Round 4 saw Gold Coast United lose top spot on the table to Sydney FC,
Results – Round 4
Adelaide United 3 drew North Queensland Fury 3
PERTH GLORY 2 beat Melbourne Victory 1
BRISBANE ROAR 1 beat Central Coast Mariners 0
NEWCASTLE JETS 1 beat Gold Coast United 0
SYDNEY FC 2 beat Wellington Phoenix 0
Game Wraps
North Queensland Fury turned in its best display of the season to date, but had to settle for a point against a disappointing Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium. Fury got off to a terrific start with Robbie Fowler showing his class with a superb finish after just 10 minutes. But Adelaide struck back through acting-captain Lucas Pantelis who equalised and then set up Lloyd Owusu to give Adelaide the lead before half time. Fury dominated the second half creating numerous chances and playing some great football and it was substitute Fred Agius that provided the spark setting Dyron Daal for the equaliser with 7 minutes remaining and supplying a terrific cross for Daniel McBreen to give Fury a deserved lead. But deep into injury time, Adelaide were gifted a life line, Daal handling the ball and Pantelis made no mistake from the spot.
Perth Glory maintained its dominance over Melbourne Victory in Perth with a 2-1 win. It was a fast start to the match with Serbian striker Branko Jelic showing his goal poaching capabilities to help the ball over the line after a scramble developed following a shot by Mile Sterjovski. But Victory rallied quickly and Archie Thompson leveled it up in the 9th minute, following good work by Danny Allsopp. Jelic secured the 3 points for Glory, pouncing again after Sterjovski-s powerful header was parried into his path by Glen Moss.
Craig Moore inspired his under-fire team to its first win of the season, a scrappy 1-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners. Moore scored the only goal of the game in the 11th minute, powering a header from a Matt McKay corner past Danny Vukovic. Moore was then superb at the back all game with Central Coast unable to fashion many meaningful chances to draw level, while Brisbane squandered a few of its own to extend the lead.
Gold Coast United will not go through the season unbeaten, as proclaimed prior to the season, with Newcastle Jets recording a deserved 1-0 win at EnergyAustralia Stadium. A Sean Rooney thunderbolt after 40 minutes proved enough for the Jets who had the better of the opportunities but failed to further extend its lead. The goal was a gem, involving good skill and a quality left foot shot that whizzed past Scott Higgins at the near post.
Sydney went top of the table and are now the only unbeaten team, leaving it late to get over Wellington Phoenix at the Sydney Football Stadium. Sydney had the better of the chances throughout the match and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 77th minute through a bullet header from substitute Brendan Gan. Four minutes later John Aloisi scored his first goal at home since joining the club, heading home a superb cross from Alex Brosque.
Weekend Goals Tally: 13
Attendances (total / average): 43,371
Goal of the Week
Sean Rooney hasn-t had many starts for Newcastle Jets, but made the most of his opportunity on Sunday against league leaders Gold Coast United. His finish capped off good work by Jin-Hyung Song who broke quickly forward and released Rooney on the left channel of the penalty box. Taking on the dominating figure of Bas Van der Brink, he beat him point blank, before unleashing a ferocious left foot shot that gave Scott Higgins no chance at his near post.
Player of the Week
It-s been a difficult start for Brisbane Roar, especially as they were many people-s favourites for the title this season. They needed a win and their leaders to step up and that-s exactly what Craig Moore did with a terrific display; not only scoring the only goal with a powerful header, but not giving the Mariners forwards any space in attack. Came just at the right time after being left out of the Qantas Socceroos squad for the Korea Republic game next weekend.
One to Watch
Five years ago young indigenous player Fred Agius was being regarded as the next big thing in Australian football. It-s fair to say the end of the NSL didn-t do him any favours, neither did a move to Sydney, and suddenly he was gone and playing AFL back in Adelaide. But football never left him and after playing back in the South Australia, he tried his luck with North Queensland Fury and earned a contract. He brought back memories for many with a scintillating performance in the second half against his home town team, providing the final balls as Fury looked like it would get its first win of the season. The win didn-t happen, but Fury and Aussie football fans can look forward to seeing more of Agius this season.
Leading Goalscorers
6 – Shane Smeltz (GCU)
3 – Sergio Van Dijk (BR), John Aloisi (SFC)
2- Jason Hoffman (NJ) , Carlos Hernandez (MV), Chris Greenacre (WP), Branko Jelic (PG), Archie Thompson (MV), Robbie Fowler (NQF), Lucas Pantelis (AU)
1- Travis Dodd (AU), Lloyd Owusu (AU), Danny Tiatto (BR), Henrique (BR), Craig Moore (BR), Matt Simon (CCM), Michael McClinchey (CCM), Nigel Boogaard (CCM), Jason Culina (GCU), Steve Fitzsimmons (GCU), Robson (GCU), Tahj Minniecon (GCU), Danny Allsopp (MV), Jason Naidovski (NJ), Jin-Hyung Song (NJ), Sean Rooney (NJ), Dyron Daal (NQF), Royston Griffiths (NQF), Daniel McBreen (NQF), Victor Sikora (PG), Wayne Srhoj (PG), Adriano Pellegrino (PG), Kofi Danning (SFC), Mark Bridge (SFC), Brendan Gan (SFC), Ben Sigmund (WP), Paul Ifill (WP), Leo Bertos (WP)
