Brisbane Leave It Till Late Against Mariners

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Brisbane Roar scored a last minute winner at Bluetongue Stadium to beat the Central Coast Mariners yesterday. Matt Mckay was the hero as Brisbane, playing their 3rd game of the week, beat the clock to earn a vital three points.

Brisbane looked sprightly early on and Tommy Oar put them into the lead after 10 minutes. Oar turned on to his right foot and sent a shot curling into Danny Vukovic’ left hand corner. Twenty minutes late Sergio Van Dijk sent the ball into Vukovics other corner with a fantastic left footed shot from outside the box to send the visitors to a two goal lead. The Mariners seemed to be dazed as there was no real urgency in there play. Craig Moore gave them there chance when a poor back pass led to Nicky Travis slotting him an easy placed shot to give the Mariners some hope and peg the score back to 2-1.

After the break, the Mariners were changed team and started looking for ways back in to the game. The Roar looked tired, as the effects of playing their third game in a week seemed to be taking its toll on the players. Fatigue and cramps were starting to show on the Roar players as the Mariners kept pestering the opposition goal. The Mariners pulled it back to 2-2 when Dylan Mcallister latched on to a free kick to head home.

The Mariners looked good to press on and go for the win as the game progressed. The Roar were not going to sit back however and let the game get away from them. They played well defensively and were holding on for the point. As the game was drawing nearer to full time, the Roar won a free kick from about 30 yards out. Michael Zullo sent in the freekick and Matt Mckay latched on to a poor clearance to slot the ball home and give the visitors the three points.

It was a good performance, but the Roar will surely be wondering why they were made to play so many games in a short space of time with small breaks in-between each game. Coach Ange Postecoglu will be happy with the result as are the fans and hopefully the win will give Brisbane a chance to get back on track to make the finals. With Brisbane playing their next home game on January 16th December, the next few weeks promises to be a challenging time on the road and this victory will be more than welcomed.

Central Coast Mariners 2 (Nicky Travis 35’, Dylan MacAllister76’)

Brisbane Roar 3 (Tommy Oar 10’, Sergio van Dijk 21’, Matt McKay 90′+1)

Saturday, 19 December 2009

Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford

Referee: Alan MILLINER

Central Coast Mariners line-up: 20. Danny VUKOVIC (GK), 4. Pedj BOJIC, 5. Brad PORTER, 12. Matthew LEWIS (21. Ahmad ELRICH 68’), 14. Michael McGLINCHEY, 15. Andrew CLARK, 16. Nigel BOOGAARD, 18. Alex WILKINSON (capt), 19. Matt SIMON, 22. Nicky TRAVIS, 23. Adam KWASNIK (11. Dylan MacALLISTER 66’).
Substitutes not used: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 3. Shane HUKE
Yellow cards: Pedj Bojic (90’)
Red cards: Nil

Brisbane Roar line-up: 20. Griffin McMASTER (GK), 3. Luke DEVERE (5. Josh McCLOUGHAN 45’), 4. Craig MOORE (capt), 7. Michael ZULLO, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Sergio VAN DIJK, 13. HENRIQUE (17. Mitch NICHOLS 75’), 14. Adam SAROTA, 15. Matt McKAY, 21. Tommy OAR (23. Tim SMITS 86’), 22. Ivan FRANJIC.
Substitutes not used: 1. Matt HAM (GK)
Yellow cards: Matt McKay (47’)
Red cards: Nil

Category: Queensland Roar Team News