Brisbane Roars to premiership

Brisbane Roar have all but secured the Hyundai A-League Premier’s Plate and a maiden Asian Champions League berth with a 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart at Skilled Park on a watershed Saturday night for the club.

Brisbane Roar have all but secured the Hyundai A-League Premier’s Plate and a maiden Asian Champions League berth with a 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart at Skilled Park on a watershed Saturday night for the club.

Goals from Jean Carlos Solorzano and James Meyer gave the Roar a win that essentially clinches the club’s first ever piece of silverware, with the men in orange displaying the dominance they have all season to cruise past a wasteful Heart side.

Brisbane now just need Adelaide to draw or win Saturday night’s other clash with Central Coast at Hindmarsh Stadium – but the identity of the Premiers is, like it has been all season, a foregone conclusion.

On top of the Premier’s Plate – which is likely to be unveiled at their last home game at the season against arch-rivals Gold Coast United on February 12, a date earmarked for a possible return to Suncorp Stadium – the Roar have qualified for the 2012/2013 edition of the Asian Champions League, broken one long-standing record and equalled another.

Not only does the Roar’s 23-match unbeaten run surpass APIA Leichhardt’s previous domestic football record set in 1987, but they are now on the precipice of greater Australian sporting history.

The last time any team has gone so long without a loss in the top league of any of Australia’s football codes was way back in 1958-60, when St George went 23 games without a loss in the NSWRL.

With so much at stake, the Roar came firing out of the blocks, going ahead just five minutes into the match with Solorzano’s 11th goal of the season.

A speculative pass from Mitch Nichols in midfield should have been dealt with by Simon Colosimo but the Heart captain was too slow for the Costa Rican, who slipped past him with glee and tucked away his goal with a quality finish.

The Roar were confident and assured on the ball in the first half but were tested on occasion, with Josip Skoko’s free kick in the 29th minute picking out John Aloisi among a sea of bodies and the former Socceroo fired off a shot that stung the palms of Roar custodian Michael Theoklitos.

As the match progressed, so too did the amount of chances created by the visitors, putting a Roar backline that was without the departed Luke DeVere for the first time under pressure.

But Brisbane were a long way from done, firing a warning shot in the 62nd minute through Kosta Barbarouses with a bullet from just outside the box that fizzled mere centimetres wide of the target – and just seconds later, Wednesday night’s hero Meyer finished the job with his fourth goal in three games on his debut start.

The architect was Thomas Broich who, on his 30th birthday, slid the perfect pass for Meyer to dance past Matt Thompson and double his side’s advantage.

The Roar should have had more, with Barbarouses unable to convert at least three good opportunities to widen the margin, and in the 75th minute Gerald Sibon pegged one back after Aloisi held up the ball brilliantly for the giant Dutchman to slide home the Heart’s first goal.

But it wasn’t enough to derail Ange Postecoglou’s men, who will be relieved to have finally secured the premiership they have been expected to win for so long – but the Heart will need to produce far better if they are to play finals football in their inaugural season.

Brisbane Roar 2 (Solorzano 5′, Meyer 63′)
Melbourne Heart 1 (Sibon 75′)
Crowd: 4213 @ Skilled Park, Robina