Bring Back The Glory...At Last

After spending big on marquee Mile Sterjovski and luring fellow Socceroos Jacob Burns and Chris Coyne, could this be the return to greener pastures for the once-great NSL powerhouse and their long-suffering fans?

Though Glory were unconvincing at times against the Newcastle Jets on Friday night, Dave Mitchell's men were able to snag back-to-back wins on the road - something that has been a rarity for the men from the West.

Perhaps equally heartening for Perth Glory fans is the performances of Socceroos Sterjovski, Burns and Coyne who all seem to be settling back into the domestic game, and who all seem to be improving with each passing week.

In contrast to Glory's good fortune is the decline of early runaway competition leaders, Gold Coast United. The surf-siders slumped to their second consecutive loss on Saturday night against a battle-hardened Melbourne Victory outfit.

What is more, Gold Coast were reduced to 10 men for the second week in a row

Dreams of a unbeaten run have well and truly been shelved, as Miron's men face a more realistic task - picking themselves up from the canvass after disappointing results.  

Has the Suncorp curse followed Miron south?

Only time will tell.

Newcastle coach Branko Culina has been splashed across his local press this week after airing his views on foreign coaches and playing entertaining football

Once again his team dominated possession and territory against Perth Glory, played some crisp interchanging football, but was unable to take advantage of some golden goal-scoring opportunities.

Diminutive midfielder Jin-Hyung Song should have scored in the 8th minute of the match after Kaz Patafta threaded his way down the right wing before sliding a pass into the area for Song, who fired his shot into the arms of Glory goalkeeper Tando Velaphi.

Patafta himself spurned a gilded-edge opportunity a few moments later after he battled his way through three players inside the area only to slice his shot wide of the target from 12 yards out. Labinot Haliti also was proving a handful for the Glory defence.

After absorbing the early pressure, though, Perth eventually worked their way into the game with Mile Sterjovski and Branko Jelic pressing forward and forcing a number of corners.

The second half continued much in the same vein as the first with the home side in the ascendency.

Despite Newcastle dominating almost the entire match, Glory grabbed the winner against the run of play in the 81st minute when Victor Sikora slid a through ball to Sterjovski, who sprinted into the penalty area before being brought down by Jets goalkeeper Ben Kennedy.

The Socceroo thumped the resulting penalty into the underside of the crossbar and into the net for a hard-fought win.

During the week Melbourne Victory signed 31 year-old Thailand striker Sutee Suksomkit from Singapore club Tampines Rovers, with the exciting goal-machine due to meet up with his club mates in early October.

Buoyed by this news, Victory travelled to league-leaders Gold Coast United on Saturday night seeking to humble the big-talking newcomers.

There was plenty of action in the opening interchanges, but it was the home side who took the lead on 18 minutes, when Jason Culina converted from the penalty spot following a foul by Victory captain Kevin Muscat.

Melbourne didn't have to wait long to get back into the game, however, when Carlos Hernandez unleashed an unstoppable long-range strike just minutes later, his goal undoubtedly qualifying as a contender for goal of the season.

Gold Coast were reduced to 10 men for the second week in a row just minutes before the interval after Steve Fitzsimmons was shown a red card for his reckless  lunge on Leigh Broxham, and their woes were compounded further when Archie Thompson made it 2-1 with a curling strike on 43 minutes.

The 10 men battled back to equalise from a corner when Joel Porter got on the end a Jason Culina corner and directed the ball into the net.

There was to be no joy for the Coast, however, when Archie Thompson was upended in the box late in the game. The usually reliable Kevin Muscat fired his resulting penalty high over the crossbar, but ref Peter Green ordered a re-take.

Muscat made no mistake, and secured the points for his team.

Celebrating their 50th match in the Hyundai A-League, Wellington Phoenix hosted Central Coast Mariners who, for their part, had struggled against the Kiwis over the past two seasons. Favourable early results meant the Mariners were firmly embedded in the top half of the table, while Phoenix were desperate to stay in touch with the breakaway competition peloton

Phoenix handed former Mariner Adrian Caceres his starting debut in place of Daniel who has returned to Brazil following the birth of baby daughter, Luisa, but despite putting in a solid effort, Caceres was unable to prove the game-breaker.

In fact it was the Mariners who started the brighter, with chances to Matt Simon and English import Nicky Travis.

The former Sheffield United man thought he had given his team the lead midway through the half when he curled a fine effort beyond Mark Paston, only to find that Matt Simon had strayed offside in the build up.

Paul Ifill and Chris Greenacre looked dangerous in the Wellington front line, but uncharacteristic poor finishing by the pair - and their team-mates - meant that the game was always destined to be played out as a draw.

Sydney FC travelled to Suncorp Stadium to face Brisbane Roar on a beautiful Queensland Sunday afternoon, hoping to capitalise on the slip up by fellow league leaders Gold Coast United the week before.

A win would have seen the sky blues take the outright competition lead.

The first half was played at a lively tempo and saw chances fall regularly for both sides, but it was the visitors who looked the most likely.

Some fantastic work in the middle, more often than not coming from Steve Corica, saw strikers Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge find space in dangerous positions, but the pair, while imperious, were always unable to finish clinically.

The duo fell short when it came to finding the back of the net, best signified by a brilliant set-piece in the 43rd minute that saw Bridge find a paddock of space in the box, but failed to make any connection with the pinpoint cross that was sent in by Shannon Cole.

Roar were not without hope in what was a fairly even opening half. Miller was influential, while Brazilians Reinaldo and Henrique had a bevy of chances.

Mark Bridge continued to run amok up front in the second stanza, and had another fantastic opportunity to break the deadlock in the 60th minute, but his well-struck header flew high over the crossbar.

Despite both sides having a multitude of chances to break the deadlock, the match seemed destined for a scoreless draw until the 85th minute when Sergio van Dijk leapt high over Simon Colosimo and sent the ball sizzling past Sky Blues keeper Clint Bolton.

It was a deserving outcome for a slick passage of play, with Scottish playmaker Charlie Miller looping a cross in to Roar skipper Craig Moore, who nodded it across goal to van Dijk.

The final match of the round saw a dejected Adelaide United travel to North Queensland to try to  salvage their poor start to the season.

North Queensland dominated the first half, threatening with eight shots on goal and four corners, but lacked the finishing touch required to find the back of the net. Adelaide were restricted to their own half for most of the first period.

Fury's Daniel McBreen looked guaranteed to score early when he lashed at a loose ball in the box with only one defender in his path but the shot was wide of the post.

Robbie Fowler then forced a save from United keeper Eugene Galekovic.

The goals were to come late in the second stanza when Adelaide utility Lucas Pantelis took advantage of a poor clearance by goalkeeper Paul Henderson to fire the visitors in front before Matt Leckie curled in equally impressive strike minutes later.

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 League Table After Round 8

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 - Leading Goal-Scorers

9 - Shane SMELTZ

4 -Robbie FOWLER, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Branko JELIC, Archie THOMPSON, Sergio VAN DIJK

3 - John ALOISI, HENRIQUE, Lucas PANTELIS

2 - Leo BERTOS, Mark BRIDGE, Steve CORICA, Jason CULINA, Chris GREENACRE, Jason HOFFMAN, Paul IFILL, Adriano PELLEGRINO, Matt SIMON, Victor SIKORA, Mile STERJOVSKI

1 - Danny ALLSOPP, Nigel BOOGAARD, Grant BREBNER, Tim BROWN, CASSIO, Dyron DAAL, Kofi DANNING, Travis DODD, Steven FITZSIMMONS, Iain FYFE, Brendan GAN, Royston GRIFFITHS, Chris GROSSMAN, Labinot HALITI, John HUTCHINSON, Matthew LECKIE, Daniel MCBREEN, Michael MCGLINCHEY, Charlie MILLER, Tahj MINNIECON, MILSON, Craig MOORE, Kevin MUSCAT, Jason NAIDOVSKI, Mitch NICHOLS, Lloyd OWUSU, Joel PORTER, REINALDO, Sean ROONEY, Ben SIGMUND, Matt SIMON, Jin-Hyung SONG, Wayne SRHOJ, Matt THOMPSON, Danny TIATTO, Nicky TRAVIS, Nick WARD, Alex WILKINSON