For 30 painstaking minutes, Canberra FC and the Cooma Tigers couldn't see themselves lifting the Capital Football Federation Cup. Nor could they see themselves in the FFA Cup round of 32.

It may have taken 120 minutes of play, a 30-minute fog-induced break and a nail-biting penalty shootout, but Capital Football finally has its FFA Cup qualifier in the Cooma Tigers.

Cooma claimed a thrilling 0-0 (4-2 penalties) victory on the back of a herculean effort from goal keeper Jakob Cole at Deakin Stadium on Saturday night.

If his effort between the sticks wasn't enough, Cole nailed the decisive penalty to book his club's ticket to the big stage and potentially set up a date with an A-League club.

"I've got no words really, speechless," Cole said.

"It's insane, I don't know who would want to be a goal keeper to be honest. I just go back to the team, without the back four we wouldn't have kept that clean sheet."

And the penalty?

"I just said before we went out there, 'if you want me to take a penalty, I'll take a penalty if no one wants to take it'," Cole said.

"The opportunity was there for me. FFA was our goal, to go all the way. We went all the way, and it's so important for the club. It's the first time Cooma has ever been in the FFA Cup, so we're doing it for them back home.

"They're the most decorated club in Canberra, so we stepped on the pitch and just put our hearts out there. At the end of the day, we're top of the table, that's our mindset.

"We're the kings at the moment."

But they were so nearly kings without crowns on this night. The clash was in danger of being called off after 90 minutes as a heavy coat of fog set in.

Capital Football officials came together with referees and players at full-time with scores locked at 0-0 to evaluate whether it would be safe to play extra-time in the conditions.

Players were sent to the change rooms for a 10-minute break as officials hoped for the conditions to clear - it seemed wishful thinking, but proved a masterstroke.

Put simply, the governing body needed a result. This was never going to be as simple as turning up for a replay. Why? Canberra are flying to Croatia for a two-week tour on Sunday.

Capital Football needed a result. So did the FFA. And eventually they got it, giving the humble town of Cooma a shot at A-League giants.

Canberra Olympic's dream run to the semi-final three years ago remains the source of envy of rival clubs.

The sight of a packed out Viking Park was beamed around the nation as Olympic hosted A-League powerhouse Sydney FC.

Penalty-scoring goal keeper Angelo Konstantinou became a cult hero and lines at souvlaki trucks stretched a kilometre deep.

Capital Football clubs have dreamed of reaching, and even bettering that effort in the years since.

And now Cooma have a shot at being the next side to do it. And their keeper Cole may well be the next penalty scoring cult hero.

Make no mistake about it, Cooma did not fluke their way into the big show on the back of a shootout. Tigers coach Gaby Wilk has poured everything into this moment.

"This, especially for me, it was the only Cup I had not won for Cooma," Wilk said.

"I'm very happy. The club is ready for this, it's very exciting. We just came back from Argentina, playing big games over there, this will be no different."

Ah, the magic of the Cup.