Melbourne City 1 Sydney FC 3

Roy Hay

The new Melbourne City was a bit like the old Melbourne Heart as it went down to Sydney FC at Morshead Park in Ballarat on Tuesday evening in the Round of 32 of the FFA Cup by three goals to one after extra time.

On a bitterly cold evening under lights which were literally ‘good but not brilliant’ City fielded a team with only two starters who were not at the club last season. Damian Duff began wide on the left and Aaron Mooy, the energizer bunny and then some, covered the whole ground multiple times from a nominally midfield position. Sydney fielded Bernie Ibini, one of the All Stars against Juventus on Sunday night, along with Corey Gameiro and Terry Antonis in attack while the old firm of Sebastian Ryall, Sasha Ognenovski and Matthew Jurman put up a Graham Arnold wall at the back. You only had to watch for a few minutes to realise that this was an Arnold team, instantly putting ten men behind the ball as soon as it was lost, then rebounding like lightning when it was won back.

Clint Bolton was standing behind me at one point and we talked about football and then he volunteered that City had enjoyed a much-improved pre-season this year and that the future was all about results. ‘In the last couple of years we have had a pretty experienced defence but we have made some silly blunders which you would not expect from players like that. That has cost us several games’. He had hardly finished speaking when Jurman played a ball down the left touchline well ahead of Gameiro who sprinted after it as it curled inward. No one came across to cover and Andrew Redmayne rushed off his line but was always second to the ball and Gameiro tucked it under him and into the net as Patrick Kisnorbo made an unavailing attempt to hack it clear. That goal came in the 23rd minute.

Nine minutes later Nikola Petkovic sent a swinging free kick into the penalty area after Ali Abbas had been fouled but though the ball pinged around the result was a goal kick. City had been struggling for rhythm but Mooy made a good break in midfield and put David Williams away. The striker tried to lay the ball off to Mate Dugandzic in the clear on the left, but the pass clipped Ryall and the chance was gone. Damian Duff followed up with a low drive saved by keeper Vedran Janjetovic and the half ended with a long cross shot by Ryall which drifted wide.

Neither team made changes at half time and Duff set up Ian Ramsay four minutes after the interval but the winger shot wide. Williams then had a shot on the angle but it only found the side netting. But this was City’s best spell of the game and they won a free kick when Ibini impeded Mooy in the 65th minute. Mooy swung the ball across goal and Nick Kalmar got in ahead of the defence to power the ball past the keeper. Damian Duff had already been replaced by James Brown and both sides made changes late in the half but were unable to break the deadlock.

So the match went into extra time as the 2,801 fans shivered on the sidelines. The highlight of the first period came in the last minute when Mooy fired a pile-driver just over the outstretched fingers of Janjetovic and clear of the crossbar. But that was as close as City came to a breakthrough and in the 111th minute (nobody jumped) but Jason Hoffman was adjudged to have tripped Gameiro as he sprinted into the City penalty box. Referee Shaun Evans sent Hoffman off while Ali Abbas stepped up to fire the ball past Redmayne. Three minutes later Antonis seemed to fall over on the edge of the box with Robbie Wielaert closest to him when he dropped to the ground. But a second penalty was given with the same outcome as the first and Sydney were into the Round of 16, while City must somehow learn to eliminate the schoolboy errors of the kind which cruelled their chances in this match.

Roy Hay

Melbourne Heart could not give skipper Harry Kewell a winning end to his career after going down by three goals to two to Western Sydney Wanderers at AAMI Park before a noisy crowd of 10,003.

The retiring star brought his family on through a guard of honour, but that was as far as the pleasantries went, with Nikolai Topor-Stanley crashing into his back a minute after the Wanderers central defender scored the opening goal with a header from a precise Shinji Ono free kick. Heart conceded that goal in the 28^th minute, but fought back to equalise then go ahead with only 18 minutes left to play, only to be overcome by two late strikes as the defensive failings which have plagued Heart all year resurfaced.

Both sides started very cagily after Mark Bridge became the first of ten players booked by referee Jarred Gillett. But gradually the match settled with both teams prepared to attack. Heart had given a start to young Steven Mauk and he was prominent in the first half with a couple of shots, one of which led to a series of corner kicks and another where he just dragged his effort past the left hand post. Heart equalised in the 35^th minute, when Kewell found Orlando Engelaar about thirty metres from goal in heavy traffic. But as he has done before this season the big Dutchman hit a brilliant grounder across Ante Covic and in off the far post. A great goal, thanks in part to Kewell’s assistance. Kewell had a shot which had to be deflected for a corner kick, then Matthew Spiranovic had to head the ball over his own crossbar from virtually underneath it as Heart went for another goal just before half-time.

David Williams was withdrawn at the interval, being replaced by Aziz Behich, and a string of bookings broke up the flow of the game in the early part of the second half. The visitors should have gone ahead again when the referee found a penalty kick in a challenge in the Heart area. Shinji Ono, who can normally be relied on to take advantage of dead ball situations, put this one over the bar. So Heart was still in the game and took the lead in 72 minutes. Jason Hoffmann came down the right as he had been doing throughout the game but this time trusted himself to shoot. The ball took a slight deflection but it was enough to wrong foot Covic and dropped over him into the net. Thoughts of a home win to end the season flourished only briefly as the Wanderers were determined to get second spot on the ladder.

The referee had a big impact on the result allowing substitute Brendan Santalab to bowl over Robbie Wielaert before scoring Wanderers equaliser in the 81^st minute. That kind of incident had been regularly pulled up earlier in the game but in the last phase several were allowed, perhaps because another booking would have meant expulsion for the offender and consequent missing of the first match of the finals.

Heart could not withstand the red and black tide and Jusuf Hersi sprinted through a tiring defence to grab the winner with only four minutes of normal time left. Kewell walked a lap of honour to mark the end of his stellar career but his team finished at the bottom of the ladder showing that the new regime will have to make big improvements next season if Heart are to challenge for the finals.

Roy Hay

Harry Kewell is bringing down the curtain on a stellar career at the end of the current A-League season. It is a pity that he could not make it to what would be his third World Cup in succession, but the body which has inhibited him in the latter stages of his career will not let him deliver the kind of consistent performances demanded by Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou. Even Melbourne Heart must have been reluctant to offer a new contract, despite the impact he has had on the players around him since he joined the club. So the time is right for one of our all-time greats to step aside.

New South Wales Under-15s, national champions in 1994

He was born in Smithfield in New South Wales of English parents. I first saw him play at Kim Reserve in 1994 with the New South Wales Under-15s who won the national championships beating a very strong Victorian side in the final. The light blues included Brett Emerton, Sebastian Sinozic, Yane Talcevski, Daniel Ucchino, Michael Cunico, Robert Trajcevski and Adam Brodbeck, all of whom went on to have significant careers in the game. Lined up against them were Vince Grella, Danny Allsopp, Simon Colosimo, Rodrigo Vargas, John Maisano, Clayton Bell and Colin Azzopardi. Between them these two talented groups produced most of the Joeys who took part in the Under-17 World Cup in Ghana where Australia pipped Spain on goal difference to qualify from its group behind Nigeria. Brazil proved too good in the quarter-finals and Danny Allsopp was top scorer with 5 goals and Kewell got the other.

Very soon the precocious Kewell was on his way to Leeds United where he began as a wing-back and his powerful engine got him up and down the field following his debut in the first team under Howard Wilkinson. He flourished under George Graham and David O’Leary clocking up over 180 league appearances and scoring 45 goals. On 24 April 1996, Eddie Thomson gave Kewell his first Socceroo cap against Chile in Antofagasta. Eddie was shrewd enough to know that Kewell could have been tempted to play for England so it was vital to ensure that he was aligned with the Green and Gold. Most sources want to claim that as a result he was the youngest player to be capped by Australia, but this is not true. Duncan Cummings was months younger when he made his debut against China in 1975, scoring within minutes of coming on as a substitute. That was the first of Cummings’ two games for Australia, while Kewell was to go on to amass 56 games and score 17 goals.

From Leeds, Kewell transferred to Liverpool where he was to win a series of trophies including the European Champions League in 2005, when injury resulted in his substitution before his team-mates produced a miraculous second half fight-back against AC Milan and won the cup on penalties. He played just under 100 league games for the Reds scoring a dozen goals. In 2008 he moved to Galatasaray in Turkey, captaining the club and performing various feats including a couple of matches at centre-half when injuries to other players occurred.

Meanwhile he took part in Australia’s unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 1997, scoring critical goals away from home and at the MCG against Iran. His heroics were not enough and Australia lost on the away goals rule. It was an equally sad story in 2001 as a home win over Uruguay thanks to a Kevin Muscat penalty was cancelled out by the three-nil loss in Montevideo. Opinions differ as to Kewell’s contribution to the away leg. My feeling was that he left Mark Viduka unsupported in the striking role failing to be close enough to the big man who had three top class defenders marking him for most of the game. In 2005 however Kewell came into his own with an inadvertent shank that set up Marco Bresciano for the goal at home to Uruguay and putting away one of the successful penalty kicks. Then in Germany in the finals he scored the decisive second goal against Croatia, but then had to miss the Italy game in the round of 16 thanks to what was suggested to be gout at the time.

Kewell backed up again in 2010 in South Africa though he was perhaps harshly sent off for blocking a goal-bound effort against Ghana in the second match and hence badly missed then and in the victory over Serbia. Kewell also contributed in Australia’s Asian Cup campaigns in 2007 and 2011.

Harry Kewell at Melbourne Victory

He was named as Australia’s greatest ever player in a poll in 2012 which inevitably focused on recent stars. He certainly generated the charisma which attracted people to the game in an age of celebrity. So when he returned to Australia in 2011 and signed with Melbourne Victory on a contract which gave him an element of his income based on the number of extra fans he attracted to the game, there is no doubt that he boosted the profile of the club and the A-League. However by now his body was giving him less chance to demonstrate his talent, though as the first season ran its course his contribution on the field improved significantly. After the season he returned to England and then played briefly with Al-Garafa in Qatar before coming home for what turned out to be his final fling at Melbourne Heart. Again injuries cruelled his season, but he deserves to go out with a flourish in Heart’s final game of the season against Western Sydney Wanderers on 12 April.

Kewell attracted a fair amount of controversy over his long career, partly explicable as a product of the tall poppy syndrome, but some self inflicted or a result of the agents with whom he dealt. Also the injuries he suffered were not appreciated by those furthest from the man himself and his abrasive or dismissive attitude to the media did not always work to enhance his image. Nevertheless, he has been a major contributor to Australia’s recent success, as key member of the ‘golden generation’. In time people will be able to evaluate his career more dispassionately and with greater perspective, but he is certainly one to be considered when listing the players who have lifted the profile of the game in this country.

Bookends of two careers. Harry Kewell of Victory and Brett Emerton of Sydney FC

Roy Hay

Melbourne Heart threw away a chance to close the gap on the teams above them when they conceded two second half goals to go down to defeat by Central Coast Mariners. It could have been so different had Heart followed up an outrageous strike by Orlando Engelaar from half-way which flew over the stranded Liam Reddy and just under the cross bar in the 34^th minute. But the home team never looked like a side chasing a last opportunity to reach the finals as it faffed around at the back while its ostensible front runners wondered when, if ever, the ball was going to come their way. This mode of play was never going to upset the leg-weary Mariners who simply waited for the long ball or misplaced pass which often resulted and saved their energy for a second half fight back. They got a bonus through a goal in stoppage time in the first period when Matt Simon and Mile Sterjovski fed Kim Seung-Yong and the Korean midfielder finished from close range.

Sterjovski and Simon did the business up front for the Mariners until deep in the second half when coach Phil Moss brought on Benny Ibini and Mitchell Duke, both fresh and full of running. Ibini outstripped Ben Garrucio only five minutes after coming on to score the winner from a route one punt by Liam Reddy via Marcel Seip. Even after it went a goal down Heart still did not go all out for an equaliser and though it had a number of half chances these were squandered by substitute Stefan Mauk. Harry Kewell had come on with just under half an hour left, but even he could not lift the Heart. David Williams had earlier set up Engelaar but the big man’s header was pushed behind for a corner by Reddy, and when the Dutchman returned the favour to Williams, the latter could just not get high enough to direct his header past Reddy, though another fruitless corner resulted.

Jonatan Germano rises hoping to get in a header against the Mariners defence

John van’t Schip has gone on record as saying that Heart is beginning to play the attacking game he wants, but on this evidence it has a long, long way to go. Massimo Murdocca must be wondering what he has let himself in for. At Brisbane Roar he was part of a team which pressed its opponents in their own half and made every attempt to start its attacking moves from there. Now he is virtually the only one who consistently harries the opposition, while Williams, Ramsay and Dugandzic do so intermittently, which is quite useless. Ramsay is very fast on his feet, but appears to think much more slowly, and consequently misses opportunities to create openings for himself or his team-mates. Harry Kewell had an almighty clash of heads seconds after coming on, so this might have reduced his effectiveness, while young Mauk finds it difficult to pick up the pace of the game in the few minutes he has been getting and consequently struggles for composure in front of goal.

Goalscorer Orlando Engelaar about to launch the ball forward for Heart

I don’t like criticising young men who are giving everything for their team in difficult circumstances, but it seems clear that Heart will have to make some very hard decisions at the end of the season as to those it believes can take the club forward under the auspices of Manchester City.

Roy Hay

Melbourne Heart continued its surge towards the finals by sweeping aside Melbourne Victory in the third derby of the season by four goals to nil. Poor Victory found their daunting trip to China had sapped the legs and this was compounded when they were reduced to ten men, after Nick Ansell was sent off by Strebre Delovski in the 38^th minute. By then Heart were already two ahead and any chance of a Victory revival was snuffed out by two late goals by David Williams and substitute Harry Kewell.

Victory began brightly and sharply enough with some excellent approach play by James Troisi and Tom Rogic, who had recovered from his ankle injury. Gui Finkler drove a hard low effort that brought out a fine save by Andrew Redmayne. Heart responded with a series of strong physical challenges. Victory had given a rare start to Lawrence Thomas and the keeper’s first clearance was wayward and picked up by Iain Ramsay. His cross was flicked on by Williams and Orlando Engelaar nodded the ball home in the 9^th minute. If that was a setback for Victory, Mate Dugandzic’s outrageous goal in the 16^th minute was totally dispiriting. The former Victory winger sent over a cross from out on the touchline. One might have expected it to fade to the left, but it drifted right over the keeper and nestled just under the crossbar.

Victory’s woes were compounded just before the interval when Williams charged through the centre. Nick Ansell was caught slightly out of position and as he tried to retrieve the error he may have grabbed the Heart man’s shirt as the pair collided with Thomas who had rushed out of his goal. That was the interpretation Delovski indicated to those players who questioned his decision, but it resulted in a harsh sanction for one of Victory’s most promising young players.

Four minutes into the second half a Finkler free kick was met by Victory skipper Mark Milligan but his header was grabbed by Redmayne. Both sides made substitutions after the hour mark with Nick Kalmar replacing Jonathan Germano for Heart, while Connor Pain and Kosta Barbarouses swapped places with James Troisi and Archie Thompson. But it was a later substitution by Heart which really livened up the game after Heart had created and missed a string of good chances. Orlando Engelaar went off to an ovation from the Heart fans, while the appearance of Harry Kewell in his place produced contrasting reactions from the ends of the ground. He was quickly into the action forming part of a move with Dugandzic and Ramsay which laid the ball on a plate for David Williams to score in the 84th minute. But the best was yet to come for the home support as two minutes later Kewell latched on to a loose ball about 30 metres from goal and absolutely thrashed it into the far corner.

Victory fans with their banners before the derby

A good crowd of 25, 546 was witness to a typical local derby where the passion on and off the field created a wonderful atmosphere. Victory deserve credit for their refusal to capitulate with substitute Connor Pain raising spirits with a number of runs at the Heart defence and Heart were able to give a brief outing to Ross Archibald at the end. Heart jump above Newcastle Jets, whom they meet next week, and are only four points from the play-off position.

Roy Hay

Melbourne Heart’s winning sequence continued with a single goal victory over league leader Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon. Orlando Engelaar is still regaining full fitness but it is already clear that he was a superb choice as Heart’s marquee player in 2013–14. He showed coolness and skill in breaking up attacks and setting Heart moves going with close control in tight situations. Then with just over an hour gone he ghosted into the Roar penalty area to meet a low cross by Mate Dugandzic for the vital goal for his side.

The first half of this match was largely forgettable as both sides struggled to put together decisive attacks. The Roar had far more possession but the usual crispness and penetration of its play was missing. Heart’s moves broke down constantly with misplaced passes or slowness in releasing the ball while under pressure. So the two teams effectively negated each other though Iain Ramsay came closest for Heart early on after skinning Jade North only to find Michael Theo perfectly positioned to save his shot. Luke Brattan had one long-range effort but it was straight at Andrew Redmayne.

A good Spot the Ball picture: Action in the Heart penalty area

The tempo quickened in the second half and Matt McKay, who had a quiet game, did test the home keeper again, and then Heart finally made its breakthrough. Four minutes later David Williams got clear on the break but his shot was deflected for a corner kick, from which Patrick Kisnorbo tested Theo with a powerful header. A second corner kick led to an almighty scramble in the Brisbane penalty area and referee Adam Kersey picked out an indirect free kick. The ball was tapped to Engelaar but he could not force it through the advancing wall of defenders who poured off the goal line. Thomas Broich had looked to be the Roar’s greatest threat in attack and in 80 minutes he wriggled his way clear and curled the ball just wide of Redmayne’s goal. At the other end, Iain Ramsay’s last act was a run and shot saved by Theo before he was replaced by Ben Garrucio as Heart ran down the clock. Heart survived the four minutes of added time thanks in part to a saving tackle by Kisnorbo on Besart Berisha. Kisnorbo has been sent off more than once this season for lunging mistimed tackles, but he got this one right and saved the day for Heart which now moves closer to the top six and opens up the chase for the championship by inflicting its second defeat in succession on Brisbane Roar.

Roy Hay

Football fandom, like sporting performance in general, involves a delicate balance. When you are coaching youngsters to play the game, you want them bursting out of their skins to achieve the highest level of performance on the field, but yet you expect them not only to obey the laws of the game but also to recognise and respect its spirit as well. So, too, with fans. Without them there is no atmosphere. Australian football is privileged and lucky to have thousands of youngsters who are prepared to sing, chant, shout and jump about for ninety minutes at games around the country. This has not come about by accident and while the football authorities deserve much of credit for the changes they have made in the organisation of the game, most of it belongs to the fans themselves. All the evidence suggests that they were desperate to have teams that they could support whose ideology was inclusive and whose locus was ‘a geographical expression’ in Australia,not something that could be portrayed as foreign. Hence they poured out in numbers to support Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United, Perth Glory, Sydney FC and now Western Sydney Wanderers and to give the A-League something which its predecessor struggled to obtain—a dynamic demographic based on the domestic population, not just the most recent cohort of immigrants.

There is no chance that this new style of fandom will be satisfied with the sedentary enjoyment of the qualities of the game by the majority of those who are drawn to A-League games today. Without their ‘active support’, Australian games would be like those of some teams in the English Premier League, characterised as ‘Highbury the library’ or the ‘Prawn sandwiches brigade’ at Old Trafford as castigated by Roy Keane. But these fans are very demanding. They expect high levels of equally committed performance by those who wear the colours of the teams they support. They are protective of each other in face of critical attacks in the media. They are noisy, boisterous and as offensive as sledging cricketers or the Barmy Army or, for that matter, Australian Rules barrackers. Many of them also attend footy matches regularly.

The Melbourne Victory supporters consist of a number of distinct groupings. The largest by far was the Blue and White Brigade which was there when the club began in 2005, even before the league season kicked off. Unlike many of the fan organisations at other A-League clubs, the BWB and other supporter groups are not part of the Victory club but want to influence its policies. They do not accept formal responsibility for policing their peers, though they try hard to influence behaviour and collective support. Victory has been at loggerheads with another group of its active supporters, the Northern Terrace Collective. A loose amalgam of different sections, this element of the attendance professes to want to fill their end of the ground with active supporters. The club however wants to cordon off and control entry to the active support area at roughly its current size so that space is reserved for the accommodation and protection of other, less vocal and active fans.

Critical response by Victory fans to what they saw as media manipulation

The activities of the active supporter groups also provide cover for more nefarious behaviour by others whom both the fan groups and the football authorities would like to do without. So Football Federation Australia also has to be careful. Its proposed penalty of a suspended three points deduction from Victory or Wanderers offers a free kick to anyone or any group that wishes to foment an incident at a game or in the lead up to or aftermath of one. This is not beyond belief. Examples have occurred in the past where people associated with one club provoked incidents at the home ground of another resulting in penalties for that organisation. Moreover, it is not clear what the clubs could have done to prevent the incident in Bourke Street that preceded and may have been the catalyst for the events at AAMI Park last Saturday night when Melbourne Victory met Western Sydney Wanderers. As has happened in England, turning the stadia into controlled zones does not eliminate incidents but tends to displace them elsewhere.

Victory fans assert bragging rights

Melbourne Heart fans claim their place in the sun

In the stand at AAMI Park the other night when the firecrackers went off there was a brief moment when you wondered whether this was something much more serious. The thought of a terrorist attack briefly crossed my mind before it became clear that there was a flare and firecracker episode. That was worrying enough, having been in the press-box at a Victorian Premier League grand final when a projectile flew past the open window at eye level travelling from one end of the stadium to nearly the other and striking a young girl at the conclusion of its trajectory. So the notion of stamping out flares and firecrackers and anti-social behaviour at A-League games is laudable and to be supported, but it needs to be associated with measures to encourage the self-expression of the active fans without whom the football experience would be much poorer. Right to the end of the comprehensive defeat by Brisbane Roar this Saturday night, the active fans of Melbourne Victory kept up their vocal support as others left the ground.

Roy Hay

Western Sydney Wanderers are within touching distance of the A-League title after a three-one away win over Melbourne Heart at a wet AAMI Park on Saturday night. Though the home team put up a spirited fight in the latter part of the first half, and the first period of the second, in the end the result reflected the gulf in class between the sides. The Wanderers were first to the ball and always had options for their passes, while Heart matched them for a while but gave the ball away in critical situations and did not always man up when that happened. Thus two of the three goals came about when it seemed that Heart might be breaking clear of its own defensive area, but the turnovers proved fatal.

Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi wielded the axe after last week’s dismal performance against Adelaide United. Paying the price were David Williams, Eli Babalj, Nick Kalmar and Marcel Meeuwis. In came Patrick Gerhardt, Fred, Jonathan Germano and young Sam Mitchinson. Western Sydney Wanderers lost Shinji Ono to a hamstring strain, with Aaron Mooy stepping in, but otherwise was on normal lines chasing its tenth win in a row.

The Wanderers went ahead in 29 minutes after Heart gave the ball away on the right and Mark Bridge ran to the byeline unchallenged before cutting the ball back to Aaron Mooy in the centre of the penalty area. The blond midfielder fed Labinot Haliti whose precise shot took the inside of the post on the way into the net.

Heart got a scintillating equaliser when skipper Fred released Golgol Mebrahtu. He took one touch to line things up then blasted the ball inside Ante Covic’s right hand post. That was in the 39^th minute. That stunning goal lifted the Heart and just before the break it seemed they had taken the lead only for the ‘goal’ to be disallowed. Mebrathu’s free kick was headed goalwards by Richard Garcia and Josip Tadic took a swing at the ball as it went past him. It is doubtful whether he actually got a touch and he did not seem to be impeding any of the Wanderers especially keeper Covic. From side on it was clear that three Heart players were momentarily in an offside position, so the assistant referee’s flag was understandable. However, the incident divided opinion among referees, inspectors and media commentators alike, and it did mean that Heart’s fightback was stalled. Patrick Gerhardt was booked for his protest at the decision.

Heart started the second half well, but the wind was taken out of them when Haliti scored his second goal on the hour. Mark Bridge was involved again and he squared the ball to Iacopo La Rocca who measured a pass to Haliti for a clear opening which he did not waste by lifting the ball over the keeper.

Simon Colosimo was booked for a challenge on Wanderers’ substitute Dino Kresinger in 75 minutes, but five minutes later he went straight through the same player from behind. He left the referee Ben Williams with no option but to send him off.

Following his departure any chance of Heart saving the game disappeared and with a couple of minutes left La Rocca expertly controlled a spiralling high ball before cutting across the penalty area and curling the ball round Redmayne for the Wanderer’s third goal.

John Aloisi said afterwards, ‘We can’t give up. It is not in my nature to give up. We have had a great home record until the last two defeats, why not win two in a row away to end the season?’ I love his glass half-full approach to any adversity and he was right to point to a much better performance than in the loss to Adelaide.

Wanderers' coach Tony Popovic

Tony Popovic is not a man who gets ahead of himself and was not about to claim the title or look forward to the finals series. ‘We will focus on next week. We have a big derby coming up (against Sydney on 23 March). We will control what we can and look at finals if and when we get there.’ His players have done him proud this year already.

Soweto Gospel Choir sang before the game

Match details

Saturday, 16 March 2013

Melbourne Heart FC 1 (Golgol Mabrathu 39’) Western Sydney Wanderers 3 (Labinot Haliti 29’, 60’, Iacopo La Rocca 88’)

Venue: AAMI Park

Kick off: 5.30 PM

Referee: Ben Williams

Assistant referees: Hakan Anaz and Matthew Cream

Fourth official: Shaun Evans

Attendance: 6,101

Melbourne Heart:

20. Andrew Redmayne, 4. Simon Colosimo, 5. Fred (22. Nick Kalmar 75’), 6. Patrick Gerhardt, 8. Matt Thompson, 10. Josip Tadic, 11. Richard Garcia, 13. Jonatan Germano, 14. Golgol Mebrathu, 25. Jeremy Walker (15. David Williams 67’).

Unused substitutes: 1. Clint Bolton, 16. Marcel Meeuwis

Yellow cards: Patrick Gerhardt 43’, Simon Colosimo 75’, 80’.

Red cards: Simon Colosimo 80’

Western Sydney Wanderers:

1. Ante Covic, 3. Adam D’Apuzzo, 4. Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 5. Michael Beauchamp, 6. Jerome Polenz (2. Shannon Cole 29’), 7. Labinot Haliti (23. Jason Trifiro 88’), 8. Mateo Poljak, 10. Aaron Mooy (9. Dino Kresinger 71’), 17. Youssouf Hersi, 18. Iacopo La Rocca, 19.Mark Bridge,

Unused substitutes: 20. Jerrad Tyson

Yellow cards: Mateo Poljak 42’, Adam D’Apuzzo 58’, Youssouf Hersi 83’

Red cards: Nil

Roy Hay

Melbourne Heart entertained its largest home crowd for a league match of 13,752 (apart from those against cross-town rival Victory), with a thumping three-one win over Sydney FC. The opening spell was somewhat languid in the heat and humidity but once Heart got its opening goal the crowd came to life and the rest was full of incident and some excellent play by both sides.

Heart was close to full strength but missing Patrick Gerhardt in central defence, while Sydney gave Socceroo skipper Lucas Neill his first start to the manifest annoyance of the home support, who booed his every touch of the ball.

Lucas Neill (right) tells Tiago Calvano how he is going to play.

Both sides tended to play in front of the opposition defences in the early stages so most of the few shots on goal were from distance, and even when well struck failed to trouble the keepers. Nick Kalmar was bundled over by Tiago Calvano but unlike his free kick two weeks ago this one was safely grabbed by Vedran Janjetovic even though it was curved around the wall. Alessandro del Piero had one good shot from outside the area, but Andrew Redmayne was alert and held it reasonably comfortably. When the Heart keeper came out to punch an effort by Joel Griffiths he only knocked it to the Italian star who attempted to lob him but the ball drifted wide.

Heart then made what turned out to be a decisive break in the 31^st minute. Richard Garcia knocked a ball over the defence where it was headed back by David Williams via Jonathan Germano who set up Nick Kalmar and the big midfielder controlled it before beating Vedran Janjetovic. That enlivened what had been a soporofic opening spell according to some watchers.

Only five minutes later Heart doubled its advantage. David Vrankovic sent a through ball forward in the direction of Eli Babalj who neatly deflected it into the path of Jonathan Germano. Germano still had to make ground before firing his shot past Janjetovic. Germano was booked for pulling his shirt over his head in celebration of what had been an excellent and uplifting goal. Heart had a nother couple of good chances late in the first half, but that ended just after del Piero found Brett Emerton in the clear, but the Socceroo midfielder headed over.

At half-time Frank Farina took off Paul Reid and brought on Joel Chianese as Sydney tried to chase the game. However it was Heart which got the next goal.

Eight minutes into the second half, David Williams outstripped the defence and Sebastian Ryall barrelled into him inside the penalty area as Janjetovic came out to block. It was a clear penalty but referee Alan Milliner added a red card to Ryall for denying the initial goalscoring opportunity. Williams took the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way.

Man of the match Jeremy Walker takes on Rhyan Grant of Sydney

Three minutes later Joel Griffiths gave his side a glimmer of hope by turning David Vrankovic on the edge of the Heart penalty area before burying the ball past Andrew Redmayne. The ten men of Sydney kept trying to find another opening, but Heart played the ball around reasonably well in the heat and sprang a number of quick breaks against an undermanned and tiring defence. Even defender Jeremy Walker got into a shooting position after a typical rapid support run but his final shot was straight at the keeper. When Heart continued to miss opportunities to score Sydney had a chance of putting real pressure on them with a second goal, but they also missed the fewer chances they managed to create. Andrew Redmayne collected Jamie Coyne’s boot in his face after the two scrambled to keep out del Piero, so there were four minutes of extra time added on by the referee, but Heart kept the door closed until that was played out.

Frank Farina thought his team was flat from the start, though he could not put his finger on a specific reason why that should be after a longer week between games. John Aloisi was understandably delighted with the all round effort and sees no reason why Heart cannot end its poor away record even though the match against the Phoenix will be played well down the South Island of New Zealand in Dunedin next week.

Match details

Sunday 24 February

Melbourne Heart FC 3 (Nick Kalmar 31’, Jonathan Germano 35’, David Williams 54’) Sydney FC 1 (Joel Griffiths 58’)

Venue: AAMI Park

Kick off: 5:00 PM

Referee: Alan Milliner

Assistant referees: Luke Brennan and Jonathan Barreiro

Fourth official: Shaun Evans

Attendance: 13,752

Melbourne Heart:

20. Andrew Redmayne, 4. Simon Colosimo, 8. Matthew Thompson, 11. Richard Garcia, 13. Jonatan Germano (16. Marcel Meeuwis 82’), 15. David Williams, 17. Jason Hoffman, 18. David Vrankovic, 21. Jamie Coyne, 22. Nick Kalmar (5.Fred 66’), 25. Jeremy Walker, 36. Eli Babalj (14. Golgol Mebrahtu 72’)

Unused substitutes: 1.Clint Bolton,

Yellow cards: Jonathan Germano 35’, David Williams 90 + 2’

Red cards: Nil

Sydney FC:

20. Vedran Janjetovic, 2. Sebastian Ryall, 3. Fabio, 7. Brett Emerton, 9. Paul Reid (17. Terry Antonis 46’), 10. Alessandro Del Piero, 13. Tiago Calvano, 23. Rhyan Grant, 26. Peter Triantis, 29. Joel Griffiths (16. Joel Chianese 66’), 32. Lucas Neill.

Unused substitutes: 1. Ivan Necevski, 8. Adam Griffiths.

Yellow cards: Paul Reid 33’, Joel Griffiths 47’, Tiago Calvano 70’

Red cards: Sebastian Ryall 54’

Melbourne Heart overcame Perth Glory by two goals to nil at AAMI Park on Saturday night. Nick Kalmar had his best game in a Heart shirt, albeit a black one sponsored by Twitter for an interactive round. He scored a brilliant free kick, and then with his confidence sky high proceeded to demonstrate the whole range of skills and technical proficiency, and a little showboating near the end. His coach, John Aloisi was delighted that the attacking midfielder was now showing the quality he believed Kalmar possessed after a disrupted season last year and intermittent starts this time around.

Eli Babalj was also on target for Heart in the second half and he is another player who needed a boost to his self-esteem after a torrid experience with Red Start Belgrade and a significant period in which he did not play a competitive game. Heart gave Jamie Coyne a start against his old club and he managed to see out the game at left back. He will be another asset once he gets back to full fitness.

Steve Pantelidis tries to block a run by Jonathan Germano

Perth has fallen away after an excellent start to the season and coach Ian Ferguson is clear that the lack of depth in the squad following the departure of key players Bas van den Brink and Bill Mehmet and a spate of injuries is responsible. But the Glory were in the game throughout and had a couple of decisions go against them and missed converting good chances very narrowly when the game was in the balance.

Heart struggled early but in the 23 minute skipper Matt Thompson was brought down about 25 metres out by Joshua Risdon. Nick Kalmar and David Williams stood over the ball, but it was Kalmar who struck it over the wall and off the underside of the bar and over the line as Danny Vukovic threw himself across in a vain attempt to prevent the goal. The midfielder also had a hand in the second goal.

Kalmar’s free kick in 57^th minute was deflected for a corner kick. When Williams laced it over, David Vrankovic headed it back into the danger area where Jonatan Germano got to the loose ball just outside the right hand post and hooked it across the goal area. Eli Babalj pounced to score from close range.

Glory thought they might have had at least a free kick before Heart opened their account, when Patrick Gerhardt tangled with Chris Harold on the edge of the penalty box. The Perth winger went flying, but the delayed and spectacular crash to earth probably led referee Alan Milliner to conclude that the contact had not been material. In the second half a driven cross seemed to strike the Swiss defender on the torso or perhaps an arm, but while the referee might have been unsighted the assistant who was facing the incident saw no need to raise his flag.

Perth had numerous chances to score in an open and exciting game, but the final pass was often under pressure, or escaped the intended recipient. Shane Smeltz, usually so clinical in his finishing had one of the best openings but blasted it at keeper Andrew Redmayne rather than placing it. Rao Nagai came on as substitute for Travis Dodd and had a double chance to score soon afterwards but his first effort was blocked by Vrankovic and Jeremy Walker whisked the second try away to safety.

For Heart, when Danny Vukovic could not hold a fierce drive by David Williams, Eli Babalj failed to direct the rebound past the keeper, who gathered gratefully. Late on Dylan McAllister, another substitute, might have done better than shoot directly to the keeper after Kalmar had brought the house down with a slaloming run through midfield to set him up.

Match details

Saturday, 9 February 2013

Melbourne Heart v Perth Glory

Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne

Kick-off: 5:30pm AEDT

Referee: Alan Milliner

Assistant RefereeS: Hakan Anaz and George Lakrinidis

Fourth Official: Alex Azcurra

Attendance: 6,096

Melbourne Heart:

20.Andrew Redmayne, 6. Patrick Gerhardt, 8.Matthew Thompson (17.Jason Hoffman 90+3’), 11.Richard Garcia (9.Dylan Macallister 83’), 13.Jonathan Germano, 15.David Williams, 18. David Vrankovic, 21. Jamie Coyne, 22.Nick Kalmar, 25.Jeremy Walker, 36.Eli Babalj (14.Golgol Mebrahtu 76’).

Unused substitutes: 1.Clint Bolton.

Yellow cards: Nil

Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory:

1. Danny Vukovic, 2 Jack Clisby, 5 Steve Pantelidis, 8. Dean Heffernan (18. Matias Cordoba 76’), 9. Shane Smeltz, 10. Liam Miller, 13. Travis Dodd (12. Ryo Nagai 54’), 14. Steve McGarry (6. Nick Ward 81’), 17. Chris Harold, 19. Joshua Risdon, 23. Michael Thwaite.

Unused substitutes: 30. Lewis Italiano.

Yellow cards: Dean Heffernan 57’, Steve McGarry 79’.

Red cards: Nil.