This extended week’s team is made up of mostly of players who haven’t grabbed the headlines this season, but are delivering when it counts.
GK: Nathan Coe – The Victory keeper may have had a shocker a few weeks back but he has overcome that and delivered a consummate performance against the Roar. His flying save in the dying moments to stop a Ben Halloran rocket was pure class.
D: Jerome Polenz – Surely a contender for the right back spot for the A-League All Stars when they take on Manchester United, Polenz was strong again and his back-heel to set up Youssouf Hersi to win the Wanderers- first penalty was brilliant.
D: Adam Griffiths – Much maligned throughout the season the tall defender held the Sydney FC defence together in the absence of Lucas Neill. Griffiths wore Danny McBreen like a glove and didn-t let the Golden Boot contender into the game.
D: Ben Sigmund – The nix may have gone down to the Wanderers but they could have lost by so much more if it weren-t for the All Whites- hard man. Sigmund cut out so many vital deliveries and was a huge threat in attack as well, rising above even Nikolai Topor-Stanley at times.
D: Ryhan Grant – The Sky Blue utility hight have been shoe-horned into the left fullback position but where ever he’s played, he’s been Sydney FC’s most consistent performer all season, and he did it again locking up the Mariners.
RM: Ivan Franjic – He scored the all-important match-levelling goal for Brisbane, but more importantly since Mike Mulvey has encouraged him to move forward Franjic has looked a different player. His speedy runs in behind the Victory caused their defence huge problems and his nutmeg of Nathan Coe was pretty classy.
DM: Leigh Broxham – Talk about a rejuvenated player! Broxham was an afterthought at the Victory till Ange Postecoglou came in and brought him back to relevance. Against Brisbane he showed toughness paying on when hurt and scored a wonderful header early on in the match.
CM: Terry Antonis – Sydney FC fans have been waiting for a while for Antonis to come into his own and against the Mariners he did. So frequently touted as a player of the future, so often he has under-delivered. This time he played the full 90 minutes and gave a brilliant account of himself by making a mockery of the Mariners usually resolute defence. His one-two with Joel Chianese at the death was superb.
LM: Thomas Broich – I-ve been critical of Broich all season and this is part of the reason why. Against Victory, the German rolled up his sleeves and gave a top notch performance, attacking the goals at will and teeing up his teammates. This was last year-s Johnny Warren Medallist in action, not the cheap imitation that has been going around for most of the year with his head in the clouds. Kudos Thomas, kudos.
F: Archie Thompson – I-ve said it before and I-ll say it again: Archie is crucial to the Victory. Their talisman may not be scoring all the goals, but his work to tee up Leigh Broxham showed all his class. Fake, fake, precision cross for a precision header. Just by being there he allows Marco Rojas and Connor Pain to be freed up and that is crucial for the Navy Blues. Archie might be missing on Socceroos duty soon and that-s going to hurt Melbourne.
F: Michael Bridges: The veteran Englishman was the brains behind pretty much all of the Jets- good work in the final third. Clever in the box, his speed of thought and awareness brought his teammates into the game. He would have had a much more profitable night if he-d had Emile Heskey alongside him.
