A League Round 7 Preview

Hey everyone, lots of action in round 7, so here it is in all its resplendent glory:

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

An early and late goal moved Melbourne back into the top 6, and gives them a much needed boost ahead of this weeks game against Bling FC Jnr, or Gold Coast. Thanks to Marcus you can read a full match report on Melbourne Victory Offside

Central Coast Mariners v Gold Coast United

So…This unbeaten season hey…going pretty well so far. Bling FC Jnr (Gold Coast United) lost their second game of the ‘unbeaten season’, going down 3-nil to a convincing performance from Central Coast. Goals from Nicky Travis, Matt Simon and John Hutchinson moves CCM up to third, but a red card to Gold Coast’s Shane Smeltz could spell trouble for GCU, as they face Melbourne next week in an important clash. Most disappointingly however for us is that teenager Golgol Mebrahtu, who has a very heartwarming story about being found by Miron playing in a park, didn’t score. Come on, imagine the headline’s I could have used? Golgol goal! or Goal for Golgol, or GOAL GOLGOLGOLGOL GOAL! But no maybe next time. While Bleiberg will not be pleased by the performance, Gold Coast are still in 1st place, leading Sydney on goal difference (or Golgol difference :P), and will be hoping to get their campaign back on track against Melbourne this week. For Central Coast, they could hardly of had a better start to the season, with the team who everyone (including me) wrote off, not to mention the team that hadn’t won since New Year, being in third place on 11 points.

Wellington Phoenix v North Queensland Fury

A stoppage time winner kept North Queensland’s hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon alive, with Chris Grossman smacking it home in the 94th. Wellington had earlier troubled the scorer in the 6th minute, after a well executed move combining Daniel and Paul Iffil, before Ifill lobbed the ball to Andrew Durante, who sent it to an unmarked Leo Bertos, who promptly fired it home. Wellington then piled on the pressure, but were unable to find the back of the net, and waited until the 94th minute to let the Fury back in. The point for NQ is a positive step in their quest for avoiding the wooden spoon, but they may have to convert the ones into threes if they’re going to challenge for 6th. Wellington will be thoroughly disappointed with the result, and will need to lift their game against Central Coast if they are to come away with a result.

Sydney FC v Newcastle Jets

Bling FC senior were out in force to shoot down the Jets, and remain in equal first. A Mark Bridge wonder goal opened the scoring before Matt Thompson put it back on level pegging. Then a Steve Corica penalty put Sydney back on top. The Jets also ended the disappointing afternoon with a red card to Tarek Elrich, and had to endure the embarrassment of a saved penalty, after Clint Bolton saved Matt Thompson’s spot kick. While Thompson may have later redeemed himself, and the Jets looked significantly better in the second half, their overall performance, and Sydney’s tactics angered manager Branko Culina, who went on a rather amusing rant,

“There was only one team that really deserved to win that game…I don’t care what their coach says and the fact that he’s on $500,000 and I’m on 50 bucks or whatever it is. But if that’s what the foreigners are going to bring to this game let’s have more local coaches…I’m not having a go at him, I’m just saying that as far as football is concerned, I thought we played some great stuff. “

And while Culina has since apologised, I thinks its pretty funny (and he thinks he’s on 50 bucks, I earn more than that :P)
A good win for Sydney, considering their missing players (Kofis away on international duty), but as Culina’s rant proves, it was an unhappy afternoon for the Jets.

Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory

My prediction of a strong march home for Perth Glory is already coming home, only seven games in. Glory defeated a comical Brisbane side, mainly due to errors from the Roar. The main talking point of the game was Chris Coyne push on Brisbane keeper Liam Reddy, which led to Perth’s fourth goal. I saw it and personally think that Reddy had already pushed the ball into the back of the his net, but the debate will rage on… Read a full match review courtesy of Ahmed on the Roar offside.

Well that be all, hopefully I’ll have a round 8 preview by Friday. Also, in others news I’m doing my FFA Junior Coaching Licence on the weekend, which should be fun. I might even write up an article about it.