1996/1997 Season Round 07 Results written by Thomas Esamie
Played 22/11/1996) Breakers Stadium Referee : M Shield, Crowd : 1370
Newcastle Breakers Liam Baker, Glen Sprod, Peter Richie, Robert Ironside, Scott Thomas, Clayton Zane, Troy Halpin, Todd McManus, Craig Sharpley, Matt Austin, Harry James (Jason Bennett 78) Goal : Zane 1	1	-	1	Collingwood Warriors Frank Juric, John Waddell (Vlado Babic 88), George Jolevski, Enrico Cerrachio, Dean Fak, Andrew Vlahos, Mark Silic (Con Boutsianis 85), Kimon Taliadoros, Ernie Tapai, Brian MacNicol, Carlo Talladira Goal : MacNicol 25
Referee Mark Shield denied Newcastle two possible penalty kicks, one in each half, and the heavy rain in the second half made deciding goals hard to come by. Troy Halpin missed a golden chance to win the game for the Breakers late in the game and that's as close as anyone came to deciding the game.
Played (23/11/1996) Suncorp Stadium Referee : G Connolly, Crowd : 5418
Brisbane Strikers Clint Bolton, Matt Bell, Alan Hunter, Gary Phillips, Danny Wright, Troy Cranney (Vedran Becirbegovic 81), Sean Cranney, Mark Battistin, Frank Farina, Rod Brown, Andrew Brayshaw Goals : Battistin 45, T Cranney 63, Brown 70, Brayshaw 90	4	-	1	UTS Olympic George Bouhoutsos (sent off 56), David Barrett, Scott Baillie, Ivan Zelic (Walter Ardone 73), Peter Tsekenis, Norman Tome (to GK 56), Brett Emerton, Kris Trajanovski, Ralph Bove, Milan Blagojevic (Elias Augerinos 66), Abbas Saad (Nick Meredith 58) Goal : Saad 6
Abbas Saad helped UTS to an early lead and things were looking good for UTS. Brisbane kept at UTS and just prior to halftime a Gary Phillips corner was converted by Battistin. The turning point of course was the red card for the UTS keeper who rushed out of his box on a Brisbane breakaway and dove for the ball, handling it and earning an automatic red card for the professional foul. Without a GK on the bench UTS put Norman Tome in goal and while, for a forward, he makes a good keeper Brisbane won the game without too much trouble from there. The last minute goal meant top spot for Brisbane ahead of Sydney United on goal difference.
Played (24/11/1996) Lakeside Stadium Referee : G Connolly, Crowd : 9631
South Melbourne Michael Petkovic, Nick Orlic, Alex Kuzmanovic, Con Blatsis, Jason Polak, Vaughan Coveny, Paul Trimboli, Steve Iosifidis (Bill Damianos 81), David Clarkson (Steve Panopoulos 73), Ivan Kelic (Warren Spink 42), Fausto De Amicis Goal : Warren Spink 60	1	-	1	Melbourne Knights Vilson Knezevic, David Cervinski, Zoran Markovski, Joe Simunic, Andrew Marth, Lubomir Lapsansky (Ante Kovacevic 75), Ice Kutlesovski, Mijo Trupkovic (John Markovski 46), Tom Pondeljak, Ivan Duzel (Damian Vojtek 67), Ransford Banini Goal : Markovski 11
The local derby is always a tight game, although the sides are usually fighting for a top position rather than hoping to stay the hell away from last place. In the event the Knights have just cause to feel hard done by as Spink's equaliser was controlled from a cross with his upper arm before he rounded some players and shot home. It was all rather reminiscent of the Brazilian goal in the Copa America a year or so ago. Vaughan Coveny and Zoran Markovski had chances to win it for their respective sides but in the cold light of day this match wasn't exactly vintage stuff. The odd thing was that Knights keeper Vilson Knezevic broke his arm in the first half and kept playing the rest of the game, he's either very brave or very stupid.
Played (24/11/1996) Hindmarsh Stadium Referee : W Dade, Crowd : 8914
Adelaide City Jason Petkovic, Bradley Armour, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Angelo Costanzo, Bradley Hassell, Dino Mennillo, John Gibson, Michael Musitano (Michael Brooks 65), Mark Brazzale, Kosta Salapasidis Goal : Mennillo 47	1	-	0	West Adelaide Nathan Wildy, Hamilton Thorp, Jamie Perin (Corey Artone 73), Robert Slager, Robert Hooker, Richie Alagich (Alex Castro 60), Pablo Cardozo, Branko Milosevic, Con Kokkinoplitis, Andrew Borghetto (Nathan Day 60), Jim Tsekinis
This was the 'other' major local derby played this round but this time there was a result and despite both sides less than ideal attacking lineups there was plenty of action but just the one goal. Young newcomer Nathan Wildy played well but failed to keep out Mennillo's 20m free kick, though you could hardly blame him, the strike was probably just a brief blur to him.
Played (23/11/1996) Sydney United Sports Centre Referee : C Diomis, Crowd : 3450
Sydney United Zeljko Kalac, Mark Babic, Velimir Kupresak, Mark Rudan, Robert Trajkovski, Robert Enes (Damir Cvetko 60), Paul Bilokapic, Ante Moric, David Zdrilic, Kresimir Marusic, Ante Milicic (Chad Gibson 81) Goals : Kupresak 36, Zdrilic 38, Marusic 43, Milicic 61	4	-	2	Perth Glory Tom Maras, Craig Naven, Doug Ithier, Vinko Buljubasic, Scott Miller, Dale Wingell, Paul McVittie (Vladimir Beretovac 79), Gareth Naven, Paul Strudwick, Slobodan Despotovski, Vasili Kalogeracos Goals : Strudwick 11, Kalogeracos 73
Glory set United back on their heels with an early goal from a free kick. The Perth players began to protest that one of the United players had broken from the wall early for a chargedown and just about everyone stopped to see what the referee would do. He did nothing and Strudwick scored. Then Kupresak and Zdrilic scored from headers handed to them by Marusic corners and Marusic then helped himself to a goal from a fast break. Ante Milicic got one in off the far post before Kalogeracos chipped the ball over Kalac, the latter having charged out to 30m off his goal line, and then pushing the ball into an empty goal to add some well deserved balance to the scoreline. The incessant rain made no great difference to the standard of play, and if it did then it would have been a phenomenal game in normal weather.
Played (24/11/1996) Brandon Park Referee : M Breeze, Crowd : 5518
Wollongong City Brett Hughes, Alvin Ceccoli, Gary van Egmond, Matthew Horsley, Sonny Sevin (Martin Bourke 56), Lujpco Naumovski, Michael Reda, Tony Perinich (Nick Joseski 76), Neil Harlock, Anthony Surjan (Richard Lloyd 35), Jason Connelly Goals : Sevin 1, Connelly 32, Lloyd 81	3	-	2	Marconi-Fairfield Bob Catlin, JeanPaul DeMarigny, Luke Casserly (Matthew Bingley 45), Andrew Harper, Craig Foster, Bradley Maloney (Eric Hristodoulou 75), Dominic Longo, Francis Awaritefe, Paul Souris, Brendan Renaud, Vlado Zoric Goals : Harper 31, Awaritefe 52
Marconi, despite their huge pool of talent, seem to have problems getting a team to work together for the win. Three times Wollongong took the lead with fine goals and twice the Stallions clawed their way back into the game, but it almost seemed to take all their energy as Wollongong finished stronger and collected a win. The new Wollongong was on display when pinned back in their own corner the defence didn't just boot the ball but played it out intelligently with quick, neat passes and resulted in a shot on goal with the Marconi players reduced to spectators for the duration.
Played (23/11/1996) Falcons Park Referee : J Markovski, Crowd : 2667
Gippsland Falcons Jim Kourtis, Doug Marcina, Marcus Stergioupoulos, Nick Palamaras, Hugo Giminez, Mark Foy (Joe Tricarico 66), Eddie Krncevic (Billy Wright 57), Alex Duric (Esala Masi 46), Clayton Bell, William Hastie, Steve Mangos	0	-	0	Canberra Cosmos Danny Milosevic, Paul Dee, David Milin, Richard Watson, Paul Wade, Michael Garcia, Lindsay Wilson, Peter Buljan, Steve Lazzari (James Baxter 60), John Koch (Lachlan Armstrong 42), George Sorras
All Hail Milosevic! Well the Canberra lads have him to thank for another point and Gippsland coach Arok complained after the game that his strikers were too selfish. While this may be true it takes nothing away from Danny Milosevic's performance, he impressed when he played last season before his injury and seems now to have recaptured some of that form.