Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd is at odds with Melbourne Victory counterpart Adrian Leijer as to the suitability of Adelaide Oval’s playing surface as a viable football venue following the Reds’ 2-1 triumph between the two super rivals on Friday.
A smooth, low-cut outfield and a belting centre wicket make Adelaide Oval one of Australia’s – if not the world’s – premier cricket grounds, while the atmosphere generated by the 21,083-strong crowd was electric.
But according to Dodd, the surface was ‘difficult’ to play on.
“I didn’t play against Sydney,” he said of the earlier-season fixture at the Oval, which, like on Friday, saw a number of players struggle to retain their footing at various times.
“We haven’t really spoken about it (surface), but there were quite a few boys slipping over, which wasn’t fantastic.”
“We did our best on it and I’m proud that it’s done and dusted personally. It’s a difficult surface to play on, that’s for sure.”
When quizzed whether he would like to play at Adelaide Oval next week in the finals, Dodd didn’t mince his words.
“As a player, no,” said Dodd, whose wonderful headed goal in the 78th minute sealed the 2-1 win over the Victory.
“Hindmarsh is our home stadium, that’s where we play our best football – I want to play there.”
Acting Victory skipper Leijer had a different point of view.
“I thought it (surface) was okay,” he said. “Besides the centre square where the cricket pitch is, it was quite good.”
“It was a fantastic occasion, the crowd was unbelievable and I would like to come back here again if both teams do get through because it would be a pretty special night.”
While the prospect of an Adelaide-Melbourne finals clash in a fortnight’s time is a mouth-watering one for fans of both teams, irrespective of the venue, United coach Rini Coolen is just pleased his side was able to find top form again in such a clutch game.
“You have to win a game like this for a few reasons,” Coolen said.
“One is position number three (on the ladder) – if you want to keep it (destiny) in your own hands you have to win the game, which we did, so that was important.”
“The second reason is you have to win the game to get the confidence back … everybody knows now that Adelaide is back in business again after a game like this.”
“And the third reason is everybody knows this is a special game, especially for our supporters.”
“We won this game and I’m really happy about that.”
