MELBOURNE VICTORY 3 CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 1

NEWCASTLE JETS 1 MELBOURNE HEART 0

SYDNEY FC 3 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1 PERTH GLORY 1

BRISBANE ROAR 2 ADELAIDE UNITED 1

Stopping The Slump

The Brisbane Roar vs Adelaide United fixture was billed as a potential Grand Final preview.  The game itself had a pretty quiet first half and didn’t quite live up to the pre-match hype but by the end of the game, Brisbane Roar appeared to have found their groove once more.  Besart Berisha scored a brace and Thomas Broich was denied a goal after a crunching 30 yard strike crossed the goal line and bounced out which neither the ref nor the linesman picked up.

Adelaide scored a consolation goal in the final minute of stoppage time because apparently that’s Brisbane Roar’s new thing:  switching off just before full time and conceding a goal so Michael Theo doesn’t get paid his clean sheet bonus.

Ten points clear at the top of the table and five rounds to go.  One hand on the Premiere’s Plate.

News and Notes

• The NRL season started this weekend and their biggest match of the round, the Rabbitohs vs the Roosters, drew a modest 23,000 fans.  Compare that to the A-League’s Sydney Derby, which, in only its sixth installment, drew 40,000 fans.  It was a great spectacle too which features penalties for both sides and a second half goal fest.  The football wasn’t always pretty but it was terrific theatre.
• During the Asian Champions League, Japanese club San Frecce marked their goal against Central Coast Mariners with a ‘celebration’ spelling out the anniversary date of the tsunami in Japan
• Adelaide United, Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart were the basement dwellers who stormed back into form in the second half of the season.  None of these clubs won on the weekend and its a reminder that although they’ve been playing great football, they’ve still got work to do to make it into the finals.  One would think Adelaide are a sure thing but I suspect the Phoenix and the Heart might be battling it out for that sixth and final spot in the final round.