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| It was a far cry from the 6-0 humuliation of the 2006/07 grand final, or even of the semi-final series that led Adelaide mentor Aurelio Vidmar to lash out at his club and home town. But the end result of the 2008/09 grand final was the same - Melbourne Victory taking the game and their second A-League title. It took just 9 minutes for the game to be turned on its head, when Adelaide's Cristiano clashed with Melbourne's Rody Vargas, the hit seeing Vargas bleeding behind his ear. Referee Matthew Breeze had no hesitation in pulling out the red card, leaving the Reds to play the remainder of the match with 10 men. Vargas, after having his wound taped, returned to the action. With the Reds a man short, the Victory did the bulk of the attacking, but Adelaide's defence held firm through the first half. It took some dogged defending, and some heroics from Reds' keeper Eugene Galekovic, to retain the scoring deadlock through the first half. The second half began in a similar vein, but eventually on the hour the weight of possession took its toll and the Victory got themselves on the scoreboard. A back-heel from Berger found Tom Pondeljak, and from the edge of the area a well-timed and brilliantly placed strike gave Galekovic no chance and hit the corner of the net. Pondeljak, who had previously played in two losing grand finals for Central Coast, celebrated his goal by taking his shirt off and twirling it over his head and received a yellow card for his troubles. Five minutes later, another twist in the tale saw the match restored to even numbers on the field after Danny Allsopp found himself marched after an all-in altercation. With the match now 10 on 10, the Reds lifted their intensity and searched for an equaliser, but it wasn't to come. Several half-chances were created, but there was to be no miracle, no golden opportunity to present itself. The Victory were happy to play out time, and when the final whistle was blown it was Melbourne Victory 1 Adelaide United 0. The Victory were champions for the second time, the first team to achieve the feat twice. It was a moment of triumph for the Victorian side, but defeat again hurt for the Reds; who have twice tasted defeat to the Victory on grand final day. A season that had its highlights for the Reds, most notably making it through to the final of the Asian Champions League, has again ended in defeat. Melbourne Victory 1 (T Pondeljak 60) Adelaide United 0. Yellow Cards : Victory - T Pondeljak 60. Reds - S Ognenovski 37, S Jamieson 56, F Barbiero 64, R Cornthwaite 81, T Dodd 90. Red Cards : Victory - D Allsopp 65. Reds - Cristiano 10. Referee - M Breeze. Crowd - 53,273 at Telstra Dome. |
| FINALS FIXTURES - SEMI FINALS Minor Semi-Final - 1st Leg Central Coast Mariners 0 Queensland Roar 2 Major Semi-Final - 1st Leg Adelaide United 0 Melbourne Victory 2 Minor Semi-Final - 2nd Leg Queensland Roar 2 Central Coast Mariners 1 Major Semi-Final - 2nd Leg Melbourne Victory 4 Adelaide United 0 Saturday 21st February Preliminary Final Adelaide United 1 Queenalnd Roar 0 Saturday 28th February Grand Final Melbourne Victory 1 Adelaide United 0 |