After the euphoria of Sydney FC’s win over Melbourne Victory last week, the Sky Blues were brought back to earth when they were defeated 2-1 by Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night. Despite the Reds playing nearly all of the match with ten men after Fabian Barbiero was sent off early, the Reds held on to record a win. In the 8th minute, Fabian Barbiero brought Mark Bridge down from behind just outside the area, with the referee having no hesitation in pulling out the red card and banishing Barbiero from the arena, leaving the Reds a man short for the rest of the night. Sydney FC had a free kick, but it sailed over the wall, over the goals, and the scoring chance was gone. The heavens opened shortly afterwards, leaving a heavy track and further sapping the Adelaide endurance. Sydney FC created scoring chances, but failed to make anything of them; and on the half hour mark, against the run of play, it was the Reds who got on the scoreboard. A long-range strike forced a corner. Scott Jamieson’s cross found Cristiano, and his lightning header gave Sydney keeper Clint Bolton no chance. 1-0 to the Reds, but Sydney FC had a chance for a quick equaliser, but Alex Brosque was tackled in the nick of time by Mark Rudan to force a corner. Sydney FC had a golden chance to equalise in the first couple of minutes of the second half, but Karol Kisel’s attempted header cannoned into the cross-bar and rebounded out to safety. And a few minutes later, the Reds moved forward where Cristiano headed to goal. Sydney FC keeper Clint Bolton lost his footing at the key moment, failed to make the save, and the ball hit the bottom of the net to double the Adelaide lead. Sydney FC brought John Aloisi on, and with 12 minutes to go he threw the Sky Blues a lifeline. A shot by McFlynn was saved by Adelaide keeper Eugene Galekovic, but he was unable to control the ball after keeping it out; the ball spiking to Aloisi who slammed it home. Only a goal in it, the Reds a man short and visibly tiring through the latter stages. But the Reds defended grimly, holding the Sky Blues out to record a meritorious hard-fought win. Adelaide United 2 (Cristiano 30, 54) Sydney FC 1 (J Aloisi 78). Reds – E Galekovic, R Cornthwaite, I Fyfe, S Jamieson, M Rudan, F Barbiero (sent off 8), A Hughes, P Reid (Cassio 84), K Sarkies, Cristiano (Alemao 71), M Leckie (L Owusu 89). Sydney – C Bolton, S-H Byun, S Cole(J Aloisi 62), S Colosimo, S Ryall, S Corica, K Kisel (B Gan 75), T McFlynn, S Musialik, M Bridge, A Brosque. Yellow Cards : Reds – E Galekovic, A Hughes, S Jamieson. Sydney – A Brosque. Red Cards : Reds – F Barbiero 8. Referee – S Delovski. Crowd – 10,291 at Hindmarsh Stadium.
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ROUND 12 Friday 23rd October Newcastle v Central Coast (8:00pm) Saturday 24th October Melbourne v Adelaide (7:00pm) North Queensland v Perth (9:00pm) Sunday 25th October Wellington v Gold Coast (3:00pm) Sydney v Brisbane (5:00pm)
ROUND 13 Friday 30th October Brisbane v Newcastle (8:00pm) Saturday 31st October Central Coast v Adelaide (7:00pm) Gold Coast v North Queensland (9:00pm) Sunday 1st November Sydney v Wellington (5:00pm) Perth v Melbourne (7:00pm)
ROUND 13A Wednesday 4th November Wellington v Newcastle (5:30pm)
All times shown are Sydney time.
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Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium was a Mariners’ benefit show, as the Central Coast side took
advantage of the minimal efforts of a woeful Brisbane Roar side to record a comfortable 3-0 win.
For the second week in a row, the Mariners raced out of the blocks and were on the scoreboard
within a couple of minutes of kick-off. Matt Simon went long from outside the box with a powerfully-
hit strike that was blocked by Bob Malcolm, only for the ball to rebound to Nicky Travis for the
simplest of tap-ins.
If that wasn’t enough of a shock for the Roar, in the 18th minute John Hutchinson ran the length
of the field, weaving his way around the Roar defenders before striking the ball from the edge of
the area into the top corner of the net to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
The Roar had a chance to get one goal back, with Tommy Oar crossing to Sergio van Dijk; but van
Dijk’s shot was saved by an acrobatic effort by Danny Vukovic.
It was 2-0, the scoreline held till half time. The Roar went on the attack as the second half got
under way, Reinaldo and van Dijk both getting shots in that beat Vukovic but narrowly missed the
woodwork.
But with 20 minutes to go, the Mariners had a third, after a poorly-executed clearance by de Vere
landed at the feet of Pedj Bojic, who faced little difficulty in hitting the ball home to give the
Mariners a third goal and put the game well and truly out of the Roar’s reach. It had been a
disappointing week for the Roar. After the departure of Frank Farina during the week after a drink
driving arrest, likely new coach Ange Postecoglou was sitting in the grandstand making notes. The
notes would suggest he has a lot of work to do to turn the Roar back into a competitive force.
Brisbane Roar 0
Central Coast Mariners 3 (N Travis 4, J Hutchinson 18, P Bojic 70).
Roar – G McMaster, I Franjic, B Malcolm (L De Vere 23), J McCloughan, C Moore, D Tiatto (I Cernak
72), D Dodd (M Karlovic 79), M McKay, Reinaldo, T Orr, S van Dijk. Sub not used – M Acton.
Mariners – D Vukovic, N Boogaard, C Doig, D Heffernan, A Wilkinson, M Crowell, J Hutchinson (D D’
Apuzzo 80), M McGlinchey, N Travis (P Bojic 61), A Kwasnik (D Macallister 73), M Simon. Sub not
used – A Redmayne.
Yellow Cards : Roar – C Moore 71. Mariners – M Crowell 28, D D’Apuzzo 86, M Simon 88.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - P Green. Crowd – 7,434 at Suncorp Stadium.
North Queensland Fury and Wellington Phoenix remain stuck in the bottom three, both clubs
missing out on an opportunity to get off the bottom when a late equaliser to the Fury saw their
match at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday night tied at 1-1.
The Fury found themselves on the back foot early as the Phoenix made the early attacking. And in
the 6th minute, the New Zealand side was on the scoreboard, Paul Ifill weaving past his opposition
before centring with a pin-point cross into the area for Tim Brown to nod the header into the Fury
net.
The ball travelled from end to end for the remainder of the half, but there were few scoring
chances. Paul Ifill went close to doubling the lead, finding himself one-out with only the keeper to
beat, but Fury keeper Paul Henderson was equal to the task to make the save. Ifill again had a shot
ten minutes before half time, but the kick sailed wide.
The Fury had few scoring chances in the first half, but Daniel McBreen had an opportunity in the
second half that sailed over the bar. And again midway through the second half, McBreen found
himself one out with the keeper, but having beaten the keeper his shot bounced agonisingly off
the woodwork.
The Fury began to pepper the goals, forcing a series of corners, but the equaliser was hard to find.
But eventually, with five minutes remaining, Jason Spagnuolo found room to move out wide and
then a cross was headed home by Robbie Fowler; and having been behind for virtually all of the
game, the Fury had achieved a late equaliser. The remaining five minutes, plus an agonising six
minutes of time added on, failed to produce a late winner for either team, and the two sides were
left with one point each for their efforts.
North Queensland Fury 1 (R Fowler 85)
Wellington Phoenix 1 (T Brown 6).
Fury – P Henderson, C Tadrosse, J Tambouras, R Griffiths, C Grossman, U Talay (O Malik 71), J
Brockie (D Daal 59), R Fowler, D McBreen, J Robinson (J Spagnuolo 81), D Williams. Sub not used –
J Pasfield.
Phoenix – M Paston, A Durante, T Lochhead, B Sigmund, L Bertos (Chen Ziang 87), T Brown,
Daniel (M Ferrante 72), V Lia, C Greenacre, T Hearfield (M Muscat 77), P Ifill. Sub not used – R
Crowther.
Yellow Cards : Fury – C Grossman 35, D McBreen 75, D Daal 76. Phoenix – A Durante 48, T
Lochhead 78.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - C Beath. Crowd – 6,191 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Melbourne Victory returned to the winning list on Sunday afternoon when they put in a blistering
second half to come from behind and defeat Newcastle Jets 3-1 at Energy Australia Stadium on
Sunday afternoon.
The Jets have a strong record against the Victory, and looked impressive early. And deservedly they
took the lead in the 22nd minute, with Labinot Haliti at the edge of the area lobbing the ball over
an advancing Glen Moss to hit the corner of the net. And a few minutes later they looked to have
doubled the lead when Ben Kantarovski found the net, only to be denied by the offside flag.
The 1-0 scoreline remained intact for the remainder of the half, and to make matters worse for the
Victory, Ney Fabiano pulled up sore late in the half and had to be replaced at half time. The second
half saw the Victory struggle to create opportunities, and as the clock ticked past the hour the Jets
were looking well set.
But a few minutes later, Carlos Hernandez made a break down the wing before setting up Archie
Thompson, who pulled off a long-range strike that made its way into the net to level the scores.
Hernandez was again in the thick of the action in the 79th minute, letting fly with a shot that
forced Ben Kennedy into an acrobatic save. Kennedy managed to keep the ball out, but Tom
Pondeljak was on hand to pounce on the rebounded ball and snap the goal into the Newcastle net
to give the Victory the lead.
And after the Costa Rican had been influential in setting up the first two goals, he finally got on the
board himself five minutes later, slamming the ball past the outstretched arms of Kennedy into the
net to give the Victory a 3-1 result.
Newcastle Jets 1 (L Haliti 22)
Melbourne Victory 3 (A Thompson 62, T Pondeljak 79, C Hernandez 85).
Jets – B Kennedy, A D’Apuzzo (S Petrovski 80), T Elrich, N Topor-Stanley, L Haliti, B Kantarovski, K
Patafta (A Al-Hilfi 59), J-H Song, M Thompson, M Bridges, F Vignaroli. Sub not used – A Costanzo.
Victory – G Moss, M Kemp, A Leijer, K Muscat, R Vargas, G Brebner, C Hernandez, T Pondeljak (N
Elasi 82), S Sukha (L Broxham 66), N Fabiano (M Dugandzic 46), A Thompson. Sub not used – M
Langerak.
Yellow Cards : Jets – M Thompson 4, A D’Apuzzo 78. Victory – M Kemp 11, G Brebner 45.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - B Williams Crowd – 6,029 at Energy Australia Stadium.
It was second v third at Robina on Sunday evening when Gold Coast United hosted Perth Glory. A
disappointing crowd of 4,509 turned up, but they would go home happy after the home side
completed a 2-1 win.
The Glory were on the back foot early, after a free kick rebounded off Scott Neville; and with Glory
keeper Tando Velaphi unsighted until it was too late, he was unable to prevent the ball going in for
an own goal.
The remainder of the first half was uneventful, but the Glory came out strongly in the second half.
Corner after corner put the Gold Coast defence under pressure. Branko Jelic slammed the ball into
the Gold Coast net, but the off-side flag went up.
But eventually the weight of possession would take its toll. A cross from Wayne Srhoj found Victor
Sikora, and a flick-pass set up Todd Howarth for a slam that had far too much pace for United
keeper Jess Vanstrattan to keep out. Scores were level.
But only for a minute. From the kick-off, United put the ball forward, and the Glory defenders
completely failed to keep any control over the ball. A communication error saw the ball spill free,
Shane Smeltz left unmarked and the softest of strikes restored the Gold Coast lead.
The Glory were unable to find an equaliser. They had chances, but Vanstrattan was equal to the
task and United were happy to play out time to record a valuable win and move to the top of the
table.
Gold Coast United 2 (S Neville 12og, S Smeltz 55)
Perth Glory 1 (T Howarth 54)
United – J Vanstrattan, Anderson, S Pantelidis, K Rees, M Thwaite, B Van den Brink, Robson (S
Fitzsimmons 68), J Culina, T Minniecon (Z Caravella 57), J Porter, S Smeltz (Milson 81). Sub not used
– S Higgins.
Glory – T Velaphi, C Coyne, J Coyne, S Neville (S Bulloch 88), N Sekulovski, J Burns, T Howarth (A
Jukic 77), A Pellegrino, V Sikora, W Srhoj, B Jelic (E Dadi 69). Sub not used – A Vrteski.
Yellow Cards : United – S Pantelidis 85. Glory – A Pellegrino 69, C Coyne 90+1.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - M Breeze. Crowd – 4,509 at Skilled Park.