To see bleary-eyed Brisbane Roar recovering today...

 

Fresh from a night of celebrations, Roar heroes assembled at their Ballymore base on Monday afternoon to meet the media following Sunday night’s unforgettable A-League grand final.

The players were in reflective mood after the greatest grand final in A-League history - an unforgettable come-from-behind 2-2 extra-time draw that the Queenslanders eventually took out on penalties.

“When they [Central Coast] went 2-0 up I think they got instructions to defend and get compact and solid. Their forwards dropped off enabling us to play out from the back,” Roar defender Matt Smith explained to au.fourfourtwo.com.

“And when they did have the ball they could’ve used it a bit more wisely instead of just giving it back to us.

“Don’t get me wrong, full credit to the Mariners … but in terms of killing the game off with a couple of minutes to go and 2-0 up, they could’ve at least held the ball a bit better instead of just giving it back to us.”

The Mariners were magnificent all night and looked to have the trophy firmly in their grasp as they celebrated their second goal in extra time courtesy of the fabulous Oliver Bozanic. 

And they might have a case for a push on Pedj Bojic which wasn't picked up by referee Matthew Breeze. This led to the corner and subsequent second goal from the head of Erik Paartalu.

But 20-year-old Roar substitute Rocky Visconte agreed with his team-mate Smith. He said once Bozanic stroked home the second goal on 102 minutes the Mariners didn’t starve the Roar of possession and kill the game.

“What surprised me was that they didn’t really try to keep the ball,” the former Hearts player told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“They just kept trying to punt it out of the park and give it back to us. But it wasn’t just what they did it was what we did. We didn’t give up and there have been a lot of games where we’ve scored in the last few minutes

“We’re a team that just doesn’t give up… in the end it was a fairytale.”

English-born Smith, 28, added he’d been inundated with messages from friends in England who saw the spine-tingling game played in front of just over 50,000 fans at a packed Suncorp stadium.

The game was also shown in Asia, providing the A-League with a perfect global advertisement.

Smith, a former Portsmouth and Chichester City player, added: “The general Australian sports viewer would’ve seen how amazing it was. And to be a player involved in it was spectacular.”

Roar will enjoy a ticker-tape parade on Tuesday in Brisbane as A-League football continues to take centre stage in the Queensland capital after an unforgettable weekend.  

To see bleary-eyed Brisbane Roar recovering today...