In A-League of Its Own

Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League

As the A-League reaches the end of a year, we can begin to clearly see the way the final positions on the table may turn out. Brisbane look the goods for the premiership, and confirmed that on the weekend by defeating a struggling North Queensland on their home turf 2-0. Their dominance has been shared by numerous players, including Kosta Barbarouses, who scored 2 and has been a revelation for the Roar, who picked him up from Wellington in the off-season.

Adelaide took on Melbourne Heart and got beaten 2-1 by the newcomers. Despite Adelaide being up the table this season, they weren’t able to deliver the goods when they needed to against the Heart. In response to Sergio Van Dijk’s goal on half-time, Heart took a while to reply but they did so through skipper Simon Colosimo in the 89th minute. John Aloisi Earnt the team 3 points with a strike of his own 1 minute from time.

Wellington hosted a resurging Newcastle at the Cake Tin, and Tim Brown scored his traditional early goal 18 minutes in, then young gun Marco Rojas scored his first ever A-League goal 31 minutes in, and then Chris Greenacre added a third 4 minutes from half-time for the home team. Newcastle were visibly stunned after half-time, and weren’t able to penetrate the Phoenix’s goal much. Former Mariners’ player Dylan Macallister scored a fourth to make it a rout 10 minutes from the final whistle, and push his team up the table to seventh.

Melbourne Victory hosted Perth Glory at AAMI Park, to try and continue their recent good form. Following their usual early season blues, Victory had climbed the table to be in the top 6 by the start of the match, and could confirm their position with a win in this game.They did so, with Archie Thompson scoring right on half-time, but also pulling a hammy in the process. He is reported to be out for up to five weeks, missing some of their Champions League group games. Roddy Vargas made sure of the win with a rare goal in the 65th minute. Perth now find themselves sliding down the table, and are extremely unlikely to make the finals from here – again.

The next A-League game comng to us from AAMI Park is Newcastle travelling down to meet the Victory on the 27th of December. The game starts reasonably at 6 p.m., so get down there to see the Jets tackle the mighty Victory.

About Tom Riordan

Tom Riordan is in his second year of a Bachelor of Journalism at Swinburne University. He loves all sports, and plays for Brunswick Cricket Club. He supports the Western Bulldogs and can be found on weekends among half a dozen others in Q38 on the top level of the MCC.

Comments

  1. Allsop!!! Archie seems to have plenty of helpers already up front! Where’s the midfield defense?

  2. Kruse is off in Jan (that’s the rumour).

  3. That makes more sense. A good fit.

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