The Crossbar: Mariners take out the plate

After seven months/25 weeks/135 games/12,150 minutes of action, the Premiers Plate came down to the wire with Central Coast Mariners taking it out after a 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Sunday. Brisbane Roar finished just two points behind the Mariners in the end and these two sides will battle it out in the semi-finals. Can the Mariners gain revenge for last years heartbreaking Grand Final loss? Only time will tell..


Adelaide United 1 drew. Melbourne Heart 1
Melbourne Heart officially sealed their place in the finals with a 1-1 draw away to Adelaide United on Friday night. Adelaide were awarded a dubious penalty in the first-half which Sergio van Dijk converted before Eli Babalj equalized in the second period with a fantastic individual effort. Babalj has asserted himself as one of Australia's hottest young talents with that goal taking his tally to nine for the season.

Kewell on ice til next season

Perth Glory 4 def. Melbourne Victory 2
In-front of just under 10,000 fans at nib Stadium, Shane Smeltz produced one of the best performances of his A-League career, scoring four goals to help Perth Glory come from behind to defeat Melbourne Victory. Goals to Carlos Hernandez and Mark Milligan had Victory 2-1 up at the break but Smeltz scored a second-half hat-trick to wrap up third spot for the West Australian side. It remains to be seen whether this game was the last we see of Carlos Hernandez and Harry Kewell in Victory colours, as well as Jim Magilton at the helm.



Wellington Phoenix 1 def. by Central Coast Mariners 2
Central Coast Mariners sealed a second Hyundai A-League Premiers Plate with a nervy 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix. All the Mariners needed to do was get the three points at the cake tin and they did just that. Wellington Phoenix spurned a number of chances throughout the game, their most culpable being striker Chris Greenacre. A first A-League goal for John Sutton and a second-half strike from Bernie Ibini proved the difference in the end, with Leo Bertos' stunning free-kick (Ok, it COULD have been just a fluke) proving to be mere consolation for the Phoenix.

Sydney FC 3 def. Newcastle Jets 2
One side would walk out of Allianz Stadium with a spot in the finals, the other would see their season end right then and there. Newcastle Jets held the sixth spot going into the game and only needed a draw to book a spot in the finals but it wasn't to be. A double for Joel Chianese plus a goal to Bruno Cazarine gave Sydney FC a 3-2 win and the last finals position. It was an incredibly entertaining game with both sides pushing themselves to the limit. Vitezslav Lavicka will now have to change the dates for his flight back to the Czech Republic.

Gold Coast United 1 def. by Brisbane Roar 2
In what could possibly be Gold Coast United's last ever A-League game, a season best crowd of over 6,000 turned out to witness a heartbreaking last minute loss to rivals Brisbane Roar. The Gold Coast faithful thought they were heading for a second successive win at home when a Daniel Bowles goal had them 1-0 up at the break. However second-half goals to Nicholas Fitgerald and a 90th minute strike by George Lambadaridis gave the Roar a win. An agonizing end to such a difficult season for Gold Coast.


These snuck under the Crossbar and into The Sack (Likes)

1. "The emergence of Joel Chianese!! Champion player!!" We agree @AndrewFrench91. Sydney FC have themselves a fantastic talent.

2. "Melbourne Heart is in the finals!" It's fantastic to see @HavanaWho. Everyone at Melbourne Heart have done a fantastic job this season. Now, how far can they go?

3. "I like that Central Coast are champions and Newcastle Jets are dumped out of the finals." Well they were never in the finals @Muppetbhoy, but I'm sure every single Mariners fan had two reasons to celebrate yesterday.

4. Shane Smeltz. Take a bow son. He now leads the all-time A-League scoring charts.

What went over the Crossbar (Dislikes)


1. "No simultaneous kick-offs" This is the big one, you're right @The_Soccer_Nut. Imagine the excitement if the Roar/Mariners games were on at the same time. Epic stuff, and an idea for next season.


2. Brisbane Roar fans singing "F*** off United" to Gold Coast United after the game. A bit of class lads. Imagine your club was in this situation.

3. Melbourne Victory. More points dropped from a winning position. Story of their season. Wonder what next year holds for the boys in navy blue? Til then, marquee star Harry Kewell needs to be kept fit, healthy and injury free - so we've put him on ice.