A League - Week 27 Review

The final week of the regular season hove into view and the first game of the weekend saw Brisbane Roar playing host to Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium. Neither side had much to play for, Roar were guaranteed finals football and Jets a bottom two finish, maybe that freedom helped the players put on a very entertaining open affair with the home team eventually running out 2-1 winners.

The first half belonged to the keepers as they put on a masterclass to keep the game scoreless at half time. Jets custodian Ben Kennedy was the busier of the two somehow denying both Stephen Lustica and Patrick Theodore from point blank range in the third and seventeenth minutes respectively. He also produced a wonderous full stretch fingertip save to deny a Lustica thirty yard blockbuster on forty one minutes.

In-between times Jamie Young in the Roar goal showed his own abilities to tip away an Andrew Hoole drive on twenty nine minutes. Jets were first to threaten in the second half when Young again proved to be equal to a shot across goal from Lee Ki-Je on sixty three minutes.

However he was powerless but lucky two minutes later when a lovely Montano backheel sent Hoole through one on one with him, the inexperienced winger had all options open to him and chose to try to square the ball to Enver Alivodic sadly he put too much on the ball and it ran away for a goal kick before the Serb could get a finishing touch.

Two minutes later Kennedy tipped another effort over this time from Jean Carlos Solarzano to maintain the status quo. Solarzano was central to opening the scoring three minutes later when he made inroads into the box from the outside right channel, his cross come shot to the far post was too easy to miss for substitute Kofi Danning who tapped home from inside the six yard box.

Jets stirred themselves to equalise on seventy seven minutes, Alivodic crossed from the right, Mitch Cooper headed down for Montano neatly to finish through the legs of Young from eight yards. Nine minutes later Roar edged ahead again, a Lustica shot from the edge of the box was deflected and looped into the air, Solarzano unsuccessfully tried a bicycle kick, the ball fell to Shannon Brady who shot from six yards only to see Kennedy save with his feet, unfortunately for him the loose ball fell to young centre half Lachlan Jackson to ram home the winner.

We still had time for the miss of the season as Jets sought another leveller, Alivodic cut his way in from the right to the edge of the six yard box, and he blasted a low cross to the far post where skipper Daniel Mullen somehow managed to scoop the ball over the bar from practically underneath it. With that chance Jets fate was sealed and they took the wooden spoon, Roar go into the finals in winning form and will face up to Adelaide Utd in the first of the play-off games.

Next up Perth Glory travelled to the Pirtek Stadium to take on Western Sydney Wanderers, the team from the west brought down the curtain on a tumultuous season with a 2-1 victory, sadly for them despite their third place finish they are unable to take part in the finals due to financial misdemeanours by the club management.

The home team were the first to threaten in the fifth minute when Kerem Bulut went down a bit too easily in the box under the challenge of Glory keeper Danny Vukovic, no penalty being the outcome. Glory nearly opened the scoring in the ninth minute, Andy Keogh swung over a left wing cross, Garcia looped a header back across goal from beyond the far post which struck a defender hit the post and the rebound evaded two Glory players following in.

Eight minutes later Jamie Maclaren scored for the visitors, Rostyn Griffith played a beautifully weighted through ball to set him free and the inform striker shot across Bouzanis to find the far corner of the net from twelve yards to notch his fifth goal in as many games.

Keogh had a decent header plucked from the air by Bouzanis in the last minute of the first period after good approach play by Garcia and Maclaren. In added time Steve Kuzmanovski was denied by Vukovic after cutting in from the left and unleashing a shot from around ten yards. Glory so nearly extended their lead in the first minute of the second half, the fantastically named Mitchell Oxburrow shot from outside of the box, Garcia deflected the effort via his head on to the bar with the rebound falling to Danny Da Silva just a couple of yards out but he blazed wide.

It proved costly five minutes later when Kuzmanovski was brought down on the right hand side of the penalty area, Nick Kalmar squared the dead ball to Liam Youlley on the edge of the box, his side foot effort pin balled around and somehow crept past a flat footed Vukovic to find the net.

Glory edged themselves ahead again in the sixty sixth minute, Josh Risdon performed wonders to make an incisive run into the Wanderers area from his berth wide right, he then reversed a pass to Keogh who curled home from twelve yards for his twelfth league goal of the season.

A season to forget for Wanderers as they finish ninth and equally so for Glory as they are unceremoniously thrown out of the finals series and may well lose crucial players as a result.

Adelaide Utd and Melbourne City are both destined to compete in the finals so this fixture at Coopers Stadium carried little significance apart from form and potential feel good factor. The home team were left feeling warm and fuzzy when they ran out 4-1 winners to finish third in the league.

They opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute, Tarek Elrich found Pablo Sanchez toward the edge of the box, he in turn played Miguel Palanca into space in the inside left channel, the Spaniard had no trouble shooting across Tando Velaphi to find the far corner of the net. Four minutes later it was 2-0, a long ball into the inside left channel gave Sergio Cirio room to fire a decent effort at Velaphi, the keeper beat away his effort but the loose ball fell to Pablo Sanchez to half volley home from around the penalty spot.

Ten minutes later a wonder goal from Elrich sealed the game and possibly won goal of the season award for the full back. Taking possession fifteen yards inside his own half, he progressed down the left leaving two City players in his wake before cutting infield and beating another two before slipping the ball wide of Velaphi from six yards.

Bad became worse for City when Craig Goodwin was brought down by Jonatan Germano, sub Cameron Watson held his nerve to score with the twice taken spot kick in the fifty seventh minute. Aaron Mooy has been the stand out performer for City this season so it was fitting that he should get on the scoresheet for them in the sixty fourth minute.

Bruce Kamau clipped him as he shaped to shoot, the midfielder despatched the resulting penalty to the bottom left corner. The entertainment wasn’t over there as we had time for two straight red cards in separate incidents. First Kew Jaliens saw red for bringing down Goodwin on the edge of the box as he threatened to shoot then Michael Marrone was dismissed for catching Erik Paartalu with his trailing leg after sliding into a challenge. The impact those suspensions make on the teams efforts in the finals series remains to be seen.

The only game that carried any real meaning in this round was at Westpac Stadium Wellington as the Phoenix took on Sydney FC to decide who finished second in the league and thus avoided the first round of finals games. The visitors claimed the sought after win 2-1 and thus will get a couple of weeks rest before having to face up to a semi-final opponent.

The home team should have gone ahead in the eleventh minute when Roly Bonevacia placed a penalty kick wide of the post after Michael McGlinchey had been brought down by Bernie Ibini. Ibini eased his conscience three minutes later, a long clearing throw from Vedran Janjetovic gave the lightening quick front man room to operate down the left flank, he cut into the box before a retreating Nix defence switched the ball to his left foot and rammed into the roof of the net from the corner of the six yard box.

Lewis Italiano clawed a header from Ibini out of the air two minutes later to prevent him getting a brace. Returning Kiwi Shane Smelt demonstrated the art of penalty taking on thirty two minutes to give the visitors their second after Albert Riera brought down Chris Naumoff. The Nix got a goal back in just the second minute of the second half, a short corner routine allowed Nathan Burns to get to the byeline and pull back to Michael Boxall for a neat finish at the near post.

Burns came within an ace of levelling in the fifty eighth minute when an audacious chip from twenty yards was tipped over by Janjetovic at full stretch. Five minutes later Alex Brosque was denied by Italiano when through one on one as the keeper stayed tall to deny the midfielders attempt to lift the ball over him. Roy Krishna came close to a second Nix goal in the eighty first minute but just as he shaped to pull the trigger French defender Jacques Faty nipped the ball away. Nix will now face Melbourne City in the play-off game and should be fancied to progress.

Predictably the largest crowd of the final regular weekend of games came at Aami Park where over twenty two thousand crowded in to watch Melbourne Victory claim a 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners and with it the Premiers Plate. Kosta Barabarouses came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute when he robbed Eddy Bosnar in the box, his stabbed effort producing a comfortable enough save from Matthew Nash in the Mariners goal.

The opener arrived courtesy of Victory left back Daniel Georgievski in the thirty second minute. After taking possession in his own half, he hared down the left side, a neat ball low into the box found Besart Berisha with his back to goal and twelve yards out, he attracted four defenders before laying the ball back to Georgievski on the edge of the box for the full back to perfectly place a lofted shot over Nash and into the top corner.

Just two minutes later Victory added a second, a Gui Finkler inswinging corner from the left was met by a near post diving header by veteran striker Archie Thompson with the ball glancing home from a narrow angle. On the stroke of half time Mariners got one back through Bosnar, he blasted a free kick from just under thirty yards directly at the wall, it deflected off of Finklers knee onto Georgievskis head, rendering him in need of treatment, wrongfooted Laurence Thomas in the Victory goal and found the net.

Any chance of a comeback was quickly snuffed out by Victory when they added their third just two minutes into the second half. Thompson played a ball in from the left to find Finkler in the box, his path to goal being blocked he lifted a deft ball to the far post for Mark Milligan to take control and pull back to Berisha for a pin point finish through defenders on the line.

Nick Fitzgerald and Glen Triffiro saw chances saved and blazed wide respectively as Mariners gave it their best shot but it was to prove to be to no avail. So Victory claimed their third A League Premiers Plate and their first since the 2008-09 season.

What have we learned?

Adelaide have discovered a little bit of form and their Latin flavoured talents should be strong enough to see off Brisbane while the Nix should be good enough at home to see off the threat of Melbourne City.

Next A League fixtures

Adelaide United  v Brisbane Roar

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City