PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND – BRISBANE ROAR

With little to gain, but everything to lose, Brisbane were in a tough spot going into this week, knowing they could lose their spot in third.

At half time, down 3-1 it would have been easy to foresee Brisbane letting the game slip out of their hands. But it was a series of attacking heroics by Brisbane that saw them fight their way back into the game and give themselves every advantage going into the final.

Excepting a grand final with a team outside the top 3, Brisbane will play in next season’s Asian Champions League and will have a home final to give themselves the best chance of making it to the grand final.

With less shots than Wellington, it was the clinical edge that gave Brisbane the win, converting more goals despite less opportunities.

There was very little to split the two teams in the end, but it was Brisbane’s grit that shone through and gave them the win in the end.

Joe Caletti and Thomas Kristensen continued to be a source of stability in the midfield and while the performance of Cameron Crestani may come under scrutiny, it’s hard to fault Brisbane in a game that delighted football fans across the country.

A great performance this week and fans will be hoping for more to come.  

PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND – BRETT HOLMAN

It was a complete performance for the veteran midfielder and he is showing form at the perfect time for Brisbane.

Scoring a crucial first goal for the Roar, he equalised the earlier effort of Roy Krishna to keep the scores level with a stunning goal from outside the box.

When Wellington worked their way back into the match, Holman remained patient and eventually scored the winning goal for Brisbane with yet another stunning strike from outside the box.

As well as scoring two goals, he was a dominant creative force in the midfield, with only Thomas Kristensen putting in more passes than the attacking midfielder. He put in some strong efforts in defence when required and overall, being the main player for Brisbane.

Even without the two goals he scored, it would have been easy to praise his performance but his ability to cap off his performance with two crucial goals made the match even more special.

Having helped secure his side a home final, he will yet again need to be a protagonist in the Brisbane side, not only scoring goals but setting them up too. Regardless of his future efforts, it was a sensational performance this weekend from the veteran Aussie.

GOAL OF THE WEEKEND - NEBOJŠA MARINKOVIĆ

The goal of the weekend was always going to come from one of the Sunday games, with a series of stunners finding the back of the net. Despite these numerous goals, it’s hard to go past Nebojša Marinković’s effort for Perth.

Having earned a free kick after some excellent work by Andy Keogh, Kenny Lowe took off Mitchell Oxborrow and brought on Marinkovic. The Serbian lined up to take the free kick a few metres outside the 18-yard box and hit the ball with absolute perfection.

 The ball flew just over the wall, rocketing the underside of the cross bar to smash into the back of the net, giving Dean Bouzanis in the Melbourne City goal, no chance.

It was an unbelievable effort from the player given the fact it was his first touch of the game. It’s hard to argue that there’s been a better free kick in the A-League this season and Marinkovic may just have made himself more useful to Perth than some might have though at the beginning of the round.

Perth will have to back it up against Melbourne City again next week, taking them on in the first round of the finals. Perth Glory fans will certainly be hoping Marinkovic can pull off another effort like this and City might be wary of giving away free kicks just outside the box.

FLOP OF THE WEEKEND – NEWCASTLE JETS

They had the chance to crash the party against Sydney FC but instead, ended up receiving the wooden spoon and had their coach fired, all within 24 hours.

They could not have had a better chance to go ahead before half time, winning a penalty in the 42nd minute. Andrew Nabbout stepped up and promptly blasted the shot wide, delighting The Cove just a few metres away.

They produced little going forward, forcing Danny Vukovic into just two saves all game. They failed to use the ball and had less than 30% of the possession as they allowed themselves to be dominated by a Sydney FC side that had everything to lose.

Their passing accuracy, particularly when in Sydney’s half, was disappointing, with less than half their passes finding a team mate. It was a horror game for Newcastle and they made sure their efforts to keep Sydney scoreless in the first half, were forgotten.

Now with the wooden spoon in hand and no manager at the helm, it will be an interesting few weeks for Newcastle as they attempt to rebuild in the off-season. Certainly a week to forget for Newcastle.