Dukey's One 2 Watch - Wellington Pheonix 4-2 Sydney FC
You may have wondered why I chose this match, there are many other matches going on - higher profile matches too, but this match I felt would always be the stand out in terms of...watchability. Both sides really go all out and don't pull any punches. And what a game it was. Wellington regained their form and scored four excellent goals but it was Sydney who struck first - Socceroo Brett Emerton scoring a penalty after a handball in the area. Daniel Cortes replied with a penalty of his own a few minutes later, and the tension rose. Both teams really wanted the points here to give their Finals chances a boost. Sanchez then put Pheonix ahead 4 minutes before half time.
Bruno Cazarine grabbed a goal on the hour to set up a tense final 30 minutes, but the true magic came in the final 15 minutes. Sigmund scored a flying header to sink Sydney and set Pheonix back up for another victory. Paul Ifill added insult to injury by netting in injury time to send Ricki Herbet's men to 4th in the table.
As for Sydney, it's another defeat in a string of disappointed performances and is the second time in as many matches that they have conceded 4 goals. Serious questions must be asked if they are going to continue to push for a place in the finals series. However, this may not be helped next week by a trip to high flying Central Coast, while Wellington face second-from-bottom Perth Glory. Interesting times ahead. I love this league.
Melbourne Victory 1-3 Adelaide United
Well, well, well. What a difference a change of coach can make, eh? Just a few weeks after being reinstated, John Kosmina has completely rejuvenated Adelaide, and this drastic transformation has culminated in the abrupt end of Melbourne Heart's five match winning streak. Indonesian Sergio van Dijk scored a brace, the first from a penalty in the 38th minute, and Dario Vidosic scored aswell to deflate Heart's ego and bring them crashing back down to Earth.
While Eli Babalj did pull one back for Heart, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation effort and this loss means that they have lost ground on league leaders Central Coast. While Adelaide, bottom club a couple of weeks ago, have moved into 7th place, level on points with 6th placed Newcastle. They face Brisbane next week, and as much as I'd love to give a prediction, Brisbane's topsy-turvy form makes it nearly impossible. Heart will have the chance to recapture their form against bottom placed Gold Coast United.
Newcastle Jets 3-2 Gold Coast United
I'll admit, part of me hoped Gold Coast would be able to start pulling back up the table and beat Newcastle, but I was left heartbroken. Newcastle took the lead through Brockie just before the break following lots of Gold Coast pressure, but control of the match slowly shifted to Newcastle, and Brockie's second on 64 minutes seemed to have wrapped the match up.
But Gold Coast have come too far recently to give up that easy, and goals from Halloran and Traore set up a tense finale, but in the 79th minute, heartbreak for milli...thousands of Gold Coast fans, as substitute Haliti scored to break Gold Coast's run and give the Jets there first win in weeks. Jets and Gold Coast face Melbourne Victory and Heart respectively.
Perth Glory 3-3 Brisbane Roar
Brisbane continued their...unbeaten streak...with a spirited performance against Perth. When Dodd and Sterjovski put Glory 2-0 up inside 24 minutes, Brisbane fans could have been forgiven for shedding a tear or two, but they gave the fightback of their careers to go 3-2 up with Nichols bagging two goals and Paartalu adding to the tally to be ahead on 69 minutes. However, it was not to be as the brilliant Sterjovski netted after 80 minutes to level and send Roar fans home wondering what could have been.
Brisbane definitely played better than they have in recent weeks, up front anyway, but in defence, they are still lacking. Yes, they still have some injury worries, but taking nothing away from Perth, they ARE 9th...Roar shouldn't be conceding 3. But for Glory, it was a fitting scoreline for a team who appear to be on the up. Next week, they'll be playing Wellington, while Brisbane face Adelaide.
Central Coast Mariners 2-0 Melbourne Victory
After a momentary blip, it seems like Central Coast are back on form, and they're now 6 points clear of Brisbane and Melbourne Heart. Matt Simon may be on the way out of Central Coast, but he went out with a bang as he got both goals in an exciting match in which Victory failed to stop Simon - who is soon moving to K-League side Chunnam Dragons - scored inside 20 seconds, and when he scored in the 84th minute to seal the victory, it was the perfect parting gift to a Mariners side in which he has served with such distinction for the past 6 years.
But it wasn't all about Simon, it was about getting CCM's A-League campaign back on track after a disappointing draw with Gold Coast United on New Year's Eve, and that's exactly what happened at the Bluetongue stadium, Victory never really got into the game, and the early blow seemed to shatter their confidence, and they spent most of the rest of the match on the back foot. Their next fixture is a home tie with Newcastle Jets, while Central Coast face an away tie down the road at Sydney FC.
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