Sydney is the 2009/10 Hyundai A-League premier after defeating Melbourne in the last game of the season.
Results – Round 27
WELLINGTON PHOENIX 3 Central Coast Mariners 0
Newcastle Jets 1 ADELAIDE UNITED 2
PERTH GLORY 2 Brisbane Roar 0
NORTH QUEENSLAND FURY 2 Gold Coast United 1
SYDNEY FC 2 Melbourne Victory 0
Results – Round 26
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 3 Newcastle Jets 0
Game Wraps
Sydney is the 2009/10 Hyundai A-League premier after defeating Melbourne in the last game of the season.
The 135th game of the season proved the decisive one, with Sydney finishing one point ahead of Melbourne after superb goals either side of half-time from Karol Kisel and John Aloisi at Sydney Football Stadium.
Those two teams now meet in the first leg of the major semi-final on Thursday night at Etihad Stadium after Gold Coast’s hopes of finishing top two evaporated when North Queensland defeated Miron Bleiberg’s team in Townsville 2-1 on Saturday night.
The Fury sent retiring legend Robbie Middleby off in style. David Williams scored early in the match before Joel Porter equalised midway through the second half. However, the home side got the three points to avoid the wooden spoon thanks to an 83rd-minute goal from Terry Cooke. The Fury finished the season in seventh, just two points from a spot in the finals.
Wellington secured a home final next week with an emphatic 3-0 win over the Central Coast Mariners on Friday night at Westpac Stadium. Tim Brown got an early goal before the brilliant Paul Ifill scored two goals in as many minutes to seal the win and a home final against Perth next Sunday.
Perth defeated Brisbane 2-0 at ME Bank Stadium on Saturday but the result made no difference to its position. The Glory finished fifth. Scott Neville and Anthony Skorich were the goalscorers, condemning Brisbane to second-bottom on the ladder.
In the other match, Adelaide could not escape its first wooden spoon despite a 2-1 win against Newcastle at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Friday night. Fabian Barbiero scored early for Adelaide before the Jets, who face Gold Coast next week, levelled through a cracking goal from Ali Abbas just before half-time. Matthew Leckie sealed the win with a goal 15 minutes from time.
It was the fourth loss in a row for Newcastle which had been humbled 3-0 by Central Coast Mariners in a rain-delayed match last Monday.
Weekend Goals Tally: 13
Attendances (total / average): 63176/12635
Goal of the Week – John Aloisi
Aloisi continued his brilliant run of form with a magnificent goal early in the second half of the 2-0 win over Melbourne. The veteran striker picked up the ball on halfway, charged down the park at the Victory defence and unleashed a magnificent 30-year strike which proved unstoppable. One of the goals of the year.
Player of the Week – Karol Kisel
Kisel was asked to play a different role after Steve Corica was injured early in the match against Melbourne. He did a fantastic job, co-ordinating a dominant midfield performance and scoring a crucial goal in the first half.
One to Watch – Ali Abbas
While Newcastle seems to have lost form at the wrong end of the season, Branko Culina would be delighted with the form of the speedy Iraqi attacker. He scored a fantastic goal against Adelaide on the weekend and set-up countless Newcastle attacking moves. If the Jets are to turn things around in the finals, Abbas will be a key player.
Leading Goalscorers After Round 27
19 – Shane SMELTZ
12 – Carlos HERNANDEZ, Paul IFILL
11 – Sergio VAN DIJK
10 – Archie THOMPSON
9 – John ALOISI, Robbie FOWLER
8 – Daniel MCBREEN
7 – Steve CORICA, Matt SIMON, Mile STERJOVSKI, Matt THOMPSON
6 – Mark BRIDGE, Michael BRIDGES, Alex BROSQUE, Tim BROWN, Nik MRDJA
5 – Dyron DAAL, Chris GREENACRE, Labinot HALITI, Branko JELI, Lucas PANTELIS, Joel PORTER, REINALDO
4 – Travis DODD, Robbie KRUSE, Adam KWASNIK, Kevin MUSCAT, Victor SIKORA, Wayne SRHOJ, Jin-Hyung SONG
3 – Fabian BARBIERO, CRISTIANO, Jason CULINA, Eugene DADI, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, HENRIQUE, Jamie HARNWELL, John HUTCHINSON, Mathew LECKIE, Nicky TRAVIS, David WILLIAMS
2 – Leo BERTOS, Pedj BOJIC, Nigel BOOGAARD, Scott BULLOCH, Jacob BURNS, CASSIO, DANIEL CORTES, Luke DEVERE, Mate DUGANDZIC, Steven FITZSIMMONS, Chris GROSSMAN, Jason HOFFMAN, Todd HOWARTH, Matthew KEMP, Karol KISEL, Adrian LEIJER, Jon McKAIN, Matt McKAY, Charlie MILLER, Adriano PELLEGRINO, Sasho PETROVSKI, Tomislav PONDELJAK, Kristian REES, Sean ROONEY, Nick WARD, Jobe WHEELHOUSE
1 – Ali ABBAS, ALEMAO, Danny ALLSOPP, Costa BARBAROUSES, Andrew BARISIC, Grant BREBNER, Jeremy BROCKIE, James BROWN, Zenon CARAVELLA, Isaka CERNAK, Terry COOKE, Kofi DANNING, David DODD, Ahmad ELRICH, Ney FABIANO, Iain FYFE, Brendan GAN, Troy HEARFIELD, Dean HEFFERNAN, Adam HUGHES, Andrija JUKIC, Dylan MACALLISTER, Terry McFLYNN, Michael MCGLINCHEY, Tahj MINNIECON, MILSON, Craig MOORE, Stuart MUSIALIK, Jason NAIDOVSKI, Scott NEVILLE, Mitch NICHOLS, Tommy OAR, Lloyd OWUSU, Chris PAYNE, Naum SEKULOVSKI, Ben SIGMUND, John TAMBOURAS, Chris TADROSSE, Danny TIATTO, Rodrigo VARGAS, Alex WILKINSON
