffiths on Mile Jedinak.
"We spoke about that and did a bit of DVD analysis," van Egmond said afterwards. "We had a look at it, and there had been a couple of times where they intimidated a few of our boys, not illegally of course, but they put themselves about, and we weren't going to let that happen. We ensured that if anything untoward happened on the pitch, everyone ran in.
"Not that we wanted to create a ruckus, but we wanted to make sure everyone was supporting each other. In games like these . . . you not only have to play with your heads but your hearts as well."
The Jets dominated the first half. They moved the ball, won the majority of 50-50 challenges and were composed in defence.
But for all their purpose, it failed to produce on the scoresheet in a tense opening 45 minutes.
The match was crying out for a goal, and Bridge delivered in the 64th minute.
Mariners defender Tony Vidmar slipped and Bridge struck. He picked the pocket of the veteran before dribbling to the edge of the box and letting rip with a curling right-footer which beat his good mate Danny Vukovic and nestled in the top right corner.
Jets fans went berserk.
Bridge had struggled at times for form, distracted by contract talks and speculation that he was joining Sydney FC, but that goal ensured the Penrith boy of immortality in the town he called home for three years.
"Vidmar stuffed up: I think he slipped," Bridge said. "I was running towards goal and saw Nigel Boogaard standing in the way of Vuka [Vukovic], and he could not see the ball. I thought if I hit it sweet and bend it in the corner, he has no chance. Lucky enough for me it came off good and went in."
Bridge was forced off with cramp 10 minutes later and replaced by Holland.
It would not have been a derby without controversy. This one was big.
In the last play of the game, referee Mark Shield turned down the Mariners' appeals for a penalty against Holland for handball in the box. Replays showed the ball struck Holland's forearm.
Vukovic, who had moved up field for the corner, was incensed by the decision and let fly at the ref, who gave him a straight red card. He was later charged with "violent conduct, striking a match official" and outed for seven months.
"I went up and protected myself with my arm, and they claimed a handball," Holland offered. "If it did hit my arm - I haven't seen a replay - I didn't mean it. We have won now, so it doesn't matter."
Full-time was the signal for wild celebrations.
For Constantine, a man who once had no shoes and earned 60 cents a day working in a takeaway shop in La Perouse, and had poured $15 million into the Jets, it was his nirvana.
"It's a feeling that you never will forget in your life. It's a dream come true," he declared. "At the beginning, it was difficult. The Newcastle Knights were a 10, and we were a six. Now, it is even- stevens. It's so beautiful, and we made it happen. To my critics, they can go suck a lemon. To my supporters, I love them."
For the Hunter faithful it was indeed a day they would never forget.
