Queensland surged into a commanding position in their A-League minor semi-final against Central Coast with a 2-0 away win in the first leg at Bluetongue Stadium on Friday night.
The comfortable win puts the Roar within reach of the preliminary final and means the Mariners will likely need to win by three goals at next Friday’s return leg at Suncorp Stadium due to the away goals rule.
But the Roar are likely to be without hardman Danny Tiatto for the match, after he was controversially sent off with 15 minutes remaining after receiving his second yellow card.
Strikers Mitch Nichols and Sergio Van Dijk scored either side of halftime to continue the Roar’s dominance at Bluetongue since the inception of the A-League.
In seven matches, the Mariners have never beaten the Roar on home soil.
The winner of the tie will face the loser of the two-legged major semi-final between Melbourne and Adelaide, starting Saturday night, in a one-off match for a spot in the grand final.
The game was played in front of the lowest-ever A-League finals crowd of 9,514 and amidst a persistent haze of smoke due to a nearby bushfire after another scorching NSW day.
Mariners striker Dylan Macallister, who played alongside Matt Simon in a two-man attack, had a shot saved by Liam Reddy inside the first minute and missed another chance shortly after.
Mariners midfielder Matthew Osman was the next to strike in the 23rd minute with an absolute rocket from almost 30 metres, but Reddy was again up to the task.
It was the Roar who struck first with their first real chance of the game, when Nichols out-leapt Pedj Bojic at the near post and headed in for his fourth goal of the season.
Tiatto received his first booking in the 31st minute for a lunging tackle on Andre Gumprecht and the Roar had to hand an early shower to Josh McCloughan due to a groin problem.
The Mariners pushed on for an equaliser up until halftime but any momentum was halted when Van Dijk doubled the advantage with a penalty nine minutes after the break.
It was Nichols who won it, after he was taken down in the box by Mariners defender Paul O’Grady.
Van Dijk stepped up and made no mistake with the spot kick to net his 12th goal of the season and 10th in his last 11 games.
Things continued swimmingly for the Roar until Tiatto copped his second yellow of the game in the 75th minute, after what looked a tough decision for a challenge on Macallister, and the veteran was evidently furious as he marched off.
Despite the numbers advantage and several late chances, Central Coast were unable to close the gap and make next Friday’s task any easier.
Roar coach Frank Farina was delighted with the result and vowed his side would not sit back and protect their lead in the second leg.
“I’ve never believed in sitting back and trying to defend a lead,” Farina said.
“If we score up there it’s going to make it very difficult for them.
” … I’m just happy with the result and pretty happy with the way we played.”
But Farina would not be drawn into commenting on Tiatto’s send-off for fear of being fined.
“I’m going to be very boring and say I don’t have a view, because if I have a view I get in trouble, there are eyes and ears in this room,” Farina said.
The Roar are also set to be without defender Josh McLoughan for the second leg, after he was forced off shortly before halftime with a groin problem.
Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson was filthy his side was not able to capitalise on Tiatto’s send-off.
“When a team goes down to 10 men and they can keep the ball like that for the last 15 minutes, it’s just disgraceful,” Wilkinson said.
“It’s just not good enough, we’re a team known for our self-belief and willingness to stick together and we’ve got to get that back if we’re any chance of turning this tie around.”
Both coaches were critical of the patchy Bluetongue Stadium pitch, with Farina labelling it “sick” but but McKinna refused to blame it for the loss.
Dave
Guest
TT Mid FFA cant look at first tackle again because it was dealt with on the field...he received a yellow card. Tiatto has forged a reputation as a hard man on the field and is now living up to it. IMO it seems that he feels as one of the experienced players in a young team he needs to protect them and take matters into his own hands...l'm only guessing. He just repeats those tackles with feet off the ground so often...sometimes he gets the ball as well as the player so some think that is ok but it isnt. It is extremely dangerous and a broken leg (or worse) waiting to happen. These tackles are no accident but a deliberate intention...having played in the EPL he has surely been taught what is right and wrong when tackling...no excuses.
Midfielder
Guest
TT You ask an excellent question how come he is still allowed and Fark me as Dave & Das said his first tackle was so dangerous how Grumpy ever got up I don't know but it was right in front of us and it was no accident .. like on purpose to take Grumpy out of the match... Can the FFA go back to that tackle or because it was dealt with on the field it cannot be looked at bt the FFA.. Anyway TT I cannot answer your question except to say that a thug got away with it ... AGAIN
True Tah
Guest
Midfielder havent played too much futbol, but I know stacks of blokes who have had broken legs and ACL breaks from poorly executed tackles and poorly balanced running on their behalf - so I know its not as safe as some mothers would like the believe! Dave I didnt see the first half tackle, so will accept your word on it. How come this guy is still in the HAL if he's going around maiming other players - one angle I didnt consider is that his style is such that even when he doesnt seem to be deliberately wanting to hurt others, he still is quite capable of doing so.
dasilva
Roar Guru
That tackle was a disgrace. Sometimes I think people get fixated on divers and get morally outrage over those type of things but when someone does a thuggish tackle - nothing. No one talks about bringing the game to disrepute - IMO tackles like that are worst then diving as it could end a career of a player.
Dave
Guest
TT Maybe but if the referee had been on the ball in the first half Tiatto would have been sent off and facing a lengthy ban for his disgraceful tackle, two feet off the ground into Gumprecht, the sort of tackle that breaks legs...Tiatto was lucky still to be on the pitch in the 2nd half.
Midfielder
Guest
TT Two things first Tiatto is a thug be of no doubt... Second if you go in studs up the fact you got the ball but then still collected the other player is ab offense. Also not sure how much football you have played but a double studs up tackle that Tiatto made in the first half often breaks legs and often results in a career injury...I hope he gets weeks if not months out...Football can do without thugs. For any non football player reading this imagine you are running flat out down the wing and rather than tackle you the fullback come charging in then slides on his back raising both feet up with studs up into your shins. Very very dangerous.
True Tah
Guest
Tiatto was very unlucky in his second yellow card - I know he's got a reputation as a bit of a thug in HAL, but maybe that counted against him - his eyes were focused purely on the ball.
Midfielder
Guest
Dave It will take a top team to beat this young side.
Midfielder
Guest
Dave I went pitch has been shit all year ... small crowd cannot explain .. maybe very hot afternoon two local bush fires the air around was full of smoke I actually if the players could run in it.... We have not been traveling that well of late and the lost of Jedi... For me it says we have between 8 & 10 thousand hard core supporters and another 8 to 10 who will come along when the weathers is just right for football and we are playing well and leading the comp... Also last we had John Aloisis and he added greatly to our gate.
Dave
Guest
Mid Did you go? Why the poor playing surface? Why the smaller than expected crowd?
Koala Bear
Guest
Rob, I missed the first half and did not see the first yellow but I also thought Tiatto was hard done-by on this occasion .. But not a big fan of Tiatto nor Muscat... Dave, Muscat has broken more legs in England than any other player ... On the ROAR FC, I think they are a very good bet in taking out the Championship... Craig Moore, Miller and the Dutchman (Van Dyke ?) with the youngsters Zullo etc. have a nice balance of youth and experience and can play good football .. I'm thinking they can go all the way .. even if they play in Melbourne .. providing they can this time have a referee who is fair ... not like the last GF we saw in Melbourne's TD... (What a disgraceful exhibition of refereeing that was; the six blatant offsides and all :lol: ) ~~~~~~~ KB
Midfielder
Guest
Dave Fair point about Jedi ... IMO similar position to what MV went through when Fred left.
Kazama
Roar Guru
Rob - Agree with you regarding McMaster. The times I have seen him play he has looked like a crock. IMO if he was playing the Mariners would have had two goals in the first 15 minutes. Tiatto should have gone off for the first tackle and I reckon Zullo was a bit fortunate as well. An ordinary match (let's blame the pitch) that could have gone either way. Luck was on the Roar's side, as it always is at Bluetongue, and the tie is dead and buried. A good night for my Fox Sports fantasy team though - I didn't have any Mariners in my XI.
Dave
Guest
Rob An excellent result for the Roar against a Mariners team who have lost 4 games in a row and probably 5 by the end of the return. Mariners are only a shell of the team that were up in the top 2 a month or so ago with the loss of Jedinak insurmountable. Caesares has lost it completely and the scoring touch of their strikers has also gone. Tiatto will definitely break another players leg if he continues to dive in, both feet off the ground. In just about every game he plays l watch him dive in and wonder if this will be the tackle that ends a players season...he is reckless at best and negligent more likely in those instances. The sooner he receives a lengthy ban the better.
Rob
Guest
Not a very entertaining game, but a great result for the Roar. Yes, Tiatto was probably lucky not to be sent of for his tackle in the first half, but the yellow card for that second tackle was absolutely farcical. Tiatto clearly won the ball, and the two players collided. Both were going for the ball, and there was no malice. A solid tackle fair and square. It's clear that Tiatto got the second card on reputation, or perhaps because the referee had a think about the first tackle and decided to fix his earlier mistake. Farina was right not to say anything, because last time he said anything remotely negative about a referee (that shocking offside decision against them when playing Adelaide at Suncorp), he got fined. Merrick was spot on when he talked about the linesmen and their poor performance. It happened again in the game last night actually, a player coming back from an offside position to win a header, although the Mariners didn't score. Also, Farina's decision to return Liam Reddy to the starting lineup was spot on. Confident in coming for crosses, good distribution, and that sensational save to deny the Mariners after Tiatto was sent off. McMaster is not a patch on him. Too inconsistent, with a propensity to do stupid things like run out of his area and then see the ball bounce over him. He carries on like he's god's gift to keeping, and then does idiot things like that. I honestly don't know why he's even there. I can't stand his carry on either. Can stop shots, but that's about where it ends. I dare say Tiatto's assessment is shared by others in the team. Anyway, that's my rant about McMaster. The Roar did well without being brilliant, again showing that they have the grit this year to do well even when not playing that great. A huge difference from previous years. Bring on the return match!