In A-League of its Own: Round 15

Melbourne Victory has jumped a shaken Adelaide United to claim 2nd spot following their 3-1 win over Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Saturday evening. Victory had Sydney, who finished the game with 9 men, on the back foot for most of the 90 minutes and looked as sharp in defence as they have for the past few games. The opening goal came in the 25th minute when Adama Traoré put Marco Rojas in space, scoring from the edge of the box after a decisive deflection off former Victory defender Sebastian Ryall. Any hope for Sydney was as good as gone when Tiago Calvano saw red after being judged by the referee’s assistant to have elbowed Leigh Broxham in the face in a challenge. Archie Thompson gave Melbourne the comfortable 2-0 buffer soon after the red card when he converted a lovely Marcos Flores through ball. Rojas put the game to bed with a 3rd goal when his effort benefited from another deflection; however this time he was awarded the goal. Joel Griffiths sparked a desperate revival from Sydney when he got his 2nd goal in the 2 games he’s played since returning from China but it was a case of too little too late for the Sky Blues. Their season revival also gets put on hold until their hugely important game next week against Newcastle.

 

Central Coast has increased its lead at the top of the table to 5 points with a 3-1 win over Adelaide United. Adelaide scored first through their right back, Daniel Bowles, whose wonderful left foot effort passed Matt Ryan with ease. It took until the 67th minute for Central Coast to equalise and it was youngster Mitchell Duke who managed to hit one past Eugene Galekovic from close range. Duke didn’t have to wait long for his 2nd; nailing a shot from 20 yards to the bottom corner just 5 minutes later. Mike McGlinchey added a 3rd goal 3 minutes from time when Nick Fitzgerald’s squaring header found the Kiwi at an unmissable distance. In a shocking twist for the Reds, manager John Kosmina has quit his role, citing a lack of trust between him and the board. It comes after a poor run of form for a team who were challenging for top spot just 4 games ago, but now find themselves in a 3-way battle for 2nd. He says that the club has “no clear direction” and says that the decision-making is “reactive and impulsive at best.” Assistant Michael Valkanis is widely expected to undertake the managerial role until a permanent manager is appointed at season’s end.

 

Melbourne Heart has fallen to a 10-man Western Sydney 1-0 thanks to a Shinji Ono penalty. The returning Eli Babalj was placed on the pine alongside Vince Grella, who made his long awaited return to the game after signing for Heart some 3 months ago. Wanderers’ defender Jerome Polenz was shown red after he brought down David Williams inside the area just 15 minutes into the match. Josip Tadi?’s resulting penalty was saved by Ante Covic prompting the 14,624-strong crowd to go completely wild. Surprisingly it was the Heart who wanted to hear the half-time whistle the most after Western Sydney had controlled the rest of the first half. John Aloisi’s half-time fury did the trick on his team as the Heart produced some more positive football after the break. Grella was introduced in the 67th minute but could only watch as the Wanderers’ regained their dominance, winning a penalty which Ono duly converted. Heart somehow failed to get past Ante Covic in a last-minute scramble which would have sent Aloisi berserk. Grella’s stint on the field saw him tear his calf, bringing his brilliant career to a sad end. He played in both the 2006 and 2010 world cups as well as succeeding in the Serie A with Parma and Torino and the EPL with Blackburn.

 

Brisbane overtaken Perth 1-0 at nib Stadium in a win that sees them sit alongside Sydney on 20 points in 7th. The Glory should have taken the lead inside the first 15 minutes when both Travis Dodd and Dean Heffernan scuffed simple chances. They were made to pay by Meyer, who blasted a shot past Danny Vukovic from 25 yards to give the defending champions the decisive advantage. Nick Ward continued the trend in front of goal for the home side when he sprayed a chance gifted to him by Brisbane keeper Michael Theo. Brisbane twice cleared off the line in the final moments, leaving the Glory wondering how they failed to at least find the net.

 

Wellington has let a rare chance at 3 points slip, letting Newcastle back into the game when Tony Lochhead was sent off for a foul on James Virgili. Emile Heskey headed home the equaliser from the resulting free-kick to give the Jets a share of the spoils.

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.

Leave a Comment

*