GOLD Coast United livewire James Brown has dined out on the Wellington Phoenix twice already this year, and the young forward will be hoping to do it once more when the two sides face off at Skilled Park on Saturday night.
Earlier this season, United and Wellington played out an exciting 3-3 draw at a drenched Westpac Stadium and a classy 3-1 win for Gold Coast at Skilled Park – their first against the Kiwis – and Brown was instrumental in both matches as he terrorised the Phoenix defence with his incisive runs and creative service.
The Olyroo even managed to score one goal and set up another for Bruce Djite in the 3-1 victory, and will be looking to match those efforts on Saturday night.
“In the past two games I’ve gone pretty well against them so I’m confident that I can give them some more trouble again on the weekend,” said Brown.
“I’m feeling pretty good and I’ve gotten over the disappointment of getting sent off in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago and I’m back playing in the first team since then, and I’ve been pretty happy with the way I’ve been playing.”
“After the red card (coach) Miron (Bleiberg) had a good talk to me and told me a couple of things that I needed to learn, and I have. I won’t be making that mistake again anytime soon.”
The 20-year-old also spoke of the positive vibes coming from the Gold Coast United camp of late, thanks to a combination of last Sunday’s impressive 3-0 triumph against Melbourne Heart, a number of first-team players overcoming injury and owner Clive Palmer’s early Christmas gift to the club’s fans.
Palmer announced on Thursday morning that United’s home match on December 19 against the Central Coast Mariners will be completely free for all supporters in a gesture aimed to thank Frank Lowy and the FFA for their bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Brown believes this has motivated the dressingroom even more for the upcoming weeks.
“The boys were pretty confident after the win over Heart but the news of the open stadium on the 19th of December against the Mariners is even better,” he said. “We’ve also got a bunch of first-team players and starters coming back into the squad so I think there’s a great mood in the team and we’re feeling good about the weekend.”
“With the midweek game against the Fury we had a great chance to get closer to the Roar but we couldn’t and missing out on the three points there was very disappointing. It’s good to have been able to bounce back from that so well with a win against the Heart, and I think that’s helped us stay in touch with the top two.”
