Jason Hoffman

Reluctantly, Jason Hoffman might actually be a good striker. The defender-slash-forward was outstanding against Perth Glory.

Last week against Sydney, Hoffman got into excellent positions but messed up chances where it was harder to miss than score. It seems like sometime during the week he rediscovered the killer instincts required to find the back of the net.

The 30 year old made a dart down towards the middle on the edge of the box, where Steven Ugarkovic found him with an incisive through ball, where Hoffman finished with aplomb as if he’s been a striker his whole life.

After taking the lead, Hoffman’s versatility was helpful to Ernie Merrick as he put him in a more reserved position with the Jets looking to hold on, but conceded late on. Perhaps Ernie would have been better served by going for the final blow with Hoffman leading the way.

Andrew Durante

Western United clearly have a steely resilience to their side, best personified by centre-back Durante.

After Wanderers took an early lead, where heads might have dropped, Durante took control to get his team back into the game with a powerful header from an Alessandro Diamanti corner, the 37 year old’s first goal in more than five years.

In teh wake of the goal, the whole team’s confidence seemed to rise as Durante ordered the defence to stay in position, and won countless aerial battles and interceptions to keep his team from conceding again.

Markus Babbel looked like he had no answer to penetrate the United defence, largely due to the veteran defender using all his years of experience to keep Western Sydney at bay.

Perhaps German striker Alexander Meier might have been able to make it more challenging, but Babbel curiously decided to play him as a midfielder. It backfired, though, as Durante was comfortable without any serious physical presence to contest him.