- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Melbourne Victory's Grant Brebner clashes with Central Coast Mariner's John Hutchinson, after a serious tackle on team-mate Carlos Hernandez during round 14 of the 2009 A-League season, Central Coast Mariners vs Melbourne Victory at Ethihad Stadium in Melbourne, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. The Mariners beat Victory 4-0. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
This was a weekend for all the brights; golds, yellows and the orange of the Brisbane Roar, just to emphasise how unpredictable this tightest of seasons is, now past its half-way point.
So much for the sky and navy blues romping away with the crucial first and second spots.
Now there are only 10 points between top and bottom, two points between bottom and sixth, while first placed Sydney and bottom placed North Queensland have each lost five times. Crazy stuff.
Ange Postecoglou’s Roar kicked things off with a crucial win at Hindmarsh, and now look to have turned the corner.
The manager appears to be making his mark and getting everyone on his page. The mentality of the team looked strong here, emphasised by a dominant second half display.
Sergio van Dijk was terrific, especially in the second half. Meanwhile, Mitch Nichols had his best game in a very long time, while the Roar defence looked more organised and desperate than it has of late.
Adelaide, meanwhile, still look a stressed and tense outfit, and their finishing reflected this mindset. Frustration.
The Jekyll and Hyde side of the A-League, the Central Coast Mariners, once again produced their best in Melbourne, turning on a powerful display full of running, ferocious tackling and excellent defensive organisation.
It has been the Mariners way this season; a brilliant performance every few weeks, nestled in between some less impressive work.
Lawrie McKinna’s men were clearly up for this one, and while Carlos Hernandez had more influence here than he did in the opening round, the Mariners did a wonderful job of shutting down the Victory front third, especially the flanks, where Melbourne have been most productive of late.
Dean Heffernan, in particular, owned Mate Dugandzic and Nathan Elasi, while on the other flank, Sutee Suksomkit vanished.
The Victory couldn’t live with the Mariners’ physicality and Rody Vargas was right to suggest the Mariners had bullied the defending champions.
It wasn’t a dirty form of bullying, rather an intimidating and ferocious imposition, best emphasised by the bite in the challenge from the likes of John Hutchinson and the willingness of Pedj Bojic and Heffernan to continuously get forward.
And don’t think there wasn’t any class from the Mariners. Nicky Travis continues to produce some wonderful work on the ball, while Bojic looked as subtle as he ever has. Matthew Lewis also did a couple of neat things, including one lovely volley.
Perhaps the most anticipated clash of the weekend was at Robina, where Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley where on hand to “see for themselves” what all the fuss was about on the glitter strip.
The cap lifted, the crowd nudging back over the 5,000 mark, the mood in the stands seemingly upbeat, it was over to the players, and they responded with their most effervescent performance in some time.
It looked like being a great contest early, with the competition leaders stroking the ball around in the manner of a team flowing with confidence, but once Steve Corica limped off, midway through the first period, Gold Coast took control, with Jason Culina back to his best.
Playing higher up the pitch, where he was so effective early in the season, he left it for Michael Thwaite and Steve Pantelidis to do the dirty work, and ensured he influenced things in the front third.
Shane Smeltz, Joel Porter and Zenon Caravella certainly benefited from his presence.
Minus Corica, Sydney was short on ideas, and resorted to route one at the end. Neither John Aloisi nor Stephan Keller were able to provide the impact.
Meanwhile, Terry McFlynn, shifted to the head of the diamond when Corica limped off, had his least influential game in a very long time, while Brendan Gan struggled as his replacement on the left.
Onto yesterday, and the yellow and blacks stormed home to not only grab a point at home to Perth, but should have just about had all three. Really, it would have been no less than the Phoenix deserved.
While neither side hit the heights, Wellington were able to bring on the likes of Leo Bertos and Adrian Caceres late, and combined with Paul Ifill, Daniel and the central midfield drive of Tim Brown and Vince Lia, the finish was thrilling.
And finally, it was a crucial win for the gold of Newcastle against the Fury, and while the Jets made tough work of it, only sealing it with a late penalty, they were invariably in control.
With Lubjo Milicevic and Nikolai Topor-Stanley looking after Daniel McBreen, Fabio Vignaroli controlling the midfield with his accurate distribution and Matt Thompson breaking forward to support the front three, it was only a matter of time.
But time and time again the Jets were denied by their own wastefulness and some excellent work from Paul Henderson.
But eventually Michael Bridges got it right, and, for once, the Fury had no answer.
With a fortnight before we go around again, things are tight, as they have been for much of the season, giving every team an opportunity to take a breath and plot their run-in to the finals.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.