| Adelaide broke through for their first win of the season when the Reds outlasted Melbourne Heart 3-2 in cold and wet conditions at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night. The Reds went off to a flying start, with Matthew Leckie pouncing on a bungled back pass, with Matthew Beauchamp losing his balance and Leckie being on hand to gather the ball and slam it into the Heart net, and as the late arrivers to the stadium were still making their way to their seats, the home side was already in front. The Reds were the dominant side through the first half, and Leckie had three more chances during the first half which he could have put away but didn’t. But the Heart weathered the storm, and late in the half began to create chances of their own. And with three minutes before half time, a cross from Dean Heffernan was headed into the net by Rutger Worm, to see the scores tied up at 1-1 at the break. Into the second half, an just a few minutes in, Lucas Pantelis took a shot at goal. Heart keeper Clint Bolton saved the shot, but the ball spilled free to Bolton’s former Sydney FC team-mate Iain Ramsey at point blank range for an easy goal that put the Reds back in front. As the clock ran down, Dean Heffernan was subbed off and replaced with Eli Babalj. And it turned out to be an inspired substitution; as Babalj got himself on the goalscoring list. Rutger Worm, scorer of the Heart’s first goal, was instrumental with a long run down the sideline before a cross found Babalj for a tap-in to level the scores. But the Reds took the lead for the third time, with just minutes to go. With the match looking like it was headed for a draw, a long- range strike by Ramsey slammed into the Heart net, and the Reds were victorious for the first time this season. Adelaide United 3 (M Leckie 2, I Ramsey 52,88) Melbourne Heart 2 (R Worm 42, E Babalj 74). Reds – E Galekovic, I Fyfe, D Mullen, Cassio, L Pantelis, M Flores (F Monterosso 90+2), P Reid, I Shin (M Mullen 67), I Ramsey, M Leckie, C Watson. Subs not used – M Birighitti, J Costa. Heart – C Bolton, M Marrone, S Colosimo, M Beauchamp, M Thompson, R Worm, G Sibon, W Srhoj (B Hamill 66), N Kalmar, D Heffernan (E Babalj 66), A Behich (J Hoffman 73). Sub not used – P Zois. Yellow Cards : Reds – I Fyfe 5. Heart – R Worm 45+1, W Srhoj 65, J Hoffman 75, M Beauchamp 84. Red Cards – Nil. Referee – B Williams. Crowd – 7,370 at Hindmarsh Stadium. |
| 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 Melb Victory (3:00pm) Melbourne Heart v Perth (5:00pm) ROUND 5 Friday 3rd September Central Coast v Melb Victory (8:00pm) Saturday 4th September Melb Heart v North Queensland (5:30pm) Sydney FC v Adelaide (7:45pm) Sunday 5th September Newcastle v Brisbane (3:00pm) Perth v Wellington (5:00pm) All times shown are Sydney time. |
Perth Glory’s dreams of returning to the glory days of their NSL dominance moved a step closer to
reality when they moved to the top of the table with a 1-0 win over Newcastle at NIB Stadium on
Saturday afternoon.
The Glory were the better team in the first half, and created plenty of scoring chances. Mile
Sterjovski sailed just wide of the posts at 15 minutes, and shortly afterwards Jamie Harnwell got a
shot in only for it to land in the arms of Newcastle keeper Ben Kennedy.
Sterjovski was forced off injured in the 38th minute, and just a minute later his replacement Branko
Jelic hit the woodwork. But as the 45th minute passed, and the fourth official indicated there was a
minute to be added on, Adrian Pellegrino crossed to the area. The ball found Todd Howarth, but
his shot was saved by Kennedy. But although Kennedy stopped the ball, he was unable to control it
as it rebounded to Jelic, who found the net. Despite claims of a handball by the Jets defenders, the
referee awarded the goal, and the Glory went into the rooms at half time with a 1-0 lead.
The Glory continued to dominate play as the second half went on, with Robbie Fowler twice hitting
the woodwork and Todd Howarth also narrowly missing. But the Glory were unable to add to their
goal. At the other end, the Jets had enjoyed few scoring opportunities until the final minutes. But
it was Newcastle who finished strongly, forcing the Glory to defend grimly in the final stages.
A long-rang shot by Labinot Haliti sailed high and wide. Jeremy Brockie and Ruben Zadkovich both
forced athletic saves from Tando Velaphi in the final minutes, but the Glory hung on to take a 1-0
lead; raising hopes in Perth that the Glory were back to their best as they took top spot on the
ladder.
Perth Glory 1 (B Jelic 1)
Newcastle Jets 0.
Glory – T Velaphi, J Coyne, J Harnwell (J Mitchell 90+2), J Burns, R Fowler (A Jukic 87), S Neville, S McGarry,
A Pellegrino, T Howarth, N Sekulovski, M Sterjovski (B Jelic 38). Sub not used – A Vrteski.
Jets – B Kennedy, A D’Apuzzo, L Milicevic, B Kantarovski, K Wehrman, M Bridges (L Haliti 67), R Zadkovich,
T Elrich, J Wheelhouse (A Abbas 46), J Brockie, M Jesic. Subs not used – T Regan, P Henderson.
Yellow Cards : Glory – S Neville 29, J Burns 59. Jets – R Zadkovich 43.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – M Breeze. Crowd – 12,031 at NIB Stadium.
Brisbane Roar, after the bye last week, kick-started their season with a 1-0 win over defending
champions Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The Roar went close to scoring early, as Matt McKay sent a free kick through the Sydney wall, to
see it deflect of a Sydney defender towards the line. Liam Reddy dived desperately, and referee
Chris Beath saw enough to be convinced that Reddy had completed the save and waved play-on;
although replays showed the ball had crossed the line. But the goal wasn’t awarded, and the game
would remain scoreless throughout the first half; a half of football in which few chances were
created.
But the game would quickly be turned on its head in the second half, as the Roar got themselves
onto the scoreboard. It came when Hayden Foxe put in a tackle to dispossess Henrique, only for
the ball to spill free to an unmarked Matt McKay who faced little opposition as he slammed the ball
into the Sydney net.
Sydney FC could so easily have equalised just a minute later, their best chance of the game coming
immediately after the Roar’s goal; but Rhyan Grant’s shot bounced off the woodwork. On the hour,
Kofi Danning had only the keeper to beat but his shot landed straight in Roar keeper Michael
Theoklitos’ arms.
Kosta Barbarouses blew a chance to double the Roar’s lead with ten minutes to go as his shot sailed
wide when he should have at least put Reddy under pressure. But the sky blues never looked like
snatching an equaliser; and the Roar were happy to count down time and claim the scalp of the
defending champions.
Brisbane Roar 1 (M McKay 53)
Sydney FC 0.
Roar – M Theoklitos, M Smith, L Devere, S Stefanutto, I Franjic (M Susak 18), E Paartalu, K Barbarouses,
Henrique (Reinaldo 81), M McKay, M Nichols (L Brattan 68), T Broich. Sub not used – A Redmayne.
Sydney – L Reddy, S Ryall, S Keller, H Foxe (S Cole 81), S Musialik, N Carle (H Moriyasu 77), K Danning (B
Gan 70), T McFlynn, S Jamieson, S-H Byun, R Grant. Sub not used – I Necevski.
Yellow Cards : Roar – Henrique 40. Sydney – H Foxe 11, S Jamieson 39, S-H Byu 45.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – C Beath. Crowd – 10,339 at Suncorp Stadium.
Wellington Phoenix broke through for their first win of 2010/11 when they completed a 2-0 win
over Central Coast in a lacklustre clash at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Phoenix went close to scoring in the third minute, Tim Brown getting the ball past Mariners’
keeper Jess Vanstratten who had run a long way from goal in an attempt to get the ball; but with
an open goal in front of him, Brown’s kick sailed wide.
But in the tenth minute, the Phoenix took the lead. Manny Muscat from a throw-in, got the ball to
Chris Greenacre who cleverly flicked it back to Muscat. Vanstratten again left the net to attempt to
get the ball, and this time it was fatal as Muscat got the ball over to Leo Bertos for the simplest of
tap-in goals.
It could easily have been 2-0 just a few minutes later, as Bertos flicked the ball to Greenacre; but
this time Vanstratten completed the save. Dylan Macallister had a shot at goal a minute later, but
lobbed it high over the goals.
Matt Simon had a chance to equalise on the half hour mark, as a corner sailed to his head, but
Simon’s header was saved by Phoenix keeper Mark Paston. Paston appeared to injure his shoulder in
the act of making the save, but he completed the game and there were few chances that needed
to be saved.
It was 1-0 the Phoenix at half time, and the Mariners never looked like getting back into the game
during the second half. On the hour, Tim Brown gathered possession just inside his own half, and
lobbed the ball forward into the path of Paul Ifill, who completed the attacking raid as he slammed
the ball into the corner of the Mariners’ net.
With the game 2-0, the Phoenix were happy to sit back and defend for the remainder of the
contest; while the Mariners couldn’t find any way through the watertight Phoenix defence as the
clock woun down to give the Phoenix their first run of three premiership points for the season.
Wellington Phoenix 2 (L Bertos 10, P Ifill 61)
Central Coast Mariners 0
Phoenix – M Paston, M Muscat, T Lochhead, T Brown, L Bertos (O Cornejo 58), P Ifill, C Greenacre, V Lia, B
Sigmund, A Durante, D Macallister (D De Costa 90+3). Subs not used – G McMaster, T Hearfield.
Mariners – J Vanstratten, J Rose, P Bojic, B Porter (N Mrdja 64), P Zwaanswijk, J Hutchinson, R Griffiths, O
Bozanic, M McGlinchey, A Wilkinson, M Simon. Subs not used – M Ryan, D McBreen, C Doig.
Yellow Cards : Phoenix – T Lochhead 63. Mariners – N Mrdja 75
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – P O’Leary. Crowd – 9,553 at Westpac Stadium.
A match where the penalty spot was prominent finished in a 2-2 draw, Melbourne Victory being
held to a home draw against a 9-man North Queensland Fury at AAMI Park on Sunday.
The Fury soon found in front; after Victory keeper Michael Petkovic left his line to make a save but
was unable to control the ball; and in a scramble on the line, Eugene Sseppuya got the shot into
the Victory net.
But the game was turned on its head at the half hour mark when Chris Grossman brought down
Robbie Kruse inside the area, and referee Chris Boyle showed his displeasure, not just pointing to
the penalty spot but also showing Grossman a red card, leaving the Fury a man short. Kevin Muscat
stepped up to the spot and sent the ball into the Fury net to level the scores.
The first half finished 1-1, and the second half saw the Victory looking on top of the tiring fury.
Wave after wave of forward movement by the Victory looked as if it would inevitably produce a
score, and the Fury were forced to desperately defend. Tom Pondeljak hit the woodwork on the
hour, but the scores remained deadlocked.
But with just 15 minutes to go, the Victory looked to have pulled off the winner when Kellaway
was brought down by Eric Akoto inside the area. The referee again awarded the Victory a penalty,
and Muscat put it away to put the Victory in front. And there looked to be no way back for the
Fury when Akoto clashed with Muscat five minutes later and was shown a red card, reducing the
Fury to nine men.
But the Fury refused to concede, getting the ball into their area, and after another physical
challenge the referee pointed to the penalty spot for the third time in the game. Chris Payne calmly
put the ball into the Victory net, stunning the home fans as the scores were level. And despite the
Victory having a two-man numerical advantage in the final minutes, they were unable to find a
winner and the Fury held on for a remarkable draw.
Melbourne Victory 2 (K Muscat 30pen, 75pen)
North Queensland Fury 2 (E Sseppuya 16, C Payne 82pen).
Victory – M Petkovic, K Muscat, M Dugandzic, S Sukha (D Ferreira 75), L Broxham, R Vargas, T Pondeljak (G
Kellaway 64), C Hernandez, E Berger, R Kruse, A Leijer. Subs not used – M Angulo, S Mattei.
Fury – J Pasfield, E Akoto (Sent off 81), M Hughes, G Edds, E Sseppuya (A Casey 32), D Williams (D Daal 63),
C Grossman (Sent off 29), C Payne, S Story, O Malik (U Talay 78), I Cernak. Sub not used – P Henderson.
Yellow Cards : Victory – A Leijer 10, L Broxham 51, M Dugandzic 55, R Kruse 65, D Ferreira 79. Fury – Nil.
Red Cards : Fury - C Grossman 29, E Akota 81.
Referee – C Boyle. Crowd – 13,318 at AAMI Park.
reality when they moved to the top of the table with a 1-0 win over Newcastle at NIB Stadium on
Saturday afternoon.
The Glory were the better team in the first half, and created plenty of scoring chances. Mile
Sterjovski sailed just wide of the posts at 15 minutes, and shortly afterwards Jamie Harnwell got a
shot in only for it to land in the arms of Newcastle keeper Ben Kennedy.
Sterjovski was forced off injured in the 38th minute, and just a minute later his replacement Branko
Jelic hit the woodwork. But as the 45th minute passed, and the fourth official indicated there was a
minute to be added on, Adrian Pellegrino crossed to the area. The ball found Todd Howarth, but
his shot was saved by Kennedy. But although Kennedy stopped the ball, he was unable to control it
as it rebounded to Jelic, who found the net. Despite claims of a handball by the Jets defenders, the
referee awarded the goal, and the Glory went into the rooms at half time with a 1-0 lead.
The Glory continued to dominate play as the second half went on, with Robbie Fowler twice hitting
the woodwork and Todd Howarth also narrowly missing. But the Glory were unable to add to their
goal. At the other end, the Jets had enjoyed few scoring opportunities until the final minutes. But
it was Newcastle who finished strongly, forcing the Glory to defend grimly in the final stages.
A long-rang shot by Labinot Haliti sailed high and wide. Jeremy Brockie and Ruben Zadkovich both
forced athletic saves from Tando Velaphi in the final minutes, but the Glory hung on to take a 1-0
lead; raising hopes in Perth that the Glory were back to their best as they took top spot on the
ladder.
Perth Glory 1 (B Jelic 1)
Newcastle Jets 0.
Glory – T Velaphi, J Coyne, J Harnwell (J Mitchell 90+2), J Burns, R Fowler (A Jukic 87), S Neville, S McGarry,
A Pellegrino, T Howarth, N Sekulovski, M Sterjovski (B Jelic 38). Sub not used – A Vrteski.
Jets – B Kennedy, A D’Apuzzo, L Milicevic, B Kantarovski, K Wehrman, M Bridges (L Haliti 67), R Zadkovich,
T Elrich, J Wheelhouse (A Abbas 46), J Brockie, M Jesic. Subs not used – T Regan, P Henderson.
Yellow Cards : Glory – S Neville 29, J Burns 59. Jets – R Zadkovich 43.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – M Breeze. Crowd – 12,031 at NIB Stadium.
Brisbane Roar, after the bye last week, kick-started their season with a 1-0 win over defending
champions Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The Roar went close to scoring early, as Matt McKay sent a free kick through the Sydney wall, to
see it deflect of a Sydney defender towards the line. Liam Reddy dived desperately, and referee
Chris Beath saw enough to be convinced that Reddy had completed the save and waved play-on;
although replays showed the ball had crossed the line. But the goal wasn’t awarded, and the game
would remain scoreless throughout the first half; a half of football in which few chances were
created.
But the game would quickly be turned on its head in the second half, as the Roar got themselves
onto the scoreboard. It came when Hayden Foxe put in a tackle to dispossess Henrique, only for
the ball to spill free to an unmarked Matt McKay who faced little opposition as he slammed the ball
into the Sydney net.
Sydney FC could so easily have equalised just a minute later, their best chance of the game coming
immediately after the Roar’s goal; but Rhyan Grant’s shot bounced off the woodwork. On the hour,
Kofi Danning had only the keeper to beat but his shot landed straight in Roar keeper Michael
Theoklitos’ arms.
Kosta Barbarouses blew a chance to double the Roar’s lead with ten minutes to go as his shot sailed
wide when he should have at least put Reddy under pressure. But the sky blues never looked like
snatching an equaliser; and the Roar were happy to count down time and claim the scalp of the
defending champions.
Brisbane Roar 1 (M McKay 53)
Sydney FC 0.
Roar – M Theoklitos, M Smith, L Devere, S Stefanutto, I Franjic (M Susak 18), E Paartalu, K Barbarouses,
Henrique (Reinaldo 81), M McKay, M Nichols (L Brattan 68), T Broich. Sub not used – A Redmayne.
Sydney – L Reddy, S Ryall, S Keller, H Foxe (S Cole 81), S Musialik, N Carle (H Moriyasu 77), K Danning (B
Gan 70), T McFlynn, S Jamieson, S-H Byun, R Grant. Sub not used – I Necevski.
Yellow Cards : Roar – Henrique 40. Sydney – H Foxe 11, S Jamieson 39, S-H Byu 45.
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – C Beath. Crowd – 10,339 at Suncorp Stadium.
Wellington Phoenix broke through for their first win of 2010/11 when they completed a 2-0 win
over Central Coast in a lacklustre clash at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Phoenix went close to scoring in the third minute, Tim Brown getting the ball past Mariners’
keeper Jess Vanstratten who had run a long way from goal in an attempt to get the ball; but with
an open goal in front of him, Brown’s kick sailed wide.
But in the tenth minute, the Phoenix took the lead. Manny Muscat from a throw-in, got the ball to
Chris Greenacre who cleverly flicked it back to Muscat. Vanstratten again left the net to attempt to
get the ball, and this time it was fatal as Muscat got the ball over to Leo Bertos for the simplest of
tap-in goals.
It could easily have been 2-0 just a few minutes later, as Bertos flicked the ball to Greenacre; but
this time Vanstratten completed the save. Dylan Macallister had a shot at goal a minute later, but
lobbed it high over the goals.
Matt Simon had a chance to equalise on the half hour mark, as a corner sailed to his head, but
Simon’s header was saved by Phoenix keeper Mark Paston. Paston appeared to injure his shoulder in
the act of making the save, but he completed the game and there were few chances that needed
to be saved.
It was 1-0 the Phoenix at half time, and the Mariners never looked like getting back into the game
during the second half. On the hour, Tim Brown gathered possession just inside his own half, and
lobbed the ball forward into the path of Paul Ifill, who completed the attacking raid as he slammed
the ball into the corner of the Mariners’ net.
With the game 2-0, the Phoenix were happy to sit back and defend for the remainder of the
contest; while the Mariners couldn’t find any way through the watertight Phoenix defence as the
clock woun down to give the Phoenix their first run of three premiership points for the season.
Wellington Phoenix 2 (L Bertos 10, P Ifill 61)
Central Coast Mariners 0
Phoenix – M Paston, M Muscat, T Lochhead, T Brown, L Bertos (O Cornejo 58), P Ifill, C Greenacre, V Lia, B
Sigmund, A Durante, D Macallister (D De Costa 90+3). Subs not used – G McMaster, T Hearfield.
Mariners – J Vanstratten, J Rose, P Bojic, B Porter (N Mrdja 64), P Zwaanswijk, J Hutchinson, R Griffiths, O
Bozanic, M McGlinchey, A Wilkinson, M Simon. Subs not used – M Ryan, D McBreen, C Doig.
Yellow Cards : Phoenix – T Lochhead 63. Mariners – N Mrdja 75
Red Cards – Nil.
Referee – P O’Leary. Crowd – 9,553 at Westpac Stadium.
A match where the penalty spot was prominent finished in a 2-2 draw, Melbourne Victory being
held to a home draw against a 9-man North Queensland Fury at AAMI Park on Sunday.
The Fury soon found in front; after Victory keeper Michael Petkovic left his line to make a save but
was unable to control the ball; and in a scramble on the line, Eugene Sseppuya got the shot into
the Victory net.
But the game was turned on its head at the half hour mark when Chris Grossman brought down
Robbie Kruse inside the area, and referee Chris Boyle showed his displeasure, not just pointing to
the penalty spot but also showing Grossman a red card, leaving the Fury a man short. Kevin Muscat
stepped up to the spot and sent the ball into the Fury net to level the scores.
The first half finished 1-1, and the second half saw the Victory looking on top of the tiring fury.
Wave after wave of forward movement by the Victory looked as if it would inevitably produce a
score, and the Fury were forced to desperately defend. Tom Pondeljak hit the woodwork on the
hour, but the scores remained deadlocked.
But with just 15 minutes to go, the Victory looked to have pulled off the winner when Kellaway
was brought down by Eric Akoto inside the area. The referee again awarded the Victory a penalty,
and Muscat put it away to put the Victory in front. And there looked to be no way back for the
Fury when Akoto clashed with Muscat five minutes later and was shown a red card, reducing the
Fury to nine men.
But the Fury refused to concede, getting the ball into their area, and after another physical
challenge the referee pointed to the penalty spot for the third time in the game. Chris Payne calmly
put the ball into the Victory net, stunning the home fans as the scores were level. And despite the
Victory having a two-man numerical advantage in the final minutes, they were unable to find a
winner and the Fury held on for a remarkable draw.
Melbourne Victory 2 (K Muscat 30pen, 75pen)
North Queensland Fury 2 (E Sseppuya 16, C Payne 82pen).
Victory – M Petkovic, K Muscat, M Dugandzic, S Sukha (D Ferreira 75), L Broxham, R Vargas, T Pondeljak (G
Kellaway 64), C Hernandez, E Berger, R Kruse, A Leijer. Subs not used – M Angulo, S Mattei.
Fury – J Pasfield, E Akoto (Sent off 81), M Hughes, G Edds, E Sseppuya (A Casey 32), D Williams (D Daal 63),
C Grossman (Sent off 29), C Payne, S Story, O Malik (U Talay 78), I Cernak. Sub not used – P Henderson.
Yellow Cards : Victory – A Leijer 10, L Broxham 51, M Dugandzic 55, R Kruse 65, D Ferreira 79. Fury – Nil.
Red Cards : Fury - C Grossman 29, E Akota 81.
Referee – C Boyle. Crowd – 13,318 at AAMI Park.
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