Apologies for the delay, internet access hasn’t been too swell lately.
Newcastle 2 (3)vs Sydney FC 0 (2)
This match was painful to watch from a Sydney FC fan’s perspective but I must begin by congratulating Gary Van Egmond and his squad on their stellar performance this season coming off seven winless rounds; you guys have taken football in your region and by extension the A-League to new levels, congrats.
Newcastle were a class above Sydney FC (punchups nonwithstanding) for most of this match; running faster, marking harder and crucially, passing much more accurately than their southern rival. The absence of Terry McFlynn was telling, with Newcastle’s midfield brains trust able to operate with much more space and freedom than under the Norn Irismun. Sydney’s midfield by contrast was under pressure from the start, as DM Stu Musialik and Newy’s back four clamped down hard on Corica and Carney, while Sydney left-winger Robbie Middleby was frequently muscled out of the game by Jade North at rightback. As pressure mounted, the visiting side grew more and more frustrated and started to lash out.
If the game was salvageable for Sydney in the first half, that all changed with Brosque’s sending off in the dying minutes of same. The lone striker, already on a yellow for a impetuous late clip on Jade North challenged Newcastle captain Okon with an elbow and a little more, earning a second yellow and a send off and sparking an embarrasing handbags-at-ten-paces ‘brawl’ in the process. With the home team now a man up and in great form, it was all over bar the actual scoring of goals. Over the next half Newcastle exposed serious weaknesses in Sydney’s back four, punishing Nikolai Topor-Stanley’s poor passing and Ruben Zadkovich’s lack of experience at rightback. Butcher’s now-vital substitutions were late and puzzling: an inffective David Carney was replaced in the 59th minute by poaching striker Sasho Petrovski, a curious choice given the lack of midfield service available from the depleted side. Butcher’s 75th minute double sub was even worse: bringing Salley on for Talay would have been a good move half an hour earlier, when Newcastle weren’t 2-0 up and replacing Captain Mark Rudan with ‘donkey’ striker Zdrillic could hardly have helped team morale, and may well have been the final blow to Butcher’s relationship with the dressing-room.
Melbourne Victory 2 vs Adelaide United 1
A carthartic match for Meblourne supporters, and one that must’ve left Adelaide fans shaking their heads in disbelief. The away team proved the architects of their own demise by failing to capitalise on an early screamer from Travis Dodd. Rather than press for advantage against a stunned Victory team (and crowd) Adelaide fell back and tried to defend their lead, giving Melbourne the oxygen needed to regroup and pepper the opposite side with balls. Adelaide’s midfield, minus key leftwingers Petta and Spagnuolo wasn’t capable of retaliating in kind and Alsopp equalised early in the second half and the Reds growing hopes of holding on to a 1-1 draw (a win under the away goals rule) were dashed in the second minute of extra time by new Victory signing James Robinson.
Melbourne deservedly march on to a home grand final, while Adelaide must try and hold on against Newcastle this Sunday at Hindmarsh.
