A terse John Kosmina declined to be drawn on Ben Sigmund’s controversial send-off following the Reds’ 3-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix.
A terse Adelaide United coach John Kosmina declined to be drawn on Ben Sigmund’s controversial send-off following the Reds’ 3-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday.
Sigmund was shown a red card when United spearhead Jeronimo Neumann appeared to take a late dive following a slight shirt pull from Sigmund.
The red card killed off the Phoenix’s chance of salvaging anything from the clash, as they were down 2-1 at the time and then down to 10 men.
It wasn’t to be for Wellington as Neumann scored his second in the 84th minute to apply the finishing touches.
Kosmina was pleased with the win, but was unwilling to discuss the legitimacy of Jeronimo’s actions and the subsequent decision.
Neither would he talk about any of the other contentious decisions, including a disallowed Phoenix goal and a goal to Cassio, which looked offside.
“The referees make decisions that you agree with sometimes and they make decisions that you don’t,” Kosmina said.
“Looking at the replay it was a hard one to call.
“He was in a better position than I was and probably in a better position than the cameras because he was right behind it.
“Jeromino’s goals were great … his two finishes were class.”
Kosmina was notably riled when further pressed on the star Argentine’s actions and somewhat bemused by Fox Sports television footage of Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante branding Jeronimo a “cheat” post-game.
“Did he?” Kosmina pondered, unaware of Durante’s comments.
“That’s a bit unfortunate … it’s not a nice thing to say.
“He (Jeronimo) has been out doing the warm down (since the end of the match). I don’t know that there’s anything to talk about (with him).
“You guys (reporters) are making a meal of it.”
The controversies aside, the Reds again demonstrated they are made of sterner stuff this year by coming back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to nail three second-half goals less than half an hour.
“We went a goal down and they (Wellington) got a bit of a head of steam up,” Kosmina said.
“You’ll get stages during a game where the other team will get a chance. We were patient, broke them down and things started to turn for us.
“The players were more positive in terms of how they attacked the ball – they were more competitive.”
Jeronimo’s two goals were vital, but the biggest cheers were reserved for popular Brazilian Cassio, who scored a goal – his first in the league in three seasons – in his milestone 100th match, to give United the lead in the 67th minute.
“We had a chat to Cass because last week (against Melbourne Victory) he was a little bit quiet,” Kosmina said.
“This week he was very, very comfortable.
“He has been a great servant to the club. I’m happy for him that he got a goal to celebrate his 100th game.”
