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| Melbourne Victory extended their lead at the top of the A- League ladder when they defeated Central Coast 2-1 at home on Friday night. A free kick from John Hutchinson shortly after the half hour from well outside the area sailed over the wall, its pinpoint accuracy and timing beating everyone to power into the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. But the advantage was to be short-lived when a pass from Archie Thompson was picked up by Tom Pondeljak; who cannoned it into the base of the Mariners' net just 4 minutes later. Victory pulled ahead on the hour, Archie Thompson beating the offside trap to score. And despite some late attacking moves from the Mariners that gave the Melbourne side a few anxious moments late in the game, the Victory had enough defensive reserves in hand to hold the Mariners out. Melbourne Victory 2 (T Pondeljak 37, A Thompson 60) Central Coast Mariners 1 (J Hutchinson 33). Yellow Cards : Victory - Nil. Mariners - P Bojic. Referee - S Delovski. Crowd - 21,455 at Telstra Dome. It was Adelaide's first home game since the Asian Champions League final, and hopes that their Asian adventure would boost crowds was disappointed when less than 10,000 showed up at Hindmarsh for the Reds' match against Sydney FC. Those that did come saw an even battle over the first half, with the Reds gaining the ascendancy during injury time when a free kick from Kristian Sarkies caught the Sydney defence napping, allowing Sasa Ognenovski an uncontested header to put the Reds into the lead. On the hour, the 1-0 lead appeared insurmountable after Sydney were reduced to 10 men. Terry McFlynn was brought down, but his appeal to the referee fell on deaf ears; and worse was to come when the Northern Ireland midfielder was red-carded for backchat. The knockout blow came on 77 minutes, when an attempted clearance from Beau Busch was smothered by Travis Dodd, who pounced on the crumbs to slot the ball into the Sydney net. 2-0 to the Reds puts them up to second place, while Sydney FC slip out of the top 4. Adelaide United 2 (S Ognenovski 45, T Dodd 77) Sydney FC 0 Yellow Cards : Reds - Nil. Sydney - T McFlynn 29, J Aloisi 43, S Cole 76, B Petta 88. Red Cards : Sydney - T McFlynn 59. Referee - B Williams. Crowd - 9,509 at Hindmarsh Stadium. |
| ROUND 13 FIXTURES Friday 28th November Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory (Westpac Stadium, 5:30pm) Sydney FC v Queensland Roar (Sydney Football Stadium, 8:00pm) Saturday 29th November Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners (Members Equity Stadium, 8:00pm) Sunday 30th November Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United (Energy Australia Stadium, 5:00pm) ROUND 14 FIXTURES Friday 5th December Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix (Hindmarsh Stadium, 8:00pm) Saturday 6th December Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar (Bluetongue Stadium, 5:00pm) Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory (Members Equity Stadium, 8:00pm) Sunday 7th December Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC (Energy Australia Stadium, 5:00pm) All times shown are Sydney time |
| Home wins have been elusive for Queensland Roar during their A-League history; but inspired by the return of Craig Moore just 2 weeks after cancer surgery, the Queensland side were far too good for Perth Glory, taking out a 4-1 victory. Perth had much of the play in the first half, but were unable to get any reward on the scoreboard for it; and a disastrous injury time for the Glory put them behind the game. As the injury time sign was held up, Nikolai Topor-Stanley brought down Tahj Minniecon in the box; and referee Peter Green had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Sergio van Dijk put the penalty away, and a minute later a cross from van Dijk was tapped in by Minniecon to put the Roar 2-0 ahead. 10 minutes after the restart, Charlie Miller added to the Perth misery with the Roar's third goal. And although the Glory got one back, with a quality strike from Jamie Harnwell, the Roar were always in control. Mitch Nicols put the icing on the cake with 10 minutes to go; and the Roar had jumped Sydney and Central Coast to enter the top 4. Queensland Roar 4 (S Van Dijk 45pen, T Minniecon 45, C Miller 55, M Nichols 81) Perth Glory 1 (J Harnwell 57). Yellow Cards : Roar - Nil. Glory - N Topor-Stanley 45, W Srhoj 77. Referee - P Green. Crowd - 9,118 at Suncorp Stadium. Newcastle's title defence went from bad to worse when the Jets were rolled 2-0 away by Wellington Phoenix. In a gritty and physical game, the Jets' chances were effectively ended when Joel Griffiths and Mark Milligan were both marched from the field; the 9 remaining Jets players being unable to last the distance. Goals were hard to come by, but the numerical advantage finally took its toll with 11 minutes to go when Shane Smeltz found space to head the ball into the Newcastle net. And just 7 minutes later, a cross from Leo Bertos found Troy Hearfield to double the Wellington lead. Wellington Phoenix 2 (S Smeltz 79, T Hearfield 86) Newcastle Jets 0. Yellow Cards : Phoenix - T Lochhead 53, K Dodd 76). Jets - A Griffiths 54. Red Cards : Jets - J Griffiths 29, M Milligan 51. Referee - M Breeze. Crowd - 5,500 at Westpac Stadium. |