The Wanderers bridesmaids again, Brisbane champions again. In what was a fairly ordinary 2013-2014 A-League season, the grand final was a very memorable occasion once again.
The Roar are a fantastic side. They have proved that you can be successful playing entertaining, aesthetically-pleasing football. The Wanderers are also a great team. They demonstrated fantastic resolve and heart to take the game to Brisbane from the opening whistle and almost pull off daylight robbery.
Tony Popovic’s side should take heart from reaching two grand finals in a row, not to mention winning the league last year. That is an amazing achievement. They also have the Asian Champions League next round to look forward to, the only A-League club with that honour. The westie boys are not done yet.
More A-League grand final coverage:
– Full match report and video highlights
– Comment: Mike Tuckerman
– Football is here to stay in Australia
– Brisbane puts on a great A-League final
– Mulvey: Roar now A-League benchmark
– The Roar‘s live blog
But Sunday’s honours go to the men in orange. Again. Three grand final victories in four years, that is simply outstanding. The Roar cement their place as the best club in the A-League’s short history.
In a quietist first half, the Wanderers were very good value. They pressed high and stymied Brisbane’s prized passing game. There were some crunching tackles and key Roarers Liam Miller and Dimitri Petratos looked off the pace.
Brisbane got lucky when an unintentional hand ball from Ivan Franjic in the box was waved away. A key moment.
Another key moment came with the injury and then substitution of Wanderers centre back Nikolai Topor-Stanley. Would Western Sydney have conceded if the Hyphenator stayed on the pitch?
Popovic had to reshuffle his midfield and defence, and then Mike Mulvey’s subs started to make a difference. The Roar came into the game more and Steven Lustica and Henrique helped these things along.
The A-League’s number one cartoon villain, Besart Berisha, popped up with an equaliser thanks to a ball provided by the terrific Teutonic class of Broich. Game on.
Momentum swung in the Roar’s favour. Brisbane poured forward looking for the killer goal. At times this left them shakey and vulnerable on the counter and the Wanderers almost equalised a few times.
The game went to extra time and it was see-sawing both ways. The Roar seem to be edging it, then plucky Brazilian Henrique found some space in the box and blasted in the winner.
Western Sydney pushed for a goal back but the Queenslanders had stolen a win in extra time again. The Mariners faithful certainly know how it feels.
High drama seems to go hand in hand with A-League grand finals. It’s also guaranteed when you have Berisha around. The Albanian plays the game at a million miles an hour, has a lethal boot and throws everything into challenges. Berisha plays close to the edge and could be the competition’s most hated player outside of Suncorp.
His tussles with La Rocca and co. made for great viewing. But he is also the most dangerous forward in the league and that’s why Victory shelled out the big bucks to bring him to AAMI Park. He will be missed by the Roar next season.
Brisbane’s come-from-behind win brings a close to the competition. The Wanderers live on in Asia but for the Roar it’s a well-earned break. Whether they can replicate their near-perfect 2013-2014 campaign next season is another question. It will be another challenge for Mike Mulvey.
When Mulvey arrived at Brisbane last season he was met by a ‘Mulvey out’ banner. Now he stands as the head coach of a Premier’s Plate and grand final-winning team. How quickly things can change in football.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
More A-League grand final coverage:
– Full match report and video highlights
– Comment: Mike Tuckerman
– Football is here to stay in Australia
– Brisbane puts on a great A-League final
– Mulvey: Roar now A-League benchmark
– The Roar‘s live blogMore A-League grand final coverage:
– Full match report and video highlights
– Comment: Mike Tuckerman
– Football is here to stay in Australia
– Brisbane puts on a great A-League final
– Mulvey: Roar now A-League benchmark
– The Roar‘s live blog
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