| HARBOURSPORT |
| A-LEAGUE |
| Making their first appearance for the season after an opening round, Wellington Phoenix looked set to take a first-up win before Gold Coast fought back to equalise the game at 3-3. On a water-logged pitch, with the ball often landing in puddles and players struggling to generate any speed on the heavy track, the Phoenix got off to an early lead when Leo Bertos set up Paul Ifill who made no mistake to slam the ball into the corner of the Gold Coast net. Gold Coast equalised with 10 minutes to go before the break when Manny Muscat was penalised slightly outside the area. Jason Culina took the free kick, which curled over the wall to where Shane Smeltz was waiting for the easiest of headers. But the Phoenix immediately got the lead back, moving the ball forward to a scramble in front of goals where Chris Greenacre tapped the ball into the Gold Coast net. It was 2-1 at the break, and 10 minutes after the restart the Phoenix extended their lead. A free kick from Leo Bertos made it into the area, and again it was a simple tap-in for Chris Greenacre to bring up his 2nd. With 15 minutes to go, Gold Coast got back into the contest, and it was former Phoenix striker Shane Smeltz who would bring up his second goal after a one-two play with Jason Culina. Gold Coast by now were on top around the park, and searched desperately for the equaliser as the clock continued to tick down. But when it was looking like time would run out, Socceroo Jason Culina snatched the goal to level the scores. Only one minute of regulation time was still on the clock when Joel Porter crossed and Culina was there to head home the goal. In six A-League games so far this season, this was to be the third 3-3 draw. Wellington Phoenix 3 (C Greenacre 37,55, P Ifill 6) Gold Coast United 3 (S Smeltz 36,74, J Culina 86) Phoenix – M Paston, M Muscat, T Lochhead, T Brown, L Bertos (Daniel 83), P Ifill, C Greenacre, V Lia, B Sigmund, A Durante, D Macallister (T Hearfield 72). Subs not used – J Gould, O Roberto Cornejo. United – G Moss, M Thwaite, D Djulbic, Z Caravella, A Alves de Silva (T Minniecon 73), S Smeltz, J Culina, B Van den Brink (R Alves de Silva 62), J Porter, K Rees (S Pantelidis 66), J Brown. Sub not used – S Higgins. Yellow Cards : Phoenix – L Bertos 22, A Durante 48, B Sigmund 80. United – D Djulbic 18, M Thwaite 55, T Minniecon 90+2. Red Cards – Nil. Referee – P O’Leary. Crowd – 8,300 at Westpac Stadium. |
| ROUND 3 Friday 20th August Adelaide v Melbourne Heart (8:00pm) Saturday 21st August Perth v Newcastle (5:15pm) Brisbane v Sydney (7:30pm) Sunday 22nd August Wellington v Central Coast (1:00pm) Melb Victory v Nth Queensland (3:00pm) ROUND 4 Friday 27th August Brisbane v Wellington (8:00pm) Saturday 28th August Nth Queensland v Adelaide (5:15pm) Sydney FC v Central Coast (7:30pm) Sunday 29th August Gold Coast v Melbourne (3:00pm) Melbourne Heart v Perth (5:00pm) All times shown are Sydney time. |
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Melbourne Heart hit the road for the first time, and returned with a share of the spoils, after
receiving the benefit of a late own goal to record a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.
The Jets made the early attacking, and had several scoring chances only for shots to sail over the
woodwork. Clint Bolton in goals was surperb for the Heart, producing a series of athletic saves to
prevent the Jets from opening the scoring. And the Heart suffered an early blow when Josip Skoko
was forced from the field with a hamstring injury in the first half.
But the scores remained locked at 0-0 at half time, and so they would remain till the hour. The Jets
looked to have earned a penalty when Michael Bridges went down in the area, but the referee
elected not to award the shot from the spot. But at that point, the Jets finally achieved the
breakthrough they had been threatening for so long. Jeremy Brockie was the goal scorer, with a
solo effort after being given the ball close to the sidelines but centering play before his low shot
into the corner of the net caught Bolton unawares.
But when the Jets looked to be coasting to victory, an error cost them the win that had looked in
their keeping all evening. It came when Alex Terra chased a long ball, with Ben Kantarovsi gathering
the ball but lost control of it, the ball ballooning over keeper Ben Kennedy’s head into his own net.
And so the Heart earned their first point, while the Jets would rue a seemingly inevitable win that
got away.
Newcastle Jets 1 (J Brockie 60)
Melbourne Heart 1 (B Kantarovski 79og)
Jets – B Kennedy, A D’Apuzzo, N Topor-Stanley, L Milicevic, B Kantarovski, K Wehrman (T Elrich 85), M
Bridges, R Zadkovich, J Brockie (L Haliti 74), M Jesic, A Abbas (J Wheelhouse 64). Sub not used – P Henderson.
Heart – C Bolton, M Marrone, S Colosimo, M Beauchamp, M Thompson, R Worm, G Sibon, A Terra, J Skoko
(W Srhoj 19), N Kalmar (B Hamill 61), D Heffernan (E Babalj 77). Sub not used – P Zois.
Yellow Cards : Jets – A Abbas 45, M Bridges 50, B Kantarovski 65 Heart – Nil.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - R Shepheard. Crowd – 8,735 at Energy Australia Stadium.
Defending champions Sydney FC travelled to Townsville on Saturday night to take on North
Queensland, but the Sky Blues suffered a shock defeat as the Fury took out an upset 2-1 victory.
There were few scoring opportunities in the first half. Alex Brosque had a chance but hit the ball
into the side netting, while for the Fury Ufuk Talay found himself with only the keeper to beat but
hit the ball high and wide.
But the game opened up in the second half, both sides looking to attack. And just after the hour,
Chris Payne crossed to Chris Grossman at the edge of the area, and a lightning-fast strike evaded
the dive of Sydney FC keeper Liam Reddy into the corner of the net to give the home side the lead.
As the clock began to count down, Sydney FC pressed hard and forced a succession of corners.
And with eight minutes to go, the Sky Blues got the game back on level terms; a cross from Terry
McFlynn being headed home by Scott Jamieson.
But just a minute later, the Fury were back in front. Substitute Dyron Daal slammed the ball
forward, and Liam Reddy’s fingertips got a touch but not enough to prevent the ball from hitting
the net. It was a super strike, which brought the small but vocal home ground to their feet. The
Fury slowed play down during the latter stages, preventing any chance of a late equaliser as the
Fury could sense a meritorious victory.
North Queensland Fury 2 (C Grossman 65, D Daal 83)
Sydney FC 1 (S Jamieson 82).
Fury – J Pasfield, E Akoto, M Hughes, U Talay (O Malik 46), G Edds, E Ssepuya (D Daal 67), D Williams (A
Casey 85), C Grossman, C Payne, S Storey, I Cernak. Sub not used – M Ham.
Sydney – L Reddy, S Ryall (S Cole 79), S Keller (A Golek 55), H Foxe, S Musialik, N Carle, A Brosque, T
McFlynn, S Jamieson, S-H Byun, R Grant (K Danning 71). Sub not used – I Necevski.
Yellow Cards : Fury – D Daal 85, S Storey 90+3. Sydney – Nil.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – P Green. Crowd – 5,177 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Melbourne Victory played their first home game at their new home ground when they hosted Perth
Glory on Saturday night. But the visitors from the West would spoil the Victory’s party when the
Glory completed an upset 2-0 win.
The Victory had an early chance when Surat Sukha had a run down the sideline before crossing to
Adrian Leijer, but the shot sailed wide. But it was the Glory who would take the lead after 23
minutes. A corner by Robbie Fowler wasn’t cleaned up properly by Michael Petkovic, and the crumbs
found Jamie Harnwell unattended at close range for a simple tap-in, and the crowd watched in
stunned silence as the Glory took the lead.
The Victory pressed hard late in the first half, and went close to equalising when Tom Pondeljak
was one-out with Glory keeper Tando Velaphi, but the shot went straight into Velaphi’s arms and
the chance was gone.
And four minutes after the break, the Glory doubled their lead. Todd Howarth took advantage of a
turnover by Grant Brebner, taking the ball into the Victory’s area. Robbie Fowler was double-teamed
by Glory defenders, but managed to get the ball back to Mile Sterjovski who volleyed the ball from
the edge of the area into the Victory net.
The Victory were on the back foot, but continued to work hard for the remainder of the match.
They created scoring chances, but a succession of acrobatic saves by Tando Velaphi denied the
Victory a chance to get back into the contest. And so the Victory were left shocked, as their first
game at their new stadium went against all expectations as the high-flying Victory were defeated.
Melbourne Victory 0
Perth Glory 2 (J Harnwell 23, M Sterjovski 49).
Victory – M Petkovic, A Leijer, K Muscat, R Vargas, E Berger, S Sukha (B Celeski 46), G Brebner, L Broxham (D
Ferreira 76), C Hernandez, M Dugandzic, T Pondeljak (M Angulo 63). Sub not used – S Mattei.
Glory – T Velaphi, S Neville, J Harnwell, J Coyne, N Sekulovski, M Sterjovski (H Fondyke 84), A Pellegrino, J
Burns, S McGarry, T Howarth, R Fowler (B Jelic 82). Subs not used – A Jukic, A Vrteski.
Yellow Cards : Victory – G Brebner 37. Glory – S Neville 43.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – G Parsons. Crowd – 20,385 at AAMI Park.
Central Coast were the only team to win in the opening round of the season. Returning home in
round 2, the Mariners found themselves having to come from behind in the second half, but
bounced back to force a draw against Adelaide.
The Reds thought they’d taken the lead early, after Sergio Van Dijk pounced on a corner and
tapped the ball into the Mariners’ net; but the assistant referee’s offside flag went up to disallow
the goal. The Reds continued to look dangerous, with Lucas Pantelis’s shot sailing agonisingly wide
of the woodwork and with a minute to go in the first half, it took an athletic save by Mariners’
keeper Jess Van Stratten to prevent the Reds from taking the lead.
But one minute was added on to the first half, and the Reds took the lead during that minute. A
free kick from Pantelis went into the area, but the Mariners’ defenders went missing at the critical
moment, resulting in the ball spilling free to Iain Fyfe to tap the ball in for the simplest of goals and
give the Reds a 1-0 lead at the break.
The Mariners had struggled to create any chances in the first half, but the momentum changed in
the second half as the home side went on the attack. Some acrobatic heroics by Adelaide keeper
Eugene Galekovic frustrated the Mariner charge, as Galekovic pulled off a string of amazing saves.
But eventually the Mariners would get the goal they strove so hard for, with Matt Simon going for
broke from the edge of the area with a strike that powered its way into the corner of the net to
level the scores. The game then wound down, with both sides happy to share the points.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (M Simon 84)
Adelaide United 1 (I Fyfe 45+1).
Mariners – J Van Stratten, A Wilkinson, J Rose, P Zwaanswijk, B Porter (P Bojic 82), J Hutchinson, O Bozniac,
M McGlinchey, M Simon, A Kwasnik (R Griffiths 60), D McBreen (A Mrdja 71). Sub not used – M Ryan.
Reds – E Galekovic, I Fyfe, D Mullen, Cassio, L Pantelis, A Hughes, S Van Dijk (F Monterosso 90+4), M Flores
(I Ramsay 71), P Reid, I Shin (C Watson 68), M Leckie. Sub not used – M Birighitti.
Yellow Cards : Mariners – J Rose 18, P Zwaanswijk 70, O Bosniac 90+4. Reds – A Hughes 15,86, D Mullen
36, E Galekovic 87.
Red Cards : Reds – A Hughes 86.
Referee – K Griffiths. Crowd – 8,447 at Bluetongue Stadium.
receiving the benefit of a late own goal to record a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.
The Jets made the early attacking, and had several scoring chances only for shots to sail over the
woodwork. Clint Bolton in goals was surperb for the Heart, producing a series of athletic saves to
prevent the Jets from opening the scoring. And the Heart suffered an early blow when Josip Skoko
was forced from the field with a hamstring injury in the first half.
But the scores remained locked at 0-0 at half time, and so they would remain till the hour. The Jets
looked to have earned a penalty when Michael Bridges went down in the area, but the referee
elected not to award the shot from the spot. But at that point, the Jets finally achieved the
breakthrough they had been threatening for so long. Jeremy Brockie was the goal scorer, with a
solo effort after being given the ball close to the sidelines but centering play before his low shot
into the corner of the net caught Bolton unawares.
But when the Jets looked to be coasting to victory, an error cost them the win that had looked in
their keeping all evening. It came when Alex Terra chased a long ball, with Ben Kantarovsi gathering
the ball but lost control of it, the ball ballooning over keeper Ben Kennedy’s head into his own net.
And so the Heart earned their first point, while the Jets would rue a seemingly inevitable win that
got away.
Newcastle Jets 1 (J Brockie 60)
Melbourne Heart 1 (B Kantarovski 79og)
Jets – B Kennedy, A D’Apuzzo, N Topor-Stanley, L Milicevic, B Kantarovski, K Wehrman (T Elrich 85), M
Bridges, R Zadkovich, J Brockie (L Haliti 74), M Jesic, A Abbas (J Wheelhouse 64). Sub not used – P Henderson.
Heart – C Bolton, M Marrone, S Colosimo, M Beauchamp, M Thompson, R Worm, G Sibon, A Terra, J Skoko
(W Srhoj 19), N Kalmar (B Hamill 61), D Heffernan (E Babalj 77). Sub not used – P Zois.
Yellow Cards : Jets – A Abbas 45, M Bridges 50, B Kantarovski 65 Heart – Nil.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee - R Shepheard. Crowd – 8,735 at Energy Australia Stadium.
Defending champions Sydney FC travelled to Townsville on Saturday night to take on North
Queensland, but the Sky Blues suffered a shock defeat as the Fury took out an upset 2-1 victory.
There were few scoring opportunities in the first half. Alex Brosque had a chance but hit the ball
into the side netting, while for the Fury Ufuk Talay found himself with only the keeper to beat but
hit the ball high and wide.
But the game opened up in the second half, both sides looking to attack. And just after the hour,
Chris Payne crossed to Chris Grossman at the edge of the area, and a lightning-fast strike evaded
the dive of Sydney FC keeper Liam Reddy into the corner of the net to give the home side the lead.
As the clock began to count down, Sydney FC pressed hard and forced a succession of corners.
And with eight minutes to go, the Sky Blues got the game back on level terms; a cross from Terry
McFlynn being headed home by Scott Jamieson.
But just a minute later, the Fury were back in front. Substitute Dyron Daal slammed the ball
forward, and Liam Reddy’s fingertips got a touch but not enough to prevent the ball from hitting
the net. It was a super strike, which brought the small but vocal home ground to their feet. The
Fury slowed play down during the latter stages, preventing any chance of a late equaliser as the
Fury could sense a meritorious victory.
North Queensland Fury 2 (C Grossman 65, D Daal 83)
Sydney FC 1 (S Jamieson 82).
Fury – J Pasfield, E Akoto, M Hughes, U Talay (O Malik 46), G Edds, E Ssepuya (D Daal 67), D Williams (A
Casey 85), C Grossman, C Payne, S Storey, I Cernak. Sub not used – M Ham.
Sydney – L Reddy, S Ryall (S Cole 79), S Keller (A Golek 55), H Foxe, S Musialik, N Carle, A Brosque, T
McFlynn, S Jamieson, S-H Byun, R Grant (K Danning 71). Sub not used – I Necevski.
Yellow Cards : Fury – D Daal 85, S Storey 90+3. Sydney – Nil.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – P Green. Crowd – 5,177 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Melbourne Victory played their first home game at their new home ground when they hosted Perth
Glory on Saturday night. But the visitors from the West would spoil the Victory’s party when the
Glory completed an upset 2-0 win.
The Victory had an early chance when Surat Sukha had a run down the sideline before crossing to
Adrian Leijer, but the shot sailed wide. But it was the Glory who would take the lead after 23
minutes. A corner by Robbie Fowler wasn’t cleaned up properly by Michael Petkovic, and the crumbs
found Jamie Harnwell unattended at close range for a simple tap-in, and the crowd watched in
stunned silence as the Glory took the lead.
The Victory pressed hard late in the first half, and went close to equalising when Tom Pondeljak
was one-out with Glory keeper Tando Velaphi, but the shot went straight into Velaphi’s arms and
the chance was gone.
And four minutes after the break, the Glory doubled their lead. Todd Howarth took advantage of a
turnover by Grant Brebner, taking the ball into the Victory’s area. Robbie Fowler was double-teamed
by Glory defenders, but managed to get the ball back to Mile Sterjovski who volleyed the ball from
the edge of the area into the Victory net.
The Victory were on the back foot, but continued to work hard for the remainder of the match.
They created scoring chances, but a succession of acrobatic saves by Tando Velaphi denied the
Victory a chance to get back into the contest. And so the Victory were left shocked, as their first
game at their new stadium went against all expectations as the high-flying Victory were defeated.
Melbourne Victory 0
Perth Glory 2 (J Harnwell 23, M Sterjovski 49).
Victory – M Petkovic, A Leijer, K Muscat, R Vargas, E Berger, S Sukha (B Celeski 46), G Brebner, L Broxham (D
Ferreira 76), C Hernandez, M Dugandzic, T Pondeljak (M Angulo 63). Sub not used – S Mattei.
Glory – T Velaphi, S Neville, J Harnwell, J Coyne, N Sekulovski, M Sterjovski (H Fondyke 84), A Pellegrino, J
Burns, S McGarry, T Howarth, R Fowler (B Jelic 82). Subs not used – A Jukic, A Vrteski.
Yellow Cards : Victory – G Brebner 37. Glory – S Neville 43.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – G Parsons. Crowd – 20,385 at AAMI Park.
Central Coast were the only team to win in the opening round of the season. Returning home in
round 2, the Mariners found themselves having to come from behind in the second half, but
bounced back to force a draw against Adelaide.
The Reds thought they’d taken the lead early, after Sergio Van Dijk pounced on a corner and
tapped the ball into the Mariners’ net; but the assistant referee’s offside flag went up to disallow
the goal. The Reds continued to look dangerous, with Lucas Pantelis’s shot sailing agonisingly wide
of the woodwork and with a minute to go in the first half, it took an athletic save by Mariners’
keeper Jess Van Stratten to prevent the Reds from taking the lead.
But one minute was added on to the first half, and the Reds took the lead during that minute. A
free kick from Pantelis went into the area, but the Mariners’ defenders went missing at the critical
moment, resulting in the ball spilling free to Iain Fyfe to tap the ball in for the simplest of goals and
give the Reds a 1-0 lead at the break.
The Mariners had struggled to create any chances in the first half, but the momentum changed in
the second half as the home side went on the attack. Some acrobatic heroics by Adelaide keeper
Eugene Galekovic frustrated the Mariner charge, as Galekovic pulled off a string of amazing saves.
But eventually the Mariners would get the goal they strove so hard for, with Matt Simon going for
broke from the edge of the area with a strike that powered its way into the corner of the net to
level the scores. The game then wound down, with both sides happy to share the points.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (M Simon 84)
Adelaide United 1 (I Fyfe 45+1).
Mariners – J Van Stratten, A Wilkinson, J Rose, P Zwaanswijk, B Porter (P Bojic 82), J Hutchinson, O Bozniac,
M McGlinchey, M Simon, A Kwasnik (R Griffiths 60), D McBreen (A Mrdja 71). Sub not used – M Ryan.
Reds – E Galekovic, I Fyfe, D Mullen, Cassio, L Pantelis, A Hughes, S Van Dijk (F Monterosso 90+4), M Flores
(I Ramsay 71), P Reid, I Shin (C Watson 68), M Leckie. Sub not used – M Birighitti.
Yellow Cards : Mariners – J Rose 18, P Zwaanswijk 70, O Bosniac 90+4. Reds – A Hughes 15,86, D Mullen
36, E Galekovic 87.
Red Cards : Reds – A Hughes 86.
Referee – K Griffiths. Crowd – 8,447 at Bluetongue Stadium.