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In a week of twist and turns in the A league, the end result was a weekend of surprises. How can next week match it?
First Shock: Melbourne Victory trusting the kids
Ernie Merrick is often criticised for not bringing on a lot of young players considering his background in youth development, perhaps unfairly because Leijer and Ryall (now at SFC) look to be good footballers.
Friday night, he gave a start to 20 year old (just!) Mate Dugandzic, and 2 goals later, a star was born.
The end result of Melbourne Victory beating Adelaide wouldn’t have shocked anyone, so credit to those Adelaide fans that showed up thinking they could break the curse.
Second Shock: The upsets
Wellington, Newcastle and the Fury all went into their games as underdogs and all emerged with 3 points. The scenes in Townsville after they got their first win would have brought smiles to the FFA suits that have lately been copping a hammering about the expansion.
Third Shock: A team responds to fan pressure
It may have took them 10 rounds and a few record low attendances, but Brisbane Roar responded to supporters groups complaining about tickets and introduced the $15 (concession and kids cheaper) corner bay. Coupled with a new coach and only their second night game of the season (the first pulled 19k), this should be the turning point for their season.
Fourth Shock: 6 nil
Wellington went into the game as underdogs but emerged as 6 goal winners, equaling the record set by Melbourne victory over Adelaide in the Season 2 Grand Final. It hasn’t emerged what the repercussions of that result will be for the Gold Coast, other than a promise by Miren Bleiberg to change the line-up.
He has told the players to take 2 days of and not show up for training until Wednesday, so perhaps Miren isn’t sure himself how to turn this one around.
Fifth Shock: The Perth Glory defense
The cheeky Robbie Fowler free kick ensured a few extra set piece training sessions for the Glory boys, and along with Daal’s wonderful strike, 3 points for the Fury this week.
Sixth Shock: All the home teams won
Melbourne and Brisbane are two teams that have been more impressive interstate than at home at times and even the Fury had a win in Sydney before grabbing their maiden home victory. All up quite surprising for every home team to grab the 3 points but a nice reward for their fans.
Seventh Shock: Gold Coast United off the field
Covered by Con Stamocostas was Gold Coast’s plan to cap the crowds at 5,000. On the back of a 6 nil loss to Wellington, they are really following through with it.
I will leave the end of the column in the hands of big Clive, having received the following letter from the desk of the big man:
CHANGES TO MEMBER SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
Due to ongoing low attendances at Gold Coast United home games, the club has decided to open only the Western Stand at Skilled Park for our next home game against North Queensland Fury (8pm Saturday, October 31). This will have the effect of limiting the attendance to 5 000, and also requires the club to relocate members from other grandstands into the Western Stand.All members (except for those already located in the Western Stand) have been assigned new seats to accommodate this arrangement. All members affected by this change have today been sent a letter in the mail with their new seating allocation, while members who already have Western Stand seats will remain unchanged.
To gain entry to Skilled Park for this game, you will need to collect a temporary ticket from the Gate B Box Office from 6pm on Saturday night. Please make sure you bring your membership card to the stadium, as you will need to produce it in order to receive your temporary ticket/s. We will have an envelope with tickets for each primary account holder waiting for collection, and while we will process everyone as quickly as possible it would be advisable to arrive a little early to avoid the queues. Alternatively, you may also collect your temporary tickets from the Gold Coast United office (Ground Floor, 9 Ouyan St, Bundall) on Friday October 30 from 9am – 4pm.
Please note that as part of this new stadium arrangement, match tickets and memberships do not include free public transport to and from the game. There will be no special event bus or train services in operation however there is parking available near the stadium.
Make sure you retain your current membership card/s, as should this situation change your membership will automatically revert to your existing seats.
You will be sent further details to keep you updated with this situation for future home games.
Clive Palmer
Chairman & Owner
Gold Coast United
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