Melbourne Victory’s fourth A-League title in Saturday’s grand final was achieved by a side that has done it the hard way, coming from fourth place to claim the championship, the first time a team from outside the top two has lifted the A-League trophy.
Their 1-0 victory over the Newcastle Jets in Newcastle in front of a rocking crowd was a prime example of substance over style, with the aid of a head-scratching failure of the much-maligned VAR which should definitely have disallowed Victory’s early goal.
Carl Valeri and Terry Antonis provided much of the cover to an overworked Victory back four in the first half, as the Jets had all of the play following Victory’s goal. Such was Newcastle’s attacking prowess that nominal number ten James Troisi was pushed into a virtual third defensive midfield position in the first 45 minutes.
Lawrence Thomas, man of the match in Victory’s epic semi-final win over Sydney FC, was at it again in the first half, with three outstanding saves, including a double save in the 31st minute which defied belief; first he denied Riley ‘Scorpion King’ McGree and then Jason Hoffman, the two goal scorers from last week’s win over Melbourne City.
As Newcastle’s relentless pressure seemed certain to bear fruit, Ronnie Vargas began to orchestrate more intricate attacking forays, threading passes into channels and switching play to try and stretch the Victory back four.
But Melbourne got to halftime with their disputed lead intact, and set about frustrating the Jets in the second half, swamping their midfield and allowing no space between the lines for Riley McGree to operate in, the worldwide hero of last week hardly sighted in the second half, so thoroughly did the Victory deny space and put pressure on the ball carrier.
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They niggled and time wasted and did everything possible to break up any momentum the Jets tried to engineer. That one of the most vaunted front threes in the competition – Kosta Barbarouses, Leroy George and Besart Berisha – were anonymous for almost all of the second half as an attacking trio spoke volumes for the work the entire team did defensively.
Troisi hit the post with a late shot, the only chance he fashioned for the entire game. But they played their part as a first line of defence and the Jets were unable to manage a shot of any consequence in the second half after such a dominant first 45 minutes.
Was it anti-football? To the neutral, possibly. To Jets fans, dreaming of a fairytale, definitely. But it was winning football, cynical as some of it might have been. The sight of Leroy George taking a full minute walking from one side of the ground to the other to take consecutive corners was galling to Jets fans as the clock wound down.
Set pieces were the products of Victory’s best second-half chances, one of which led to Roy O’Donovan being opened up by a stray Berisha elbow. The Irishman dived straight back into the fray despite his injury, and would eventually provide a talking point of a very different kind late.
Faced with a white wall of compact defence, the Jets began slinging hopeful rather than constructive balls into the penalty area, as the law of diminishing returns began to take effect.
A resolute Victory back four dealt with it all, and as the game went into injury time, O’Donovan launched a challenge on Thomas that was less a foul and more an attempted homicide. His high foot almost took the Victory keeper’s face off and the ensuing red card seemed inadequate for the offence committed.
It would prove to be the final frustration in a night of it for Newcastle, as Victory played the spoiler and dampened the spirits of a crowd who had provided raucous noise and atmosphere prior to and during the game.
It was a fantastic occasion for the city, but on the night they were outpointed by a side who knew what needed to be done to achieve the ultimate outcome.
LuckyEddie
Guest
My point is not that the hard core fans will abandon the game, it;'s that it did not encourage new ones. Does anyone really think that game with all the rubbish that on will increase memberships across HAL. If you do I've got a bridge to sell, going cheap. No more for me BYE BYE.
LuckyEddie
Guest
Some one has been looking up the on-line dictionary.
Redondo
Guest
Season's over Eddie - you can chuck the hyperbole and non-sequiturs in the locker for a few months, take a well-earned break from hyper-ventilating, and get out and smell the roses.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Just don't have any luck do you Eddie. In fact Jets fans are up nearly 50% on last year. I'm expecting interest in the A-League to be the highest it has for many years next season, with 2 new teams to be named out of 12 Bids, possible changes to the FFA Administration, the World Cup hangover party and the start of the Asian cup to generate a lot of interest in the A-League in 2018/19. Ah well Pip, if the A-League fails we'll all go and watch some AFLX. Great new game that.
apaway
Roar Guru
Eddie, you are most entitled to your opinion but as an opinion, not everyone will think it's 100% right. I get your frustration over the Victory's method of winning and it would have been a very different game had VAR ruled correctly on the goal. However, I don't think that the result or the game will be the catalyst for a mass desertion of crowds. In an ordinary season crowds-wise, the Jets managed to increase their average attendance significantly, and I don't think fans who were disappointed by the team's loss on Saturday night are going to abandon the team because of it.
Buddy
Guest
Eddie, I was there reasonably neutral although I have a soft spot for The Jets and was hoping to see a big party in Newie this past weekend. I described it elsewhere as a grubby win, using grubby tactics and orchestrated by an exceedingly grubby coach. I would argue that if that had been a battle between two English, German or Spanish - (insert many countries here) it may have been acceptable as the majority of the fans are "nailed on" and will come back irrespective of one game as they know what else the game has to offer. However, we are in Australia, a fledgling nation in terms of roundball resonating with the population as a whole and I totally accept that the final may have a detrimental effect on crowds and people prepared to part with their money only to find they are served up stuff like that. My own junior team had to fight out a similar type of game with lots of diving, calling for trainers and generally giving the referee a hard time so it really was a horrible weekend of football for me - although my junior team did win!
LuckyEddie
Guest
I'm entitled to my comment and in this case I am 100% right. I predicted that if MVFC scored first in the final it would be a time wasting, injury faking etc. debacle and sadly I was right. So instead of being dismissive provide some facts as to why I am wrong. I'll make another prediction if the FFA is not cleaned out and major changes made to HAL, including playing when people play football in winter, the crowds will continue to crash. The crowds are already falling quickly and have been for a few years, or is that being dramatic.
fadida
Guest
Stop being so dramatic
LuckyEddie
Guest
There was nothing admirable in that debacle of a game - absolutely nothing.
LuckyEddie
Guest
OK thanks
apaway
Roar Guru
Eddie I hope you didn't misconstrue the article as admiring the way Victory won. I didn't. But there were aspects of their performance that were admirable - they did defend well, they put themselves on the line (especially goalkeeper Laurence Thomas). But in no way were they the better football team. In regard to crowds - I'm sure that most if not all of the Newcastle fans will be back for more next season. Their team has done them proud and they will find a way to overcome what can be seen as the cynicism of the tactics they faced on Saturday night. I'd liked to have seen how the game would have played out had Andrew Nabbout still been in the Jets 11. And Melbourne Victory fans won't care too much HOW their side won, just that they did.
apaway
Roar Guru
No, Eddie, Thomas got his arm up to deflect the shot over the bar. Incredible save.
LuckyEddie
Guest
"To the spoilers goes the Victory" and "To the exits goes the crowd" - (and most will never return)
LuckyEddie
Guest
When will commentators and football journalists get in through their head that destroying a match with calculated time wasting and faking injury is not clever. Any neutral that went to or watched that game will never return due to the clever time wasting. How can a journalist be proud of a tactic that will up set the neutrals? What you are saying is is it not great that MVFC used tactics that frustrated and annoyed a large part of the people watching the game. The next article will be why are the crowds dropping and HAL not attracting new members. Ummm I think it is the tactics you and sadly all commentators think are clever. Then again the journalists and commentators not only get into game for free but also get paid. It's us paying mugs that have to put up with the negative tactics, diving and time wasting. Now these 'tactics' have been getting worse for the last five years and the people are running away from the game. FFA cannot demand coaches play fairly and cut out the rubbish but the public can destroy the game by just giving up and not going. Commentators could start targeting the divers and the time wasters, a bit of the old name and shame.
LuckyEddie
Guest
Did Lawrence deny Hoffman? Myself and a few friends are of the opinion that Hoffman just kicked it over the bar.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Nice article Apaway. Winning dirty. After Thomas was kicked in the head and the ball came loose, O'donovan should have slotted it home for the equaliser. VAR wouldn't have picked it up.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Clever title