Former Carlton defender Con Anthopoulos took the field for Canberra for the first time in tonight's game. Canberra had much the better of the first half, with about half a dozen scoring opportunities. The best came in the 23rd minute when an attack down the right wing surprised a disorganised Adelaide defence, which nevertheless scrambled enough to prevent the goal. Canberra also had good scoring opportunities in the 42nd and 45th minutes. The enthusiasm of Milton Cortes and the footwork of Jon Angelucci continually had Adelaide under pressure. For all this, it was 0-0 at half time.
In the second half, Canberra began a little less confidently. A mistake in the 59th minute saw Adelaide score from a breakaway, against the run of play for the match (the scorer was announced at the ground as Aurelio Vidmar, but I notice that Chris Dunkerley's post attributed it to Claudio Pelosi). Nevertheless Canberra equalised in the 75th minute from a long range header by Mark Hagger, who had come on as a replacement. Canberra had the best of the last 15 minutes, though both sides had scoring opportunities.
Overall it was an entertaining game. The home side was unlucky not to win, but it squandered its opportunities in the first half.
It was another very disappointing Canberra crowd, not announced but not much more than 1000 by my estimate. The few who were there somehow managed to make some noise and to create an atmosphere which verged on buoyant at times.