Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said he has never been prouder of a group of players after watching his team qualify for back-to-back Hyundai A-League grand finals.
Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said he has never been prouder of a group of players after watching his team qualify for back-to-back Hyundai A-League grand finals.
The Roar are the first side to reach the grand final after beating Central Coast Mariners 3-2 at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday night.
The result means the Queensland outfit won the two-game major semi-final 5-2 on aggregate.
The Roar led 2-0 early and withstood a barrage from the home side to eventually win 3-2 in a pulsating contest in front of 9,846 fans.
“There’s a real resilience in those players,” Postecoglou said.
“The players in many respects were running on empty but we didn’t want to limp into the grand final. We went out to win this match and the players deserve a lot of credit for how they went about it.”
It was a very busy week for the Roar, who had a midweek AFC Champions League trip to South Korea followed by Sunday’s match.
“It’s good we’ve got a weekend off,” Postecoglou said.
“It’ll give the players a chance to properly recover.”
Even in defeat Mariners coach Graham Arnold was proud of his players.
He was especially pleased how they rallied after Thomas Broich opened the scoring in controversial fashion in only the second minute.
Arnold felt the goal should have been disallowed as Mitch Nicholls had an impact on the Mariners defence and was standing in an off-side position.
“That knocked us for six,” Arnold said of the opener.
“I would like an explanation as to why it was given.”
Arnold said his team will now prepare to take on Perth in Saturday night’s final at Gosford.
“The boys are very disappointed; we didn’t get the big decisions,” he said.
“But I’m actually happy we’re not having a weekend off. The players will get a day or two off.”
“Perth will offer a different challenge; hopefully we’ll get a big home crowd.”
