.jpg)
The opening round of the A-League served up an historic banquet of upsets, mesmerising goals and high quality entertaining football.
The first game of season five kicked off in Melbourne with the reigning champions Melbourne Victory taking on the Central Coast Mariners. The Mariners threw the form book and their winless record of 2009 out the window with a 2-0 upset win over a luck lustre home team. Written off by everyone including this clueless football scribe the Central Coast Mariners spoilt the champion’s party in what was mostly a dour match.
Meanwhile a glorious Friday night in Adelaide saw last years beaten grand finalists Adelaide United triumph over a Socceroo filled Perth Glory 1-0. The Reds experience and knowledge gained from playing in the Asian Champions League and World Club Championship last year helping the home team get the win. Perth Glory will take time to gel considering the amount of new faces that are in the squad. Perth will feel the pressure more than the others because of the high profile names they have signed.
Sydney FC fan favourite Koffi Danning was also a standout, the 18 year old set up the first goal, lobbing a beautiful pass to set up Socceroos Striker Aloisi. The exciting winger then got the second goal with some individual brilliance in a round that was full of high quality play. Danning is one of the few players featured in an A-League promotion campaign that can actually do the tricks that are shown in the advertisement.
The first round of season five finished with 17 goals scored at an average of 3.4 goals a game. If this is a taste of what season five of the A-League has to offer then get set for an exciting season of high quality, entertaining football, it’s been worth the wait.
A Football Story, Matchday One, Best 11:
————————Higgins(GCU)——————
(Fury)Kaimoto—Cornthwaite(ADL)—van den Brink(GCU)—Jamieson(ADL)
(SYD) Danning ——–Robson(GCU) Culina (GCU)———Elrich(Jets)
———————(SYD) Aloisi————Brosque(SYD)
Hyundai A-League 2009/10 League Table
Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
1 | Gold Coast United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2 | Central Coast Mariners | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
3 | Newcastle Jets | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
4 | Sydney FC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
5 | Adelaide United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
6 | North Queensland Fury | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
7 | Wellington Phoenix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
8 | Perth Glory | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
9 | Brisbane Roar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
10 | Melbourne Victory | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
Hyundai A-League 2009/10 – Leading Goal-Scorers
2 – John ALOISI, Jason HOFFMAN
1 – Matt SIMON, Michael MCGLINCHEY, Travis DODD, Royston GRIFFITHS, Robbie FOWLER, Kofi DANNING, Sergio VAN DIJK, Shane SMELTZ, Jason CULINA, MILSON, Jason NAIDOVSKI, Ben SIGMUND, Chris GREENACRE
Next round
ROUND 2 | FIXTURE | VENUE | LOCAL | AEST |
Fri 14 Aug 2009 | Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets | Bluetongue Stadium | 8.00PM | 8.00PM |
Sat 15 Aug 2009 | Gold Coast United v North Queensland Fury | Skilled Park | 5:30PM | 5:30PM |
Sat 15 Aug 2009 | Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar | Etihad Stadium | 7:30PM | 7:30PM |
Sun 16 Aug 2009 | Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory | Westpac Stadium | 5.00PM | 3.00PM |
Sun 16 Aug 2009 | Sydney FC v Adelaide United | Sydney Football Stadium | 5.00PM | 5.00PM |
The following article appeard in excellent Melbourne fanzine Goal Weekly it's available in all good newsagents in Melbourne every Monday. The Website is: http://goalweekly.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment