Ref Boob Disguises Roar Flaw

Three points were on the cards for Melbourne until the shocking refereeing decision, combined with bad defending and bad luck, let Brisbane captain Matt McKay score a cruel late equaliser.

The loss of two points may yet prove costly for Victory in the remaining rounds, but it told as much about Brisbane.

In a 15-minute period, all but cruising up until the hour mark, Brisbane was played off the park. It was a stark contrast to the way their season had panned out until this point.

Not only were Brisbane outplayed, but they conceded three goals in a quarter of an hour and should have had their lengthy unbeaten run ended.

Roar had no answer to a Victory side playing on the back of an excited home crowd and with a tempo rarely seen in their game this season.

Victory are a big game club and showed with the likes of Robbie Kruse, Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez, they have one of the league’s best attacking trios.

Ernie Merrick’s men will make finals, but periods like that 15 minutes need to be extended into 90 and against teams sitting outside of the top two.

Ange Postecoglou would not have liked what he saw, but would be delighted his team is coming home with a point. 

The rest of the league knows this team bleeds and the wound will remain open into the finals series. It could hurt if the team they meet is Victory.

Week 17 was the equal highest goal-scoring weekend of the season with 18 goals hammered in, equal to week 14 - keep them coming!

Melbourne Victory 3 (Robbie Kruse 63’77’, Archie Thompson 71’)
Brisbane Roar 3 (Matthew Kemp (og) 30’, Jean Carlos Solorzano 45+1’, Matt McKay 90+3’)
Crowd: 11,886 @ AAMI Park

Brisbane Roar snatched a controversial late 3-3 draw against Melbourne Victory to extend their unbeaten run to 15.

Just when it looked as though Victory would beat Brisbane for a second time this season, Roar captain Matt McKay popped up to score a fortunate late equalizer.

The controversy occurred a moment earlier when former Victory keeper Michael Theoklitos had collected a ball outside of his penalty area before delivering a long pass that was flicked on by Reinaldo for McKay.

The finish too was lucky as the skipper got a second bite after Michael Petkovic had saved his initial effort and the ball had ricocheted off Rodrigo Vargas.

Roar dominated the first half and was rewarded with Matthew Kemp heading into his own net and striker Jean Carlos Solorzano getting on the scoresheet again following a corner.

But Melbourne turned the game in an amazing 15-minute period in the second half.

Robbie Kruse struck a brilliant first into the top corner before Archie Thompson was fastest to react and head home from inside the area.

He hit the side netting moments later, but Kruse popped up to chip Theoklitos after he had saved a free kick from Carlos Hernandez.

Substitute Reinaldo should have scored before McKay but he failed to make contact after a square ball.

Again in Melbourne, Roar showed they are far from unbeatable despite their apparent unstoppable sprint to the title.

Victory can be a threat in season six, but periods of football like that between 60 and 80 minutes needs to be played with more frequency.

Melbourne Victory FC: 1.Michael PETKOVIC (gk), 2. Kevin MUSCAT (c), 6. Leigh BROXHAM (5. Surat SUKHA 46’), 7. Matthew KEMP, 8.Grant BREBNER (13. Diogo FERREIRA 80’), 10. Archie THOMPSON, 11. Marvin ANGULO, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 14. Billy CELESKI, 16. Carlos HERNANDEZ, 21. Robbie KRUSE (3. Mate DUGANDZIC 82’)

Unused sub: 20.Sebastian MATTEI (gk),

Yellow cards: Muscat (55’), Vargas (74’), Hernandez (81’)

Red cards: None

Brisbane Roar FC: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 9. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO (11. REINALDO 74’), 15. Matt McKAY (c), 17. Mitch NICHOLS (18. Luke BRATTAN 71’), 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK (12. Matt MUNDY 63’)

Unused sub: 20. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk)

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Men of the Match – Robbie Kruse was a key factor in Melbourne’s second half revival with his brace against his old team. Jean Carlos Solórzano - The Costa Rican was involved in both of Roar’s first two goals and looked dangerous whenever he got the ball anywhere near the goals. Extremely perplexing that he was replaced by Reinaldo when he did.

Key Moment – It goes without saying that Peter Green’s decision not to penalise Michael Theoklitos for handling outside the area in the lead up to Brisbane Roar last minute equaliser was the moment that turned the match on its head. Ratings by Neil Zimmerman

Central Coast Mariners 4 (Adam Kwasnik 1’23’, Matt Simon 5’, Sebastian Ryall (og) 46’)
Sydney FC 0
Crowd: 7160 @ Bluetongue Stadium

Central Coast capitalised on a number of Sydney FC defensive blunders to score a comprehensive 4-0 victory at Bluetongue Stadium.

Less than a week after conceding five to Brisbane, the Mariners took less than 30 seconds to get on the scoresheet.

An error in the middle of the park by the Sky Blues allowed Mustafa Amini to feed Matt Simon in on the right with his cross perfectly weighted for Adam Kwasnik to tap home.

The provider turned scorer minutes later after a fumble from Ivan Necevski as he too scored from close range.

Goals three and four were probably the worst of the lot for Sydney. First, Hayden Foxe struck clean air for Kwasnik to pop in and get a brace.

The striker has taken his season tally to seven now and it could have been eight but his search for a hat trick before the interval went inches wide.

To make matters worse for Sydney, a miss kick from Sebastian Ryall found its way into the corner of Necevski’s net for the fourth.

Youngster Dimitri Petratos struck the crossbar for the Sky Blues but the gap between their best and worst is too great to be a genuine contender.

The Mariners bounced back in the best possible fashion and suspended striker Daniel McBreen may be wondering whether he’s an automatic inclusion when he returns with Kwasnik in fine goal scoring form.

Central Coast Mariners: 20. Mathew RYAN (gk), 3. Joshua ROSE, 4. Pedj BOJIC (17. Chris DOIG 67’), 6. Patrick ZWAANSWIJK, 8. Rostyn GRIFFITHS (7. John HUTCHINSON 78’), 11. Oliver BOZANIC, 14. Michael MCGLINCHEY, 18. Alex WILKINSON (c), 19. Matt SIMON, 22. Mustafa AMINI (10. Patricio PEREZ 62’), 23. Adam KWASNIK

Unused sub: 30. Paul HENDERSON (gk)

Yellow card: Amini (32’)

Red cards: None

Sydney FC: 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 5. Hayden FOXE, 7. Brendan GAN (11. Kofi DANNING 63’), 8. Stuart MUSIALIK (6. Hirofumi MORIYASU 61’), 12. Shannon COLE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN, 16. Terry ANTONIS, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 22. Sung Hwan BYUN, 24. Dimitri PETRATOS

Unused subs: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 3. Stephan KELLER

Yellow cards: Ryall (20’), McFlynn (30’)

Red cards: None

Men of the Match – Central Coast Mariners Adam Kwasnik, Matt Simon and Josh Rose were all particularly outstanding in what was an almost completely dominant performance from the Mariners, especially Rose who has found some fantastic form in the past few weeks.

Key Moment – Sydney’s defence. What. The. Heck. It’s time to bring in some defensive changes – where are all those talented young defenders on Sydney’s books we keep hearing about? Ratings by Arabella Vaughan

North Queensland Fury 0
Newcastle Jets 2 (Nikolai Topor-Stanley 79’, Sasho Petrovski 90+3’)
Crowd: 3573 @ Dairy Farmers Stadium

Newcastle registered their first away win of the season with a late 2-0 victory at North Queensland.

Little separated the two teams until Nikolai Topor-Stanley popped up to score a header after being left unmarked for a corner.

Substitute Sasho Petrovski sealed the points with a late finish.

The Jets move within a whisker of the top six and could move in with a win against Melbourne Heart mid-week.

Fury’s poor form at home continued despite the hope of getting off the bottom after victory against Gold Coast United just days earlier.

North Queensland Fury: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2. Jack HINGERT (24. Ramazan TAVSANCIOGLU 85’), 5. Mark HUGHES, 6. Ufuk TALAY (c), 7. Gareth EDDS (21. Jason SPAGNUOLO 70’), 10. Dyron DAAL (9. Eugene SSEPPUYA 73’), 11. David WILLIAMS, 12. Panagiotis NIKAS, 13. Andre KILIAN, 16. Simon STOREY, 17. Osama MALIK

Unused sub: 28. Sebastian USAI (gk)

Yellow cards: Talay (81’), Williams (82’)

Red cards: None

Newcastle Jets: 40. Matthew NASH (gk), 3. Adam D’APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC (c), 7. Kasey WEHRMAN, 10. Ruben ZADKOVICH (13. Sasho PETROVSKI 61’), 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE (6. Ben KANTAROVSKI 77’), 18. Marko JESIC, 19. Ali ABBAS, 24. Francis JEFFERS (14. Labinot HALITI 90+2’)

Unused subs: None

Yellow cards: Zadkovich (30’), Kantarovski (89’)

Red cards: None

Man of the match – Newcastle Jets’ Nikolai Topor-Stanley was immense in defence and also contributed a vital goal for his team in a contest that really could’ve gone either way.

Key Moment – Nikolai Topor-Stanley’s 78th minute goal really knocked the wind out of the North Queensland Fury. From there, a comeback seemed unlikely.

Wellington Phoenix 2 (Tim Brown 46’, Ben Sigmund 90+4’)
Adelaide United 1 (Sergio van Dijk 14’)
Crowd: 14,108 @ AMI Stadium

Wellington Phoenix scored three points with the last play of the game with defender Ben Sigmund heading a late winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Adelaide United.

Reds striker Sergio van Dijk returned to the scoresheet with a brilliant header to put his side ahead.

But they fell asleep early in the second half to allow Tim Brown to tuck home from close range.

Captain Travis Dodd was sent off in the 83^rd minute before Sigmund popped up from a corner in the last minute of the game to send the strong crowd at Christchurch into celebration mode.

It was a cruel blow for Adelaide but a win that saw Phoenix return to the top six.

Wellington Phoenix: 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 2. Manny MUSCAT, 4. Nick WARD (23. Dylan MACALLISTER 88’), 6. Tim BROWN, 8. Paul IFILL, 11. DANIEL (21. Marco ROJAS 61’), 13. Troy HEARFIELD (9. Chris GREENACRE 81’), 15. Jade NORTH, 17. Vince LIA, 18. Ben SIGMUND, 22. Andrew DURANTE (c)

Unused sub: 19. Danny VUKOVIC (gk)

Yellow cards: Durante (23’), Greenacre (85’), Ward (87’)

Red cards: None

Adelaide United: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2. Robert CORNTHWAITE, 4. Iain FYFE, 6. CASSIO, 8. Adam HUGHES, 9. Sergio VAN DIJK, 10. Marcos FLORES (7. Lucas PANTELIS 79’), 12. Paul REID (5. Daniel MULLEN 85’), 13. Travis DODD (c), 17. Iain RAMSAY (24. Cameron WATSON 79’), 18. Fabian BARBIERO

Unused sub: 20. Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk)

Yellow cards: Flores (38’), Cornthwaite (42’)

Red card: Dodd (84’)

Man of the Match – Ben Sigmund. The Wellington defender was a rock at right-fullback, assisted Tim Brown’s opening goal and grabbed the winner for good measure. A magnificent all-round contribution.

Key Moment – Despite Iain Ramsay’s one-on-one chance having the potential to seal the points for Adelaide, it has to be Travis Dodd’s sending off. The ‘Nix were already looking the more dangerous of the two and a reduction to ten men only piled more pressure on the away team. Ratings by Matt Dorman.

Gold Coast United 3 (Bas van den Brink 40’, Jason Culina (pen) 58’, 78’)
Melbourne Heart 0
Crowd: 1658 @ Skilled Park

Gold Coast United returned to the winner’s list after consecutive losses with a 3-0 victory over Melbourne Heart, extending Heart’s winless run five, including three losses.

Bas van den Brink got on the scoresheet again after finding the net from a corner.

The provider of that goal, Jason Culina, scored two of his own in the second half.

First, he converted a penalty before he snuck a low shot just inside Clint Bolton’s right hand post.

It was an important win for United in front of another lowly crowd of 1,658 in rain-soaked conditions.

Heart somehow remain in the six but consecutive fixtures against Newcastle and Victory could change that.

Gold Coast United: 20. Scott HIGGINS (gk), 5. ROBSON (15. Tahj MINNECON 76’), 6. Dino DJULBIC, 8. ANDERSON, 10. Jason CULINA (c), 11. Bruce DJITE (19. Andrew BARISIC 79’), 13. Bas VAN DEN BRINK, 16. Kristian REES, 18. James BROWN, 22. Adama TRAORE (23. Steve FITZSIMMONS 87’), 24. John CURTIS 

Unused sub: 30. Jerrad TYSON [gk]

Yellow cards: van den Brink (84’)

Red cards: None

Melbourne Heart: 1. Clint BOLTON, 2. Michael MARRONE (3. Brendan HAMILL 46’), 4. Simon COLOSIMO (c), 5. Michael BEAUCHAMP (21. Kliment TASESKI 69’), 6. Matt THOMPSON, 9. Gerald SIBON, 11. Alex TERRA (7. Rutger WORM 46’), 15. John ALOISI, 16. Aziz BEHICH, 22. Nick KALMAR, 25. Adrian ZAHRA

Unused sub: 12. Peter ZOIS

Yellow cards: Beauchamp (57’), Zahra (65’)

Red cards: None

Man of the Match – It’s certainly no coincidence that upon the return of Jason Culina Gold Coast United’s performance is greatly improved. The captain was instrumental in every attacking move for his side, netting a brace and assisting another.

Key Moment – Melbourne Heart’s indirect free-kick from within the Gold Coast penalty box was a golden opportunity squandered. A more intelligent approach from Gerald Sibon could and should have had Heart right back in the contest with an hour to play. MD.

Weekend Break: Perth Glory

Mid-week: Melbourne Heart v Newcastle Jets @ AAMI Park

Hyundai A-League 2010/11 League Table

Hyundai A-League 2010/11 - Leading Goal-Scorers

8 - Robbie KRUSE, Jean Carlos SOLORANZO

7 - Robbie FOWLER, Paul IFILL, Sergio VAN DIJK

6 - Alex BROSQUE, Kosta BARBAROUSES, Bruno CAZARINE, Adam KWASNIK, Matt SIMON

5 - Tim BROWN, Jason CULINA, REINALDO, David WILLIAMS

4 - Marcos FLORES, Iain FYFE, Chris GREENACRE, Mathew LECKIE, Mitch NICHOLS, Gerald SIBON

3 - John ALOISI, Leo BERTOS, Thomas BROICH, Shannon COLE, Bruce DJITE, Mark HUGHES, Marko JESIC, Nick KALMAR, Chris PAYNE, Iain RAMSAY, Mile STERJOVSKI

2 - Eli BABALJ, Dyron DAAL, Dino DJULBIC, Travis DODD, Mate DUGANDZIC, Ivan FRANJIC, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, Chris GROSSMAN, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Branko JELIC, Daniel MCBREEN, Matt MCKAY, Kevin MUSCAT, Scott NEVILLE, Patricio PEREZ, Sasho PETROVSKI, Joel PORTER, Joshua ROSE, Ben SIGMUND, Shane SMELTZ, Matt SMITH, Ufuk TALAY, Alex TERRA, Archie THOMPSON, Nikolai TOPOR STANLEY, Bas VAN DEN BRINK, Patrick ZWAANSWIJK

1 -  Michael BAIRD, Andrew BARISIC, Grant BREBNER, Mark BRIDGE, Michael BRIDGES, Jeremy BROCKIE, James BROWN, Leigh BROXHAM, Billy CELESKI, Isaka CERNAK, Robert CORNTHWAITE, John CURTIS, Luke DEVERE, Gareth EDDS, Brendan GAN, Rhyan GRANT, Labinot HALITI, Jamie HARNWELL, Scott JAMIESON, Stephan KELLER, Matthew LEWIS, Dylan MacALLISTER, Terry MCFLYNN, Daniel MULLEN, Massimo MURDOCCA, Erik PAARTALU, Steve PANTELIDIS, Adriano PELLEGRINO, Tom PONDELJAK, Paul REID, RICARDINHO, ROBSON, Sean ROONEY, Eugene SSEPPUYA, Simon STOREY, Matt THOMPSON, Adama TRAORE, Rodrigo VARGAS, Rocky VISCONTE, Nick WARD, Alex WILKINSON, Rutger WORM, Adrian ZAHRA