Coast win just the tonic for sleepless Culina

Socceroos linchpin Jason Culina can rest easy once more. Culina admitted he has struggled to sleep in the last fortnight due to Gold Coast United’s on- and off-field woes which had pundits freshly questioning his return to Australia from PSV Eindhoven.

But a swift return to form to star in United’s pressure-relieving 1-0 victory over A-League frontrunners Sydney FC has their skipper buoyed about the expansion club’s future once again.

Culina set up the game’s solitary goal with a pin-point cross to striker Shane Smeltz who headed home his 11th goal of the season – just one off his joint season record of 12.

The goal was akin to the release of a pressure valve with Culina immediately letting out his pent-up frustrations knocking over advertising hoardings in celebration.

Owner Clive Palmer’s controversial crowd cap, abandoned before Saturday night’s encounter, which drew 5,364, and upset losses to Wellington and North Queensland had certainly taken their toll on the classy midfielder.

“I’ve had some sleepless nights in the last couple of weeks,” Culina said.

“But when you sit down and think about it, like I did, we are new club, it’s half-way through the season and we are sitting third on the ladder.

“Everything seemed to be doom and gloom but we’re sitting third on the ladder — for a new club it’s not too bad.”

Criticised for trying to do too much as the Coast fell 6-0 to the Phoenix and 2-0 to the Fury, Culina was more measured in a more attacking role at Skilled Park.

“I played a lot more forward today and I enjoy going forward and I think the team needs me to go forward,” he said.

The Coast played far more conservatively, and with more physicality, stepping away from the smooth passing game which took the competition by storm in the first six weeks.

“We can’t play every game to try and play like Barcelona because sometimes you win 5-0 and sometimes you lose 6-0,” coach Miron Bleiberg said.

“So we added a bit of mongrel to our game and went for every second ball and learned from the Fury from last week and learned from Wellington.”

United’s dominant victory leaves them just two points behind Sydney (25) and one behind Melbourne (24) heading into the competition’s mid-season break.

“To tell you the truth I still haven’t recovered from the loss against the Fury,” Bleiberg said. “It was completely, completely unnecessary.

“(But) we are on top of the ladder with two giants of the A-League with Melbourne and Sydney and we are the new kids and still learning about ourselves.”

Sydney were never able to recover from the early loss of skipper Steve Corica to a hamstring twinge which he believes won’t prevent him returning in their next game in Perth on November 22.

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