Melbourne Heart has returned to its winning ways handing Perth their second consecutive 1-0 defeat in a heated encounter at AAMI Park. Heart’s defence were sturdy throughout the game with Clint Bolton pulling off one of the saves of the season to keep out Shane Smeltz’s shot. Heart skipper Fred had 2 golden opportunities in the second half to put his team ahead, however it was worth the wait; Golgol Mebrahtu repaid his manager for giving him a go by scoring a late winner that sent the home fans into a frenzy. The game was partially marred by an incident between Dean Heffernan and Josip Tadi?, who appeared to go down rather easily when Heffernan appeared to brush past him off the ball. It was blown out of proportion by Heart manager John Aloisi and Glory captain Jacob Burns, whose clash in the tunnel at half-time made for some heated press-conferences after the game.
Adelaide United has continued their incredible start to the season by defeating rivals Melbourne Victory 4-2 in hot conditions at a packed Hindmarsh Stadium. Evan Kostopolous kicked off the scoring after Fabio Ferreira got a low cross past Nathan Coe. Andrew Nabbout got one back immediately for the Victory when he managed to convert Marco Rojas’ low cross by sliding it past Paul Izzo. However that was where the fun stopped for the Victory as they found themselves 4-1 down by half-time. 3 goals in 10 minutes had Hindmarsh Stadium rocking, with a large amount of the action coming from Marcelo Carrusca who scored a delightful curling goal and then assisted Evan Kostopolous’ second goal. Marco Rojas scored yet again straight after the break to give the visitors some hope of a comeback, however it wasn’t to be as Adelaide shut up shop; content with the 4-2 win.
Newcastle Jets hosted the Central Coast Mariners in a much anticipated F3 derby and despite the Jets being underdogs, they weren’t afraid to remind their rivals of their championship victory in season 3. Newcastle were missing 8 of their squad through injury and international duty, meaning that the Mariners were near certainties to get something out of the game. The lack of experience showed as the Mariners had numerous shots in the first half which were fortunately wayward for most of the time. Daniel McBreen scored his 8th and 9th foals of the season in the second half to send the Mariners back to top spot. Oliver Bozanic sustained a shocking head injury in the second half which saw a massive lump appear to the right of his forehead and had the crowd gasping at the replay.
Sydney has heaped further misery onto an out of form Wellington by winning at the Cake Tin for the first time in almost 5 years 2-1. Frank Farina stamped his mark on the team by starting Jason ?ulina and changing the team’s on-field mentality. On the stroke of halftime, Culina found Sebastian Ryall’s head with a brilliant cross hard against the touchline. Terry McFlynn slid through Rhyan Grant for a much needed 2nd goal just after the hour mark. They managed to hold off a fast finishing Wellington who had shouts for a penalty in an incident that saw McFlynn pick up a second yellow before scoring one later on through Jeremy Brockie. Brockie then drew Sydney stopper Vedran Janjetovic into a spectacular save in the dying moments to keep the 3 points with Sydney.
Shinji Ono has finally scored his first A-League goal, albeit a dubious penalty, in a vital 1-0 win at home to defending champions Brisbane. The game calmed down after a hectic first half before Ono slotted Western Sydney’s goal and clung on during the last 10 minutes which saw the Roar hit the bar twice.
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.
NRL fans are aware of the impact of “rep season” on their ladder – should A-Leaguers get used to similar, with the Socceroos through to another Asian comp?
Also, is Aloisi sounding a lot like a forward these days with constant complaints?
The league was lacking without the Socceroos players in the last couple of weeks, Round 9 was particularly awful. On the upside if the players are missing when the league still goes on you might pick up some good odds on some games if you know your stuff.
Glory are well in to their annual pre-xmas form slump just like last season and the season before, it’s eerie that both them and Brisbane are having identifical seasons so far.