Melbourne Victory travelled up to the Gold Coast on a wet Saturday night to face the league cellar-dwellers Gold Coast United. Neither side could find a winner at Skilled Park, Gold Coast forward Maceo Righters would open the scoring early in the second half, Victory star Carlos Hernandez would equalise minutes after. Here is what I took from it…

Melbourne Victory

1. Goodbye finals?
This draw and Melbourne Heart and Newcastle Jets’ wins over the weekend could confine Victory to a spot outside the six by season’s end. Based on the year and this game, I can’t argue with that. They are going to have to depend on the kindness of others to get in. This game saw many of the frustrating parts in play that have plagued Victory this season. Defensive mistakes and fade-outs were part of this performance, as well as good parts of play. It is frustrating beyond belief to say the least.

2. Unimaginative subs
Jean-Carlos Solorzano, Leigh Broxham and Isaka Cernak made up the bench in this game, and I think it’s fair to say they weren’t used at the best times. Cernak came on for Rojas at the 52nd minute, which I couldn’t understand as Rojas was one of Victory’s better players on the night. Magilton shouldn’t have been afraid to take a risk and bring Cernak on for Kemp at full-back. Another question: why give Solorzano only five minutes game-time? It was a waste and he should’ve been on earlier for Jeggo. They were unimaginative and not game-changing moves from Magilton.

3. No luck Archie
Archie Thompson continued his lean run of goal-scoring form on the weekend, coming close several times but not finishing. I would be worried about his form, but his signs are there. Thompson’s runs off the ball and spark up the front caused trouble, but it wasn’t enough. It maybe a case of one goal and they’ll come back for Thompson, but the side can’t afford to wait.

4. No patience
Victory looked more likely of the teams to come out the winner in the last 10 minutes, with much of the ball lodged in their attacking half. However, too many long balls were played into the box without much hope. There was no patience from the players to build up play and look for the hole in the defence. It played into the hands of the big Gold Coast centre-backs and wasn’t likely to get Victory a winner.

5. Leijer’s season over
It has been a wretched season for the first-year skipper and it was compounded by his season ending hip injury. It was revealed after experiencing “severe discomfort in the pelvic region”, according to the club. I feel for Leijer, and I hope he can come back a better player and captain than what he has shown this season.

Gold Coast United

1. Draw the right result
The strugglers carved out a draw in what has been a story of their year on and off field. They took advantage of Victory’s letdowns at certain points at the game, which they exploited with Maceo Righters scoring early in the second. They hung on near the end and were helped by Victory’s wastefulness in the last 10 minutes. They weren’t consistent over the game, which can be expected with a developing, young and talented side.

2. An early blow
Speedster Ben Halloran was removed in the 14th minute after copping some early attention from Victory midfielder Mark Milligan. It was a big blow for Gold Coast, as Halloran would have been a nightmare for Matt Kemp to deal with all night. It is never good seeing such a young talent injured early on and I hope it isn’t serious. A key to the Gold Coast future (on-field of course) is keeping Halloran at the club.

3. Jarrad Tyson a lucky man?
Yes, in my view. The understudy keeper clattered into a charging Archie Thompson just outside the penalty box connecting with the strikers head in an ugly collision. First-game referee Regis Queffelec wouldn’t even call it a foul and Tyson escaped punishment. It was a foul in my view and I would’ve shown Tyson a yellow for it.

4. Maceo Righters’ goal
The Dutch striker was on the receiving end of some great build-up work from young midfielders Mitch Cooper and Jake Barker-Daish and sloppy Victory defending to put away a goal early in the second. The Gold Coast started the last 45 brightly, buzzing around pressuring Victory. The work of their starlets was great and it got even better from there. They have an exciting young squad, with some key senior players, but that has been overshadowed by off-field events in recent weeks.

5. Clive Palmer strikes again
The larger-than-life Gold Coast owner courted more controversy, with the FFA issuing the club a breach notice over the “Freedom of Speech” logo displayed on shirts and signboards. When you strip the emotion and rhetoric away from all this, the combative Palmer made many good points on the FFA, its governance and structure of the A-League.

But Palmer’s approach has been wrong in my view. Rather than igniting a war of words through the media and his players, why not speak to Lowy or Buckley? The question what to do about Gold Coast United is a very tricky one and it will remain so. Cool heads need to come to the fore and prevail.