After a really hot and humid day it settled down into a comfortably warm and clear evening in Brisbane yesterday. The Courier Mail had predicted a "goal feast", but I would have settled for a scraped one niller with a P4 W1 L3 record to date.
. As a mark of respect to the tragedy in Bali the BSSA were offering black arm bands and, in something of a contrast face painting was also available just inside the gate. I figured it would not be disrespectful to accept both offers - and did.
About an hour before kick off in handing out the Free Kick I was able to guess that this was a to be another small and insufficient crowd. Usually there is a bit of a rush shortly before the start - not this time. All the more worrying as the excuse had been made of competing live sport in town previously, but not last night.
The one minute Bali silence was immaculately observed and did actually last a full minute which, in my experience is a rare thing, but perhaps that was because it was not timed by the ref who had he done so, on the evidence that was soon to follow, I suspect may have got that wrong too. The national anthem was sung quite fervently and, for once did seem appropriate at a club football match. Wreathes were taken from the centre circle and one placed at each end behind the goal to serve as a quiet reminder of the sadness generated by the atrocity in Bali.
Initially the STRIKERS seemed to have cast off the poor performances of the last two games and utterly dominated what looked to be a very average Adcity team and nobody was surprised when Fernando was able to nod the ball over the advancing keeper in the 18th minute to open the scoring. Six minutes later it was 2 nil and the home side was dominant in possession and in attack. Several other good chances were missed or saved and both wing backs, particularly Stefanuto were doing a lot of damage wide. Fernando was playing behind the lanky Roche who looks a good prospect, but does lack a yard or two of pace. On one occasion the ball "stuck" under his feet 5 meters out and the extra touch needed to set it up allowed the ball to be scrambled away. At this stage it was lucky for Jason Kearton that it was a warm evening or he would have been frozen from inactivity. I remember remarking that two nil was the Johnny Warrren danger score as we approached half time by when we should have buried the Force and had the points in the bag. The singing was again fragmented and unimaginative and I fear the spark has dimmed for the once loud banana army. I think we all will have our private opinions as to what has happened, but it is a shame. Even at two up, things were relatively quiet.
I don't really know what happened to change the game in the second half. I do know that we had a couple of decisions go against us that upset most of the crowd and I do know that our wing backs dropped the "wing" bit out of their job description - perhaps because we lost the mid field and so they were obliged to stay back more. Perhaps we unconsciously had decided to defend the lead. Regardless, we came well and truly unstuck. A tubby lad called Gelato or similar for Adelaide spent most of the game, and especially the second half, impeding and physically hanging on to Fernado. It was plain for all to see, but not to the ref nor his orange and black striped mate on the line. Fernando frequently appealed but was turned down and on one occasion was literally thrown to the ground and dispossessed. The STRIKERS naively seemed to stop and wait for the obvious free kick. It was not given and Adelaide, not waiting, were up the park and scored in a trice. Galling. A little later Rech looked to be quite deliberately holding back behind the defensive line before moving to a through ball only to be flagged up. He was cross and told the assistant ref so only to be yellow carded.
Adelaide Force now were controlling the game and the STRIKERS had reverted to being unable to maintain possession, misplacing passes and dropping in the all too familiar and, as always, ineffectual long 30 degree cross. A very close off side decision went to the Force ( I don't think we got too many of these) and the resulting mayhem caused by the square defence being breached resulted in another goal - I thought an OG for the Red Baron, others not. There was a long time to go and only one side looked to be up for it and it wasn't us though we did press forward at one stage and were caught on the counter attack and Vidmar A did what he could not in Melbourne four and a half years ago and scored. Right at the end of the three minute added time Fernando had a shooting chance and a moment before he hit the ball the ref blew. It did not go in, but I wonder what the reaction would have been had it.
Unhappy feelings on departure and even a cheery duet with Benny to the strains of The Tennessee Waltz didn't do much to lift the gloom. Played five, won one, lost four does not sit well.