These are the key talking points from the Semi Final first legs in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Meanwhile, the Reds face an injury crisis going into the second leg with coach Carl Veart needing to find answers for a host of potential absentees.
With a lot to dissect, here are the key talking points.
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Monty’s huge praise for Mariners full-back
One of the great Isuzu UTE A-League on-field battles is emerging before our very eyes.
Nestory Irankunda vs Jacob Farrell. Two of Australia’s brightest young talents who, if they continue on the same trajectory, look to be surefire future Socceroos.
With Adelaide United down 2-1 early in the second-half against Central Coast Mariners, coach Veart turned to teenage star Irankunda to find a match-winning spark, but within seconds Mariners boss Nick Montgomery summoned Farrell.
It almost seemed as if it was always part of the plan. Farrell’s direct assignment was Irankunda and the second Adelaide played their ace, the Mariners were going to draw theirs.
The duo would reignite their spicy battle from a couple weeks prior, as they went toe-to-toe for the final 35-odd minutes of the contest. Farrell managed to curtail Irankunda’s impact by just enough to help his side leave Coopers Stadium with the ascendancy in the two-legged tie.
Farrell had two tackles, four recoveries and won four out of five ground duels in his second-half cameo – but most importantly – he didn’t let the 17-year-old winger kickstart a comeback.
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It has been a tough couple of months for the left-back, who has been recovering from a bout of glandular fever and working his way back via the bench with James McGarry starting in his place.
“Recovering from glandular fever; I have had that before and it is not nice,” Montgomery said post-game about Farrell.
“Some weeks you have energy, other weeks you’re not good, we’ve really had to look after him.
“For me, he is an exceptional player; you talk about Jordy Bos, and him as future Socceroos (but) there’s not too many better left-backs than Farrell, he’s just had a tough year this year…but he’s coming back strong now.
“We know (Nestory) Irankunda’s strength…if you don’t track him, don’t block him, stop crosses and one-twos, but for Jacob, I’m really proud of him.”
Farrell is one of many young Australian full-backs set to vie for a position in future Socceroos squads, after his counterpart Jordan Bos was rewarded for his breakout season with a maiden call-up in March.
Bos again starred against Sydney FC, winning the free kick in the lead-up to Melbourne City’s opener in their 1-1 draw.
Currently, Aziz Behich has a stranglehold on the starting position going into the Asian Cup next year, with Bos, Farrell and the former’s deputy at the FIFA World Cup, Joel King (who has recently returned to Sydney) in a battle for the other spot on offer.
However, with Behich now at age 32, the door is set to open up even further in coming years for the trio, plus the likes of European based duo Callum Elder and Jason Davidson to get an opportunity in the Socceroos set-up.
For now, however, it would be no surprise to see Farrell return to the Olyroos fold for the upcoming Maurice Revello Tournament in June, having pulled out of the March camp in northern Italy due to illness.
Bos, on the other hand, looks likely to return to the Socceroos for the upcoming June window to partner Behich given his recent form for City and a potential record breaking move to Europe on the cards.
As a result, King may be on the outside looking in, despite his recent uptick in minutes with the Sky Blues unless coach Graham Arnold opts to bring a third left-back.
Credit should still go to McGarry as well, who recovered from a chest infection just in time for the first leg and put in an enormous first-half showing that was capped off with an incredible long range goal to bring the game level.
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Now, all eyes will be on whether Montgomery opts for a similar approach in the second leg in Gosford, given how well both players fared at varying stages of the contest.
But if recent history is anything to go by – get ready for Irankunda vs Farrell III.
Brian Kaltak: Clearance machine
In a vacuum, Brian Kaltak’s showing on Saturday night was a testament to his on-field character.
After a tough start to the game, Kaltak responded with an incredible performance in the heart of Central Coast’s defence alongside partner in crime Nectar Triantis against the Reds’ attack.
The centre-back gave away an early penalty for a handball inside the Reds’ box, which was dispatched by Craig Goodwin.
Instead of letting the moment overawe him, Kaltak bounced back in style.
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With his defence under siege, the Vanuatu international made a whopping 13 clearances, which was nine more than anyone else on the pitch while also limiting the influence of Hiroshi Ibusuki before the Japanese striker was subbed off with a calf injury.
He even got an assist for McGarry’s opener; his fourth of the campaign.
“I thought he (Triantis) and Brian for their first year in professional football have been outstanding,” Montgomery said.
This was Kaltak’s first finals appearance and the latest top quality performance in a season to remember for the Mariners centre-back, who has quickly become one of Central Coast’s most important players only a matter of months after landing his first professional contract at 29 years old.
During this period, he and Triantis – who has also had a breakout season – have forged one of the league’s most formidable defensive duos.
Incredibly, only 12 months ago, they had one combined Isuzu UTE A-League appearance between then and now, they are 90 minutes away from not only making the Grand Final but starting in the decider.
Adelaide count the cost of ‘expensive’ second half
Adelaide will head to Gosford as the walking wounded after Saturday night’s defeat.
Before a ball was even kicked at Coopers Stadium, the Reds were dealt the news that midfielder Jay Barnett would miss the remainder of the season due to a hamstring injury that had been troubling him over the last few weeks.
This comes just after putting in arguably the best showing of his short career in their 2-0 Elimination Final win over Wellington Phoenix.
Barnett has been called the “best young six in the country” by coach Carl Veart and his absence is another blow to Adelaide’s midfield stocks given they are already without Jonny Yull (back), Josh Cavallo (Achilles) and Juande (leg).
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“Barnett’s done for the rest of the season… it’s a recurring injury that he has been having on and off the last few weeks and it’s just no good,” Veart said.
Unfortunately for the Reds, Barnett looks set to have some company in the rehab group.
Striker Hiroshi Ibusuki is also in doubt, after he was forced to leave the field with what appeared to be a calf problem, which could be a re-aggravation of the issue that saw him miss games towards the back-end of the regular season.
Ibusuki was helped from the field and spotted on crutches post-game.
“Hiroshi (Ibusuki), looks like he’s done his calf, but we will have to wait and see how bad it is tomorrow (Sunday),” Veart said.
The club confirmed the Japanese forward will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness for the do-or-die clash in Gosford.
Meanwhile, Nick Ansell played through soreness in the dying minutes and Zach Clough – who just returned from injury – came from the field gingerly in the last few minutes, while Ben Warland played through illness.
“When you think about the injuries, you think of (Hiroshi) Ibusuki, you think of (Zach) Clough who came off a bit proppy, you think of (Nick) Ansell in that last two or three minutes who couldn’t even move, the had done all their subs so he had to stand up front and be a body on the pitch,” Reds legend Bruce Djite said on Network 10.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see how Adelaide United pull up from this. Great second half – very expensive on the injury front.”
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Adelaide confirmed Ansell pulled up sore but will train fully this week and is available, while Clough is good to go for the second leg
Veart was already forced to shuffle the deck in wake of Barnett’s absence by bringing Clough back into the lineup and shifting Louis D’Arrigo deeper to play alongside Isaias, but he will now need to tinker his attacking unit in order to cover Ibusuki’s potential absence.
George Blackwood came on in his place and looms as the likely replacement – should Ibusuki miss – having started in the Elimination Final against Wellington.
17-year-old striker Luka Jovanovic – who was the Isuzu UTE Player of the Month in March – missed the contest through injury and is expected to be ready to go on Saturday.
Or is Nestory Irankunda potentially an option a first ever league start with Ben Halloran shifting in centrally to play in behind as a number ten?
All options are on the table for Veart ahead of the biggest game of Adelaide’s season so far.
An evening of inches in the Harbour City
In the 1999 film Any Given Sunday, Tony D’Amato (portrayed by Al Pacino) gave a famous speech about football being a “game of inches”.
While D’Amato is talking about gridiron, the same analogy can be used to the same effect when alluding to the round ball variant; but if we were narrow it down even further and to a specific game, the analogy is a perfect summation of Sydney FC and Melbourne City’s 1-1 draw on Friday night.
Sky Blues legend Alex Brosque said it himself on the Network 10 broadcast; the game did come down to a matter of inches and those narrow margins ended up having a huge say in how the final result panned out at Allianz Stadium.
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Early in the game, Adam Le Fondre thought he had the opener for Sydney, but his strike was ruled out due to Robert Mak being offside in the build-up.
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Moments later, City struck through Mathew Leckie and after a lengthy VAR check to see if there was a potential offside, the goal stood.
The drama wasn’t over yet. In the second half, Sydney were rewarded a penalty after Anthony Caceres was brought to ground by City defender Nuno Reis.
Caceres would step up and have his penalty saved by Tom Glover, but after another VAR review, the spot-kick had to be retaken as a result of City full-back Callum Talbot encroaching the penalty area.
This time, Le Fondre stood up and buried the retaken penalty to bring the game level.
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With time running out, Rhyan Grant thought he had scored the winner for Sydney, but VAR intervened once more and found Le Fondre was offside before putting it on a platter for the Sky Blues full-back to tap home.
When we look back at how the second leg plays out next Friday and which side progresses to the Grand Final, those few inches could be all the difference.
Sydney, City sweat on key players fitness ahead of second leg
It will be an anxious wait to see whether Melbourne City and Sydney FC will have a host of key individuals available for Friday night’s second leg.
City were forced to shuffle the deck in midfield when Aiden O’Neill was withdrawn from the squad due to back spams, meaning Florin Berenguer shifted in as a makeshift number six to cover the absent Socceroo.
Coach Rado Vidosic is hopeful O’Neill will be back in time.
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“We absolutely missed him, I think he was one of the key players throughout the whole season,” Vidosic said.
“He breaks down the opponents’ attacks and wins the ball.
“I was told that he’s going to be okay, he’s got spasms in his back.
“It would have been too risky to travel, so we left him in Melbourne and fingers crossed he’s going to be okay to play on Friday.”
Should O’Neill miss, Vidosic may opt to stick with the same midfield three that certainly held their own or could even turn to captain Scott Jamieson – who has filled in as a six at times this season.
Meanwhile, Sydney coach Steve Corica faces a juggling act with the availability of star wingers Robert Mak and Joe Lolley who are battling hamstring injuries.
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Corica has been forced to manage the duo’s minutes over the last few weeks, having been unable to start the duo together in each of their last three matches due to their recent fitness issues.
Mak started the first leg, but was withdrawn just after half-time for Lolley after he felt tightness in the same hamstring he has been managing since their 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar on April 24 – where he initially hurt it.
“Yeah, more precautionary,” Corica told reporters post-game about Mak’s early withdrawal.
“He’s got a little issue with his hamstring, it just tightens up a little bit.
“He felt it at half time leading into the half and just precautionary, just making sure that we continue with him and he normally recovers pretty well after the game and he should be alright next week.”
Lolley, on the other hand, is slowly building his way up to full fitness, having got through almost a full half on Friday night.
It’s still unknown whether he will be ready to start on Friday night, with Corica forced to move the magnets around to cover for his absence by moving Max Burgess out wide and starting Paulo Retre in midfield.
As a result, Sydney haven’t played with the same flair that they have shown when the duo are on the park together as much of their best play revolved around their ability to create from wide areas – even though they still haven’t suffered results wise during this patch.
“We’ll see how he goes during the week, he was a lot better this week. He looked better on the pitch as well,” he said.
“Another week is a lot when you’ve got tight, little niggles with hamstrings, so I’m not sure, we’ll see.”
