HARBOURSPORT |
A-LEAGUE |
Last season saw Newcastle take the title, but their title defence hopes took a pounding when they were thrashed 5-0 by a rampant Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome. Honours were even early, with few scoring opportunities coming in the first half hour. But on 40 minutes, a neat pass from Archie Thompson found Carlos Hernandez within range and Victory were on the board. Then on the stroke of half-time, a poor goal kick from Ante Covic found Ney Fabiano, who delivered perfectly to Thompson to give the home side a 2-0 lead at the break. Newcastle were already on shaky ground, but a double by Danny Allsopp shortly after the hour mark made sure of the result. And in injury time, a pinpoint strike from Grant Brebner put the icing on the cake to maintain the Victory's position at the top of the table; while the reigning champions remain winless after 3 games. Melbourne Victory 5 (C Hernandez 40, A Thompson 45, D Allsopp 60, 64, G Brebner 90). Newcastle Jets 0. Yellow Cards : Victory - Nil. Jets - T Elrich 22, J Hakansson 69, J Wheelhouse 73. Referee - M Shield. Crowd - 22,589 at Telstra Dome. No New Zealand side has ever beaten Adelaide United at Hindmarsh, and the Phoenix's chances of breaking their duck were dealt a blow when star striker Shane Smeltz came down with the flu and was unable to take his place in the side. In the end, it's doubtful whether Smeltz's presence would have made that much difference, such was Adelaide's dominance. The final scoreline was 3-0, but it could have been so much more had the Reds been able to capitalise on the multitude of scoring chances they created. Lucas Pantelis got the Reds off to a good start with a quality header after 15 minutes, but despite numerous shots on goal they were unable to add to that tally in the first half. But after half-time the flood gates opened, with Brazilian import Cristiano in unstoppable form. Cristiano scored twice within 15 minutes of the restart, but despite creating plenty of chances was unable to complete his hat-trick. It was a disappointing night for Wellington, who remain stuck on the bottom of the ladder. Adelaide United 3 (L Pantelis 15, Cristiano 48, 60). Wellington Phoenix 0. Yellow Cards : Reds - Nil. Phoenix - D Mulligan 34, L Gao 40. Referee - M Breeze. Crowd - 7,832 at Hindmarsh Stadium. |
ROUND 4 FIXTURES Friday 12th September Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United (Telstra Dome, 8:00pm) Saturday 13th September Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC (Energy Australia Stadium, 7:00pm) Sunday 14th September Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast M'ners (Westpac Stadium, 3:00pm) Perth Glory v Queensland Roar (Members Equity Stadium, 5:00pm) ROUND 5 FIXTURES Friday 19th September Queensland Roar v Newcastle Jets (Suncorp Stadium, 8:00pm) Saturday 20th September Sydney FC v Adelaide United (Sydney Football Stadium, 5:00pm) Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory (Bluetongue Stadium, 7:00pm) Sunday 21st September Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix (Members Equity Stadium, 5:00pm) All times shown are Sydney time |
Sydney FC asserted themselves as title contenders early in the season, with a 5-2 victory in an entertaining match at the Sydney Football Stadium. The sky blues got off to an ideal start, when Alex Brosque weaved his way through traffic to open the scoring in just the 2nd minute. Glory equalised 10 minutes later, but at 20 minutes the game was to be turned on its head. Adrian Pellegrino was ruled to have brought Sydney veteran Steven Corica down in the box, referee Peter Green having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The Glory defenders were furious, remonstrating with the referee; but that backfired when Dino Djulbic was sent off for dissent. Corica made no mistake from the spot, and Sydney took the lead. 2-1 became 4-1 within a few minutes of half-time, with new signing Mark Bridge and young gun Shannon Cole getting on the scoreboard. By the break Sydney had the game wrapped up. Eugene Dadi converted a penalty in the second half to get one goal back, but Glory's bad day got worse shortly before full-time when former Sydney FC now Glory player Nicholai Topor-Stanley's boot caused a freak bounce of the ball to ricochet into his own net. Sydney FC 5 (A Brosque 2, S Corica 21pen, M Bridge 39, S Cole 43, N Topor-Stanley 88og). Perth Glory 2 (E Dadi 12, 67pen). Yellow Cards : Sydney - Nil. Glory - A Pellegrino 20, D Djulbic 20, Amaral 86. Red Cards : Glory - D Djulbic 20. Referee - P Green. Crowd - 11,732 at Sydney Football Stadium. Much of the pre-game talk before the Queensland Roar v Central Coast game was of the return to competitive football of former Socceroo Mark Bosnich. Playing his first game for 7 years, taking the place of suspended Mariners' keeper Danny Vukovic, Bosnich has a credible performance and despite conceding 2 late goals there was little doubt throughout the evening that Bosnich's Mariners would take the points. Matt Simon opened the scoring, but a second half burst that saw Jedinak and a double from Dylan Macallister blew the scoring out; ensuring the Mariners would take their first win for 2008-09. Queensland Roar 2 (C Miller 69, S Van Dijk 73pen). Central Coast Mariners 4 (M Simon 31, M Jedinak 48, D Macallister 64,71). Yellow Cards : Roar - L Reddy 15, D Tiatto 28. Mariners - M Simon 15, M Jedinak 18, A Clark 77, D Macallister 78. Referee - P O'Leary. Crowd - 12,185 at Suncorp Stadium. |
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