Round 10 of the Hyundai A-League saw the Central Coast Mariners great run get even better, Brisbane Roar’s mid-season stumble turn into a collapse, Victory’s baffling form continue and Heart’s revival pick up pace.
Victory’s up and down, but mostly frustrating season, continued with another dominating performance against Adelaide United at Etihad Stadium. With the midfield finally beginning to look like a cohesive unit, and the formation looking settled – Victory should have won comfortably, but having scored through yet another Archie Thompson strike they tensed up, sat deeper and allowed Adelaide back into the game. When Adelaide levelled through Fabian Barbiero with less than 10 minutes to go, the resigned sense of disappointment from the 16,562 crowd was palpable.
Heart travelled to Brisbane in quietly confident mood, but there were few who gave them too much of a chance against the Champions who were looking to bounce back after their first defeat in over a year. Two strikes in the opening half hour – a header from Jonathon Germano and an excellent finish by Melbourne youngster Eli Babalj – were enough to put Roar on the canvas, and although they came back with a late strike from Mitch Nicholls, Roar never looked like getting level.
Roar’s problems got worse in midweek with a tepid performance in Dunedin against Wellington Phoenix. The Nix recorded an against the run of play 2-0 win with goals from Paul Ifill and former Victory midfielder Nick Ward. Roar dominated possession but created precious few actual goal scoring opportunities.
It was Wellington’s second win of the week, having beaten Perth Glory with a late headed goal from Ben Sigmund. The New Zealanders continue to grind out results whilst playing a very ‘straightforward’ brand of football. An interesting item of trivia from the Phoenix-Glory match was that the youngest man on the pitch at kick-off was the referee!
The Central Coast Mariners took advantage of Roar’s mid-season slump to close the gap at the top of the table from six points to zero. Four wins in a row have demonstrated that the Mariners are a side to be taken seriously – and amazingly, for all the hype around Ange Postecoglou, the sequence means that Graham Arnold now has a better A-League win percentage than Ange. The Mariners overcame local rivals Newcastle Jets with a confident 2-0 win, with goals from big guys Rostyn Griffiths (a well placed header from a corner) and Matt Simon (a drilled finish from close range).
This weekend, Heart travel to Perth with an excellent chance to solidify their place in the top six, whilst Victory host the inform but ugly Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park on Sunday (kick-off 5pm).
Outside the A-League, it was great to see NSWPL champions Sydney Olympic at Lakeside Stadium against South Melbourne. An echo of the past and hopefully a preview of the future – two A-League sides in waiting? We certainly hope so. Congratulations to the staff at South Melbourne for organising an excellent day of football by the lake.
