We’re down to the last six rounds of the Hyundai A-League and given the shocks and unpredictability from last weekend, it’s anyone’s guess what’s going to happen in the run to the finals.
We’re down to the last six rounds of the Hyundai A-League and given the shocks and unpredictability from last weekend, it’s anyone’s guess what’s going to happen in the run to the finals.
Adelaide may have been one of the form sides of the Hyundai A-League in recent months but no one could have predicted just how easily they would dispose of the Phoenix. The Kiwis arrived at Coopers Stadium fresh from a 4-1 demolition of the Mariners on the Central Coast but were simply torn apart by the rampant Reds. It wasn’t just the five goals they scored but the overall quality of them, with Jeronimo Neumann’s opener and Fabio Ferreira’s bullet contenders for goals of the season. It has been a remarkable turnaround for Josep Gombau’s side after managing just one win from their opening nine games, but on current form they are quite rightly being talked about as serious title contenders.
John van ‘t Schip’s side had done brilliantly to turn their season around in the last six weeks but derby games always have a habit of throwing up a surprise. And the latest edition of Melbourne’s derby did just that, just not in the way most expected. After failing to win any of the last four derbies – and any of their first 14 games this season – the Heart have been playing catch-up with their local rivals all season. But after six wins from their last seven games the Heart have dragged themselves up the ladder to be just four points from the top six and now look the ones more likely to challenge for the title.
Most experts had Newcastle’s obituary for the 2013/14 season already written as they travelled to take on Premiers’ Plate-chasing Western Sydney. With just one win from their last nine games, there was very little to suggest the Jets were any chance of pulling off one of the upsets of the season. But someone forget to tell Clayton Zane’s side they were no hope and they produced arguably their most complete effort of the season to get the points at an uncharacteristically subdued Pirtek Stadium. With road wins over Brisbane (twice), Melbourne Victory, Adelaide and now the Wanderers under their belt, the Jets can certainly get it done away from home. Now they just need to fix things up at Hunter Stadium and who knows how far they can go.
Sydney’s record on the Central Coast has been poor in recent seasons but Frank Farina’s side would have headed up the M1 full of confidence on Saturday afternoon. They had surged above the Mariners on the back of two straight wins, with Phil Moss’ troops in free-fall and heading in the opposite direction after four losses on the bounce and a gruelling midweek trip to Korea thrown in. It should all have spelled success for Sydney right? Well you’d be wrong, with the Mariners rediscovering their mojo and making the most of their chances to win 2-1. It has made for an even more congested table heading into the home stretch.
While there was no major surprise with the Roar’s 3-1 win over Perth Glory, Mike Mulvey’s troops did take longer than expected to get the job done. It took until the last 10 minutes for Brisbane to put the result beyond doubt against a Glory outfit which is terribly out of sorts. It would take a major meltdown for the Roar – who have a seven point lead at the top – to miss out on the Premiers Plate but as we’ve seen throughout most of the season, nothing is that simple in the Hyundai A-League.