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The Central Coast Mariners now hold the title for the season's longest current unbeaten streak after Brisbane Roar were defeated by Sydney on the weekend.
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| Rini Coolen's turn in the hotseat |
The round kicked off on Friday night with the under pressure Adelaide United getting a 4-0 spanking from in form Central Coast Mariners. Arnie's mob came, saw and conquered a terrible Reds team that lacked any form of cohesion in the middle of the park. Youngsters Amini and Ibini showed real class and are a reason why we should be playing more kids in the A-League. Jon McKain gave away what some considered a 'soft' penaty but if pulling the shirt (or shorts in this case) is a free kick outside the box then why not in it? Good refereeing by the second inductee into the 'Refs we like club' Kris Griffiths-Jones. Rostyn Griffiths finished the Reds off late to make it 4-0.
Saturday night's game at Ausgrid stadium drew a very healthy crowd of over 17,000 people to see the Jets vs Harry Kewell errr Melbourne Victory. Carlos Hernandez opened the scoring with his trademark bomb from outside the box but that lead was quickly pegged back when Rojas mauled Ryan Griffths inside the penalty area. Labinot Haliti scored just after halftime and as is par for the course earned himself a yellow for taking his shirt off. Seriously its a stupid rule, but if a player is stupid enough to continue to break it then he should be sanctioned. Melbourne Victory's luck in earning penalties of late ran out as Archie was taken out by Topor-Stanley, who, had it been called would have been sent off and the game might have been different. Newcastle though were able to score twice to bury the Victory and heap more pressure on Durakovic, who himself could be back in the hotseat soon.
Perth Glory hosted the struggling Gold Coast late on Saturday night and earned three points from two penalties. Zac Anderson gave away the first one with a bizarre act where he leaped and handled the ball like a 'keeper would to tip over the crossbar. Andrezinho 'won' the second penalty which Shane Smeltz kicked home against his former club. Perth looked good but it's hard to tell where they sit when it was up against the worst side in the league.
Melbourne Heart got Wellington to travel four hours west to Melbourne then three hours east to the regional centre of Morwell. Our man Mate Dugandzic continued from where he left off before Olyroos duty scoring again in front of a disappointing crowd of under 3,000 in the old football stomping ground. The win sees Heart jump their cross town rivals in the standings.
The streak is over, the longest unbeaten sequence in Australian sport was brought undone by Sydney FC on Sunday at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah. Dimi Petratos opened the scoring in the first minute, which normally for Brisbane is a good thing as they have a knack for coming from behind. Michael Theoklitos knocked in an own goal from a Brett Emerton corner 20 minutes in and even then the Roar's odds didn't shoot out over $6. Brisbane were missing star midfielder Thomas Broich, is this their Achilles heel? Sydney though were too good in front of just under 12,000 which looked a hell of a lot better at the smaller Jubilee Oval then what it would have at the vast SFS.
These snuck under the Crossbar and into The Sack (Likes)
1. The streak is over, it was great whilst it lasted, but it was getting a little boring. @Borgsta1978
2. Regional grounds, Morwell and Kogarah, great venues, we should do it more often. @Patrick478
3. Carlos Hernandez bombs, they're just awesome.
4. Watching Mark Bosnich's hair in the open air media center at Morwell, it was a 'ís it or isn't it' moment @minilu
5. Kris Griffith-Jones on Friday night got it spot on again, In the space of two weeks he has worked his way into second spot behind Strebre in the 'Refs we like club' which is now officially populated by two refs. @Thurbs62
What went over the Crossbar (Dislikes)
1. The constant 'Things would be different if Flores was still here' calls. Adelaide, Marcos Flores is gone, he's not coming back, its time to let it go.
2. Perth Glory's socks, were they mauve, light claret, midnight pink?? Who knows but they're not purple and they don't match the kit. an OCDers nightmare.
3. Eminem, random but justified. @terroarist
4. Zac Anderson, genuine WTF. It was like he was aiming to get himself into this very column with his handball to tip the ball over The Crossbar
5. Melbourne Heart's chances against Brisbane Roar next week, unlucky timing @Kingawesomeness