1995/1996 Season Round 02 Results written by Thomas Esamie
Played (3/10/1995), Falcons Park Referee : Gerry Connolly, Crowd : 4,183
Morwell Falcons Jim Kourtis, Doug Marcina, Claudio Canosa, Scott Miller, Ernie Tapai, Sonny Sevin, John Waddell, Brian Bothwell (Zoran Todorovski 89), Marcus Stergiopoulos, Michael Reda (Carlo Villani 65), Warren Spink	0	-	1	South Melbourne Dean Anastasiadis, Steve Mangos, Alex Kuzmanovic, Vaughan Coveny, Mike Petersen, Paul Trimboli, Ivan Kelic, Ajim Sherifovski, Craig Lewis (Tansel Baser 78), Con Anthopoulos, Sasa Nikolic Goal : Kelic 7
Despite the scoreline it was quite an exciting game and, truth be told, one which the Falcons deserved more from. Ironically the excitement and poor finishing had the same cause, namely wet and extremely slippery conditions. The early goal was enough for Souths when Sherifovski lobbed a centering pass to see Kelic control the ball with his chest and then strike it past Kourtis for the goal. There was a slight suspicion of offside but when it's close enough for doubt then it really becomes academic.
Played (14/10/1995), Bruce Stadium Referee : Con Diomis , Crowd : 5,490
Canberra Cosmos Danny Milosevic, Paul Dee, Joe Gagetti, Richard Watson, Paul Dunn, Paul Wade, Michael Garcia, Paul McVittie, Lachlan Armstrong (sent off 58), Marko Perinovic, Jimmy Baxter	0	-	0	Sydney United John Perosh, Robert Trajkovski, Velimir Kupresak, Mark Babic, Robert Enes, Ante Moric (Robert Markovac 13), Ante Milicic, Domenic Usalj, Mark Rudan (Sean Babic 70), David Zdrilic, Paul Bilokapic
The Cosmos made their home debut at Bruce Stadium (also the home of the Canberra Raiders Rugby League club) to strong and vocal home support which captain Paul Wade pointed to as a spurring factor when the side was struggling to contain an 11-man United on Channel 7's Sportsworld. Starring for the Cosmos was teenage goalie Danny Milosevic who made many great saves, though Lachlan Armstrongs send off for a second yellow card was a great blow to Canberra's attacking ability.
Match report by Nick Guoth
Played (14/10/1995), Marconi Stadium Referee : Con Diomis, Crowd : 5,490
Marconi-Fairfield Bob Catlin, Matthew Bingley, Paul Souris, Robbie Stanton, Jean-Paul DeMarigny, Brad Maloney, Paul Beltrame, Eric Hristodoulou (Darren Iocca 83), Brendan Renaud (Aaron Holst 41), Andy Harper, Francis Awaritefe. Goals : Maloney 62, Awaritefe 86	2	-	0	Newcastle Breakers Craig Carter, Adam Sanderson, Steve Hickman, Andy Roberts, Ralph Maier, Gary Wilson, David Lowe, Craig Sharpley, Damian Brown (Troy Halpin 80), Jason Bennett, Clayton Zane (Scott Thomas 87)
Brad Maloney got Marconi's opening "third time lucky" goal after the initial two shots from Marconi were stopped by Carter and Roberts. Newcastle, as was expected, put up a plucky performance and they'll be increasingly difficult to beat at home. Away is another thing. Marconi ensured top spot in the ladder when a Maloney pass found Awaritefe on the left and he homed in on goal and beat Craig Carter with a shot high to the far post.
Played (15/10/1995), Brandon Park Referee : Shaun Micaleff, Crowd : 3,005
Wollongong City Brett Hughes, Billy Gjakovski, George Jolevski, Martin Bourke, Richard Lloyd (Stuart McLaren 75), Mathew Horsley, Claudio Cellini (Angelo Petratos 67), Lupjco Naumovski, Pedro Ricoy, Tony Perinich, Robert Middleby	0	-	2	Adelaide City Jason Petkovic, Sasha Nedeljkovic, Bradley Armour, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Damian Mori, John Gibson, Jamie Perin (sent off 37), Bradley Hassell (Kosta Salapasidis 94), Goran Lozanovski (Mark Yates 88), Craig Foster (Angelo Costanzo 86) Goals : Mori 55, Foster 58
Wollongong are looking really pathetic at the back. The first goal came as Mori got the ball in a tackle with the keeper and as two defenders looked on Mori got up again and poked the ball home from a tight angle. A Brad Hassell cross was converted by Craig Foster to make it 2-0. To be fair a lot of these problems manifested themselves after George Jolevski was sent off for fouling Damien Mori. Which, to be really cynical, balanced nicely with the send off of Jamie Perin (the coaches son - so call him Jordi) for a foul on Naumovski.
Played (15/10/1995), Marconi Stadium Referee : Brett Hugo, Crowd : 6,300
UTS Olympic Mike Gibson, George Sorras, David Barrett, Nick Orlic, Adam Ciantar, Norman Tome, Peter Tsekenis, Joe Bacak, Milan Blagojevic (Branko Milosevic 86), Kris Trajanovski, Kimon Taliadoros (Elias Augerinos 79) Goal : Trajanovski 42	1	-	0	Melbourne Knights Frank Juric, Ante Kovacevic, David Cervinski, Zoran Markovski (Vinko Buljubasic 46), Fausto DeAmicis, Mark Silic, Lubomir Lapsansky, Andrew Marth, Danny Tiatto, Oliver Pondeljak (Ice Kutlesovski 64), Joe Spiteri
It speaks volumes that after this result the Knights redoubled their efforts in finding a striker (read John Markovski) after scoring only one goal after two games (with that goal thanks to a player not on the Knights player roster). Olympic were a revelation as they attacked almost relentlessly for the first half and got the goal they richly deserved. However in the second half it was Mike Gibson who got a workout in the Olympic goal with Spiteri, Silic and Tiatto all looking dangerous without actually being dangerous.
Played (15/10/1995), Hindmarsh Stadium Referee : W Dade, Crowd : 3,400
West Adelaide Peter Blazincic, Richie Alagich, Con Kokkinoplitis, Robbie Slager, Robert Hooker, Frank Tibaldi, Jose Iriarte, Pablo Cardozo, Ross Aloisi, Mark Brazzale, Jim Tsekinis (Nathan Day 83) Goal : Hooker 48pk	1	-	0	Brisbane Strikers Clint Bolton, Chris Zoricich, Alan Hunter, Steve Jackson (Craig Williams 69), Frank Farina, Jason Polak (Chris Slater 80), Rod Brown, Danny Wright, Troy Cranney, Sean Cranney, Mark Battistin
Brisbane, despite the current absence of league points, are playing far better now than I have seen in tha past and both sides made thias an entertaining match with chances falling to both sides. Early in the second half Clint Bolton was carded for taking Tsekinis's legs out from under him as the latter tried to round the former in a Sharks forward surge. Captain Robbie Hooker blasted the ball straight at Bolton who, obligingly, dove out of the way and caught only a glance of the ball. Brisbane didn't give up and to their credit West Adelaide didn't hold back either, still the game was decided on a penalty.