matt.morris
10-09-2006, 07:05 PM
**Note that these wrapups are from my own perspective and probably not "fair and balanced" at all, but rather just the way I see them. I try and be fair, but being a supporter of a club will always have a slight bias towards my team.**
Wow. What a soggy week.
3 out of the 4 games this week were wet... to say the least. Still, there were 11 goals in total scored in a round that saw two matches won convincingly, and two matches end in draws.
First up was Adelaide Utd. meeting the Newcastle Jets in Adelaide's first home game in 8 outings. Both teams had experienced poor form in the leadup to the match, but Adelaide proved early that they're not out for the count just yet this season with a technically beautiful goal from Fernando in the 8th minute. Things just got worse for The Jets as the day went along, conceding 3 goals from Fernando, Robert Cornthwaite and Shengqing Qu before the break.
Although The Jets notched one back in the 52nd through a nice lob from Mark Bridge, but a stupid mistake down the other end of the park saw Andrew Durrante kick the ball from his own keepers hand for a very avoidable own goal. Fernando wrapped up a well deserved 5-1 Adelaide win in the 73rd with a walk-in from a fantastic leadup courtesy of 66th minute substitute Bobby Petta. My man of the match was the ever-steady Shenqing Qu
(I picked it :D)
Grand Final runners-up Central Coast Mariners played host to Queensland Roar on a flooded Bluetongue Stadium pitch. The Mariners were without a point or a goal for the two opening rounds where Roar could seemingly do no wrong. Chances were few and far between, and conditions made it extremely hard to judge passes and tackles. In a fairly uneventful game, the Mariners and Roar slipped and slid their way to a goalless draw. Man of the match was Referee Peter O'Leary, who at times seemed to be more involved in play than either sides. Plus, he practically did a backflip when he fell over in a puddle.
(I PICKED IT!! :D:D)
The next match to be played under rain was New Zealand Knights Vs. Melbourne Victory at North Harbor Stadium in Aukland. Both sides were coming off wins last round, with The Knights looking very sharp and Victory without key Brazilian players Fred (suspended) and Alessandro (Injured) making way for youngster Kristian Sarkies and Steve Pantelidis to step up and show what they can do. Victory christened their new and league-unique away strip with a beautiful 9th minute Archie Thompson composed ball to Danny Allsopp who easily slotted in his third goal of the season, but things weren't all so rosy for the Victory in the opening 10 minutes, with an ugly clash of legs leaving Scottish midfielder Grant Brebner with a strained knee. He played on until the 72nd, but things are not looking good for next week.
Things got worse for The Knights in the 17th minute, with Jonas Salley injuring his right ankle and was stretchered from the field. Things continued much to Victory's favour with rock solid defence keeping out anything the Knights could muster.
Archie Thompson continued his winning form with his first goal of Season 2 in the 22nd. A fumble from New Zealand keeper Danny Milosevic saw Thompson take the ball to the goal line, shoot from an impossible angle, hit the inside of the far post and take Victory to an early 2-0 lead.
Kevin Muscat then sent a clear message to Danny Allsopp that he's also competing for the golden boot this season with a nice header from a Kristian Sarkies set piece in the 36th to blow the lead out to 3-0 before the break.
Allsopp and Thompson teamed up again in the 62nd minute to come extremely close to taking a 4-0 lead after beating the keeper and narrowly curling the ball wide of goal. New Zealand looked a lot more settled in the second half, but their efforts eventuated to nothing for their first defeat of the season. Man of the match was hard to pick, with the entire Victory team putting in a great performance. I'm going to give it to Archie Thompson for quality assists, selfless play and that absolute cracker of a goal.
(Once again, I picked it :D)
The final match was a 1-1 draw between Perth Glory Vs. Sydney FC in Perth. I didn't actually watch the match, so here's the rundown from the official A-League website.
Perth Glory have come from behind to claim a point against Sydney FC in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday.
Sasho Petrovski gave the visitors the lead in the 37th minute with a well-taken header before Jamie Coyne equalised with a header of his own in the 70th minute.
Both sides had the chance to snatch all three points late in the match, but neither could capitalise as the match ended in a deserving tie.
It was the fourth league encounter between Sydney and Perth, with the Glory still yet to taste success against the inaugural champion.
Sydney entered the match without several of its stars, including Mark Rudan (suspended), Alex Brosque (ankle), Robbie Middleby (broken collarbone), David Carney (shoulder) and Jacob Timpano (groin), leaving coach Terry Butcher with just 13 senior players to choose from before the club signed Matthew Bingley and Joel Thissen on short-term deals.
On the other hand, Perth's disastrous run with injury and illness during the pre-season has come to an end, with only Bobby Despotovski (back) and Mark Robertson (groin) unavailable.
In a fast-paced start to the match, Perth keeper Aleks Vrteski was forced into action in the 10th minute when Alvin Ceccoli found himself open with a free shot on goal, but the defender's sizzling shot from just inside the box was well-saved by the Young Socceroo.
Two minutes later, it was Perth's turn to attack and a clever flick from veteran striker Stuart Young found the fast-moving Leo Bertos, but his low-drilled shot drifted agonisingly wide of the post.
Stan Lazaridis and Young each tried their luck from long range but to no avail as the tempo of the match hit a lull with neither side able to penetrate the other's defence.
That was until Petrovski almost broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, the striker rising high above Jamie Harnwell to reach Ufuk Talay's corner only to see his header crash into the crossbar.
But it mattered little as just four minutes later the Sydney striker had his goal. Steve Corica ran hard down the right wing and his precise cross found Petrovski open at the far post, and the former Qantas Socceroo made no mistake with his header this time as he easily beat Vrteski.
The Glory started the second-half full of run as they pushed hard for the equaliser, and it almost came in the 60th minute after a piercing run down the left by Lazaridis.
Coyne met Lazaridis' cross, but under pressure was unable to head it home as the ball drifted safely over the crossbar.
But similar to Petrovski, Coyne was given a second chance shortly after and he made no mistake with it this time.
Bertos fired in the cross but Sydney keeper Clint Bolton slipped after moving off his line to try to meet it, leaving an open goal which Coyne took full advantage of.
The goal lifted the Glory as their home fans roared to life, but Naum Sekulovski wasted a golden chance just a minute later after a steaming run into the box.
With all the momentum, Perth continued to attack, but the match threatened to boil over in the 75th minute when Mark Milligan brought down Bertos. Colosimo remonstrated with the Sydney defender, resulting in a yellow card to both Milligan and Colosimo.
The visitors were soon celebrating in the 77th minute when Corica nudged the ball into the back of the net after Milligan had struck a powerful shot, but their celebrations were cut short with the offside flag raised high in the air.
In a thrilling finish to the match both sides had great chances to snare the win but the best fell to Young, whose powerful left-foot strike crashed into the side netting.
Perth Glory 1 (Coyne 70)
Sydney FC 1 (Petrovski 37)
I had picked Perth for this game... but I guess I can't complain with 3/4 tips this week.
Match of the week: Adelaide Utd's 5-1 demolishment of Newcastle Jets was a free-flowing and exciting match across the board. It's great to see Adelaide back in form after two consecutive losses away from home.
Goal of the week: It's all Archie Thompson, but are you really that surprised? ;)
Player of the week: Lots of positive play came out of the three matches I watched compared to the physical biffo of last week. Shengqing Qu of Adelaide Utd looked solid once again, and scored a great goal through the wall from a set piece that would have been awarded Goal of the Week if not for Archie Thompson.
NEXT WEEK
Queensland Roar host New Zealand Knights. Although Knights are looking stronger than last season, Roar are one of the form teams right now and will come away with an easy win.
Adelaide Utd play another home game against Perth Glory. Adelaide to take this game by one or two goals.
Sydney FC host Newcastle Jets at Aussie Stadium. Jets have disappointed in the first three rounds, and despite a lack of players Sydney are still looking strong. Sydney will win pretty easily.
Melbourne Victory have a chance to break another hoodoo when they play Central Coast Mariners at Olympic Park. Each time the Mariners have travelled to the OP, they have comfortably defeated Victory 3-1. It's about time Victory took advantage of the Mariner's slump to win a nailbiting match.
See you guys same time next week :)
Wow. What a soggy week.
3 out of the 4 games this week were wet... to say the least. Still, there were 11 goals in total scored in a round that saw two matches won convincingly, and two matches end in draws.
First up was Adelaide Utd. meeting the Newcastle Jets in Adelaide's first home game in 8 outings. Both teams had experienced poor form in the leadup to the match, but Adelaide proved early that they're not out for the count just yet this season with a technically beautiful goal from Fernando in the 8th minute. Things just got worse for The Jets as the day went along, conceding 3 goals from Fernando, Robert Cornthwaite and Shengqing Qu before the break.
Although The Jets notched one back in the 52nd through a nice lob from Mark Bridge, but a stupid mistake down the other end of the park saw Andrew Durrante kick the ball from his own keepers hand for a very avoidable own goal. Fernando wrapped up a well deserved 5-1 Adelaide win in the 73rd with a walk-in from a fantastic leadup courtesy of 66th minute substitute Bobby Petta. My man of the match was the ever-steady Shenqing Qu
(I picked it :D)
Grand Final runners-up Central Coast Mariners played host to Queensland Roar on a flooded Bluetongue Stadium pitch. The Mariners were without a point or a goal for the two opening rounds where Roar could seemingly do no wrong. Chances were few and far between, and conditions made it extremely hard to judge passes and tackles. In a fairly uneventful game, the Mariners and Roar slipped and slid their way to a goalless draw. Man of the match was Referee Peter O'Leary, who at times seemed to be more involved in play than either sides. Plus, he practically did a backflip when he fell over in a puddle.
(I PICKED IT!! :D:D)
The next match to be played under rain was New Zealand Knights Vs. Melbourne Victory at North Harbor Stadium in Aukland. Both sides were coming off wins last round, with The Knights looking very sharp and Victory without key Brazilian players Fred (suspended) and Alessandro (Injured) making way for youngster Kristian Sarkies and Steve Pantelidis to step up and show what they can do. Victory christened their new and league-unique away strip with a beautiful 9th minute Archie Thompson composed ball to Danny Allsopp who easily slotted in his third goal of the season, but things weren't all so rosy for the Victory in the opening 10 minutes, with an ugly clash of legs leaving Scottish midfielder Grant Brebner with a strained knee. He played on until the 72nd, but things are not looking good for next week.
Things got worse for The Knights in the 17th minute, with Jonas Salley injuring his right ankle and was stretchered from the field. Things continued much to Victory's favour with rock solid defence keeping out anything the Knights could muster.
Archie Thompson continued his winning form with his first goal of Season 2 in the 22nd. A fumble from New Zealand keeper Danny Milosevic saw Thompson take the ball to the goal line, shoot from an impossible angle, hit the inside of the far post and take Victory to an early 2-0 lead.
Kevin Muscat then sent a clear message to Danny Allsopp that he's also competing for the golden boot this season with a nice header from a Kristian Sarkies set piece in the 36th to blow the lead out to 3-0 before the break.
Allsopp and Thompson teamed up again in the 62nd minute to come extremely close to taking a 4-0 lead after beating the keeper and narrowly curling the ball wide of goal. New Zealand looked a lot more settled in the second half, but their efforts eventuated to nothing for their first defeat of the season. Man of the match was hard to pick, with the entire Victory team putting in a great performance. I'm going to give it to Archie Thompson for quality assists, selfless play and that absolute cracker of a goal.
(Once again, I picked it :D)
The final match was a 1-1 draw between Perth Glory Vs. Sydney FC in Perth. I didn't actually watch the match, so here's the rundown from the official A-League website.
Perth Glory have come from behind to claim a point against Sydney FC in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday.
Sasho Petrovski gave the visitors the lead in the 37th minute with a well-taken header before Jamie Coyne equalised with a header of his own in the 70th minute.
Both sides had the chance to snatch all three points late in the match, but neither could capitalise as the match ended in a deserving tie.
It was the fourth league encounter between Sydney and Perth, with the Glory still yet to taste success against the inaugural champion.
Sydney entered the match without several of its stars, including Mark Rudan (suspended), Alex Brosque (ankle), Robbie Middleby (broken collarbone), David Carney (shoulder) and Jacob Timpano (groin), leaving coach Terry Butcher with just 13 senior players to choose from before the club signed Matthew Bingley and Joel Thissen on short-term deals.
On the other hand, Perth's disastrous run with injury and illness during the pre-season has come to an end, with only Bobby Despotovski (back) and Mark Robertson (groin) unavailable.
In a fast-paced start to the match, Perth keeper Aleks Vrteski was forced into action in the 10th minute when Alvin Ceccoli found himself open with a free shot on goal, but the defender's sizzling shot from just inside the box was well-saved by the Young Socceroo.
Two minutes later, it was Perth's turn to attack and a clever flick from veteran striker Stuart Young found the fast-moving Leo Bertos, but his low-drilled shot drifted agonisingly wide of the post.
Stan Lazaridis and Young each tried their luck from long range but to no avail as the tempo of the match hit a lull with neither side able to penetrate the other's defence.
That was until Petrovski almost broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, the striker rising high above Jamie Harnwell to reach Ufuk Talay's corner only to see his header crash into the crossbar.
But it mattered little as just four minutes later the Sydney striker had his goal. Steve Corica ran hard down the right wing and his precise cross found Petrovski open at the far post, and the former Qantas Socceroo made no mistake with his header this time as he easily beat Vrteski.
The Glory started the second-half full of run as they pushed hard for the equaliser, and it almost came in the 60th minute after a piercing run down the left by Lazaridis.
Coyne met Lazaridis' cross, but under pressure was unable to head it home as the ball drifted safely over the crossbar.
But similar to Petrovski, Coyne was given a second chance shortly after and he made no mistake with it this time.
Bertos fired in the cross but Sydney keeper Clint Bolton slipped after moving off his line to try to meet it, leaving an open goal which Coyne took full advantage of.
The goal lifted the Glory as their home fans roared to life, but Naum Sekulovski wasted a golden chance just a minute later after a steaming run into the box.
With all the momentum, Perth continued to attack, but the match threatened to boil over in the 75th minute when Mark Milligan brought down Bertos. Colosimo remonstrated with the Sydney defender, resulting in a yellow card to both Milligan and Colosimo.
The visitors were soon celebrating in the 77th minute when Corica nudged the ball into the back of the net after Milligan had struck a powerful shot, but their celebrations were cut short with the offside flag raised high in the air.
In a thrilling finish to the match both sides had great chances to snare the win but the best fell to Young, whose powerful left-foot strike crashed into the side netting.
Perth Glory 1 (Coyne 70)
Sydney FC 1 (Petrovski 37)
I had picked Perth for this game... but I guess I can't complain with 3/4 tips this week.
Match of the week: Adelaide Utd's 5-1 demolishment of Newcastle Jets was a free-flowing and exciting match across the board. It's great to see Adelaide back in form after two consecutive losses away from home.
Goal of the week: It's all Archie Thompson, but are you really that surprised? ;)
Player of the week: Lots of positive play came out of the three matches I watched compared to the physical biffo of last week. Shengqing Qu of Adelaide Utd looked solid once again, and scored a great goal through the wall from a set piece that would have been awarded Goal of the Week if not for Archie Thompson.
NEXT WEEK
Queensland Roar host New Zealand Knights. Although Knights are looking stronger than last season, Roar are one of the form teams right now and will come away with an easy win.
Adelaide Utd play another home game against Perth Glory. Adelaide to take this game by one or two goals.
Sydney FC host Newcastle Jets at Aussie Stadium. Jets have disappointed in the first three rounds, and despite a lack of players Sydney are still looking strong. Sydney will win pretty easily.
Melbourne Victory have a chance to break another hoodoo when they play Central Coast Mariners at Olympic Park. Each time the Mariners have travelled to the OP, they have comfortably defeated Victory 3-1. It's about time Victory took advantage of the Mariner's slump to win a nailbiting match.
See you guys same time next week :)