A-League Review: 20th February 2012

BNR - MBV
The Roar continue their chase of Central Coast Mariners with an entertaining 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium. Brisbane had the dream start, with Besart Berisha scoring after just 42 seconds and one amazing run through a maze of defenders. Harry Kewell then levelled just a few minutes later after a fine finish, before Berisha again showed exactly why he has been offered his contract extension before Henrique smashed home from the penalty spot a few minutes later. Harry Kewell then bagged his second goal as the Socceroo showed a burst of pace to break and slot home which left about half an hour of intense football as Melbourne pushed desparately for an equaliser, but to no avail. While the Victory are in 8th place, they will be confident of their potential for a finals place, and face Gold Coast United next week. Brisbane face a long trip to Perth next week as they attempt to mount pressure on league leaders Central Coast.

MBH - GCU
Heart faired better than their Melbourne counterparts back at home at AAMI park as they narrowly beat a youthful Gold Coast United. With so much said midweek about the team and their 17 year old captain Mitch Cooper, along with the sacking/resigning/suspending of coach Miron Bleiberg over remarks on the matter, most people expect Gold Coast to just roll over and accept the fate. But no, a lively defensive display saw them create their fair share of chances throughout the game, and it was slightly tragic to see a team with only one player over the age of 25 fall behind to an Eli Babalj goal late in the game. Gold Coast, who face the other Melbourne side next week, are now basically guarenteed of the Wooden spoon, finding themselves 8 points adrift at the bottom of the A-League, while for Heart it is 3 vital points gained as they vie for a finals place and they face.

CCM - WPX
Central Coast continued to assert their dominance at the top of the A-League with a win over title rivals Wellington Phoenix today. Tomas Rogic struck first as he scored a superb goal and established his growing reputation within the Mariners side. Veteran defender Patrick Zwaanswijk capped off another fantastic performance by netting his own goal in the 81st minute, and set Mariners on their way to their first win in three attempts and keep them away from the snapping jaws of Brisbane on their tails. Wellington's title charge is now essentially over, but they can be proud of what they have achieved over the past few weeks, and can just keep up the race for second place and what I believe is there best finish ever.

PTH - NUJ
Perth cemented their grip on a finals place with this victory against Newcastle Jets. When Liam Miller was taken off after only 12 minutes with a suspected hamstring injury, Glory fans feared the worst. Then up stepped Adam Hughes. Within four minutes, he scored only his second goal in a Perth shirt and after that goal, Perth never seemed in any real danger. Newcastle never really threatened, and it was Billy Mehmet's goal in the 56th minute that sealed the win for Ian Ferguson's side, they're 6th win in 8 games. Jets, who seemed to have finally found their feet, are now back in limbo, 2 points below the finals positions, while Perth themselves have leapfrogged Wellington to climb into the top 3 in the A-League.

ADU - SFC
Adelaide's disappointing league form returned to haunt them after their 3-0 drubbing of Persipura in their midweek Asian Champions League qualifier. Chianese scored first for Sydney, who were coming off the back of their 2-1 win last week and have now thrown themselves back into contention for a finals place. His goal came just before half time, while Adelaide's equaliser through Barbiero came just after. The match looked set to end as a draw before substitute Mitchell Mallia scored the winner with 10 minutes left to play. Sydney have now lifted themselves back into the top 6 with this win, and are sitting pretty on 30 points, while for the Reds, it was a case of business as usual, as they slumped to their 9th defeat of the season and are 9th in the table, five points outside the finals places they crave so much.