A -League, round 17 round-up

The four games

Sydney FC 1 v Perth Glory 0; bit of a fizzer all round, not helped by Robbie Williams's work over the past couple of weeks. Ron Smith did some tinkering, playing Mark Lee in the problem area of left back (for Sekoulovski) and bringing Harnwell back into the starting side up front. With Colosimo starting well and Bertos’ mobility causing Sydney’s backline a few problems, Perth looked the most likely to score early on and Bertos had one glorious opportunity after being teed up by Colosimo, but blazed away on the left peg. Little wonder he’s yet to score, despite his impressive all round play. Next time he was through, Rudan clattered him from behind, clear red card. Terry Butcher re-shaped things by going to three at the back, Milligan splitting Fyfe and Ceccoli, with Carney and Middleby meant to provide the depth out wide. Not surprisingly it detracted from Sydney’s attack, Brosuqe foraging alone up front, working hard but well looked after by the imposing Tarka. It was a game for the defenders, until Smith made the decision to replace Tarka with 15 or so minutes left. It was the pivotal move, Colosimo shifted back and Kovacevic going from right to left central defender, where Tarka had dominated. A few minutes later Corica turned Kovacevic (in the mood he was in, Tarka would have taken man or ball, or both) and it was game, set and match, Brosque rewarded for his hard work. The overall performance was hardly flowing, but Sydney, a man down, again demonstrated the character and will to win that took them to the title last year. Corica, so influential since his return home, provided the one classy moment, while Brosque might finally get his season going.

Adelaide United 3 v Newcastle United 2; an absolute classic, two teams having a real go at each other, the luck finally going with the hosts after a wretched few weeks. Gary van Egmond is a philosophical manager, thoughtful and insightful, and even pre-empted that that probability was leaning towards an Adelaide win, and with Carle suspended and Okon out, he had a bit of re-shaping to do. Bridge, so eye-catching a week earlier, got the Carle role, and did wonderful job early, giving Veart his fair share of problems. Kosmina had finally taken the plunge, ‘resting’ his skipper Aloisi, starting Owens out on the right and shifting Burns into the middle. The idea, it seemed, was to provide some much needed drive out of midfield, and play through Romario. Hitherto he’d been seen as being one dimensional, a finisher. Here the emphasis seemed to be on playing it to him whenever he wanted it, and good players generally known how to use a ball. Even in his first game in Gosford, when much was made of his missed chances, I remember his first half for the fact he only gave the ball up once. While there weren’t that many touches, his work was simple but efficient. Here he was wonderful, involved throughout. As one enthusiastic reader commented by text, his movement off the ball was fantastic, his positional sense exquisite. As Kosmina had hoped, it created space and time for others, particularly Spagnuolo, who terrorised Eagleton and North, setting up the first with a sublime dribble. Finally Romario had his 987th, although with a degree of doubt about whether he got a touch, but who could deny him? There was more to come, both from Romario and the game in general. The Jets, despite losing Griffiths at the break, showed they have the character to go with the flair, twice fighting back to equalise, both wonderfully taken. With Griffiths off, Bridge moved to the right but popped up everywhere, his confidence flowing and work on the ball a treat. Then Thompson continued his fine form, dipping the shoulder on Rees and shaping one around Beltrame. Could it get any better? Yes, Romario turning on the edge of the box and squaring it to Owens, who twinkled to his left, shifted the ball to his right and shaped it around a bamboozled debutant in Covic. Thrill a minute stuff that could have a decisive impact on the make-up of the final four.

Central Coast Mariners 2 v Queensland Roar 3; after a couple of dour A-League weeks on the trot (seven goals in round 15, six last week), it was refreshing to see a second game in two nights where the goals and goal-mouth action flowed. After the disappointment of last week’s hiding to the Jets, Frank Farina had a major re-think, and rightly so, shifting Buess to the left, McLaren to central defence, Seo into central midfield and Packer up to left midfield. It looked far more balanced and natural, and it showed, the Roar competing from the outset against a Mariners unit looking to maintain its clean sheet and home record runs. With Vidosic, McKay and Seo dominating the midfield and Mori looking sharp up front, the Roar were on top against a Mariners outfit that appeared to miss a focal point in attack (Mrdja). Despite that, referee Matthew Breeze did his best to keep the hosts in the contest, awarding two penalties that appeared lucky. Given their lack of fortune, the Roar may well have dropped their bundle, but they remained organised, disciplined and hungry, eventually getting a bit of a break (thank goodness it wasn’t literally one) when Jedinak (the ‘silent assassin’ as he’s been dubbed - he is better than that) went recklessly flying two-footed into Seo. A similar incident a few weeks earlier had received only half the punishment, but the FFA would do well to set a precedent tomorrow and rub Jedinak out for a few weeks. There is simply no room in the game for this on-field thuggery. Instead, flair should be encouraged, like that produced by Vidosic when he showed the awareness to chest down a long McKay delivery, despite the attentions of Brown, and score the winner, wonderful stuff.

Melbourne Victory 4 v New Zealand Knights 0; at last count James from Confessions had the Knights as having used 27 players so far this campaign. That was before this most tumultuous of weeks, when they could barely scrape together a starting 11. Give the circumstances, Ricky Herbert, who has done a decent job as All Whites boss and should have been in this role a lot earlier, put out a team that did a decent job in the opening exchanges, until the might and finishing potency of the Victory front-line took over in a breathtaking 10 or so minutes before the break. Four goals, two from quickly taken free kicks, two exposing a lack of pace and organisation on the flanks (Caceres took on Fleming for the second goal down the left, Allsopp powered down the right for the third) and it was game over. The most fascinating aspects after that were the words of Ernie Merrick before the start of the second half (paraphrased; “Terribly disappointed about the first half display, not good enough ahead of the finals.”) and the noise and atmosphere generated by the Olympic Park crowd, particularly in the last 15 minutes, when the crowd went ballistic. Merrick’s words demonstrated that Melbourne have learnt from Adelaide’s mistake last year and there’ll be no taking the foot off the pedal despite having the minor premiership wrapped up, while the noise and atmosphere was a fitting reminder of just how far the game has come in 2006, a slap in the face to those who had tried to put the game down in the preceding week. Marvelous work Melbourne.

Some of the other talking points

Save of the week; not that he knew much about it, but when Roar substitute Reinaldo met a corner at the near post, his header appeared destined for the back of the net, only for Vukovic to somehow get a piece of it. Replays showed it cannoned off his head. Regardless, it was another piece of great coverage from this agile kid.

Goal(s) of the week; it really is hard to go past Ben Griffin’s perfectly timed volley, running onto a wonderful switch from Mori, but I also loved the build up and finish to Owens’s winner against Newcastle, the work of Romario followed by the twinkle toes of Owens, who sent Old one way before cutting back and leaving Covic for dead, crucial and classy. Earlier in the night I thought we’d be hard-pressed to see a better goal than Romario’s, not for the finish, but for the wonderful bit of work down the left by Spagnuolo, dipping inside Eagleton and Griffiths before skinning North and forcing the spill from Covic. Then came three more gems, first Bridge shaping one into the top corner before Thompson and Owens followed suit. Then came Saturday night, with Griffin and Vidosic scoring gems, before Melbourne scored three beauties of their own on Sunday from Caceres, Allsopp (his second) and Thompson. Oh, and the work from Corica to set up Brosque’s neatly placed header on Thursday night wasn’t bad either. So there you go, 15 goals in total, at least 10 worthy of goal of the week in any other round. Given I can’t split Griffin and Owens, have decided to leave it up to you, the reader, to decide. Was it Griffin, was it Owens or was it another of this fine bunch of strikes? Leave a comment with your choice.