Actually, I think I've been one off all this time...I'll leave it like this so we don't all get confused :)
Dukey's One 2 Watch: Melbourne Heart 1-1 Brisbane Roar
Two teams near the top of the table who desparately needed a win to keep up the chase on Central Coast. Of course it was going to turn out to be a draw. In a match with plenty of penalty situations - Heart having two turned down late on - the Melbourne side took the lead after thirty minutes thanks to a Germano goal. Besart Berisha, who is technically banned for a match but was still allowed to ply as Brisbane are appealing his ban (which I found out was because he took his shirt off and this somehow led to a bust up during the celebration), missed a first half penalty before grabbing the equaliser in the 69th minute.
Perth have now played 3 home matches in a week without winning any of them, Central Coast Mariners and Perth the other team to have gone home with points. But for Brisbane, it was the same old story as they started with some attacking flair before conceding their first goal and having to attack even harder. It's always entertaining watching them play. Like Barcelona (hence their nickname Roarcelona), just not as...fluid.
Brisbane are now 11 points behind Central Coast, and unless they have a sudden decline in form - a DRAMATIC decline in form - I can't see the Roar becoming the first A-League team to win back-to-back Premierships. As for Heart, they find themselves in 4th, 3 points behind Brisbane and 1 point behind Wellington Phoenix.
Central Coast Mariners 3-2 Adelaide United
Central Coast capped off an impressive comeback by opening the gap at the top of the A-League table to 11 points and in the process setting a new club record of 15 matches unbeaten. Some way off Brisbane's record admittedly, but we'll see where this one goes. They scored first aswell, McBreen netting in the 14th minute only for Sergio Van Dijk (wow, that guy's on form) to score a minute later. Bruce Djite then scored after only 4 minutes to make the score 2-1 in a dramatic reversal of fortune. Mariners spent the rest of the match trying to claw their way back in, and after many chances, finally ade the break through after an equaliser from Kwasnik in the 74th minute, before finally Joshua Rose managed to slam home the winner 3 minutes later.
It was a great match, filled with high tension and thanks to the quickfire double, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. There were goals, great saves, mazy runs and even some slipping over, the game truly did have everything. How I bet you wish you could have seen it. Anyway, the result leaves Central Coast pretty much assured of their title, while for Adelaide it means the end of their brilliant run of form. However they are still within reach of the finals and I'm sure we have not heard the last from them.
Newcastle Jets 0-1 Wellington Phoenix
Manny Muscat's goal was the only thing that separated the Jets and Wellington in a match that sees Wellington leapfrog Melbourne Heart into 3rd position and gave them back to back away wins for the first time in...a while. Newcastle are now in freefall, and didn't really threaten at all in this match. They have been on such a bad streak of late and looking at their next couple of fixtures - Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney - I can't see where their next points are going to come from.
Wellington are 3rd and while they're only 2 points behind Brisbane, their resurgence comes too late to mount a title challenge, need Central Coast to lose another 4 games on the trot to actually have any chance. As for Newcastle, they're 1 position and 4 points off the bottom of the table and if they continue to drop points, could end up with the the wooden spoon.
Sydney FC 2-1 Gold Coast United
Ben Halloran got Gold Coast off to a flier with his goal in the 54th minute. However, this was not to last as two goals in the final 20 minutes from Cazarine and Kisel ended any hope of the Gold Coast pulling themselves towards safety. Sydney, who are beginning to find their feet somewhat, were the better of the two sides, but it was Gold Coast who struck first, with a goal off the post after latching onto a ball from Jungschlager. Then 15 minutes later, Scott Jamieson fed Karol Kisel through to slide home from inside the box. Kisel then turned provider as he set up Cazarine to give Sydney a win that completes a full reversal (1-2L, 1-1D, 2-1W). However, Gold Coast's form (1-1D, 0-1L, 1-2L)is back on the down side after a slight improvement a month or so back.
Gold Coast remain rooted to the bottom of the table, while Sydney have been pulled up to 6th place and will have an important few matches to come if they want to be in the top 6 come the end of the year.
Perth Glory 4-1 Melbourne Victory
Perth Glory had not let Melbourne Victory escape the nib Stadium without conceding, and Melbourne hadn't kept a clean sheet in a long time - of course this was going to happen and Victory's record in Perth now stands at 7 of 8 games lost. Perth's 3 first half goals started with a Sterjovski goal after 13 minutes before Leijer pretty much wrestled Howarth to the floor while awaiting a corner which resulted in a Shane Smeltz penalty, which we duly buried in the corner of the net. Berger was than brought down by Matthew Foschini and on 40 minutes, Sterjovski blasted in his second of the game. 3-0 at half time and Melbourne were without a shot on goal.
Solorzano was the cause of Victory's penalty, blasting into the box and colliding with former Melbourne defender Pantelidis. Harry Kewell stepped up to slot the penalty in and continue his recent scoring streak (albeit from the penalty spot). It looked like Victory could possibly get something from the game for a few minutes before Allsopp was sent off for a reckless challenge and in front of 12,000 fans, Andrezinho netted Glory' fourth and final of the match.
Glory jumped up to 5th, and are in view of 3rd place, while Victory now find themselves 4 points off the finals and the two time winners find themselves 4 points from the bottom of the table.
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