1996/1997 Season Round 16 Results written by Thomas Esamie
Played (7/2/1997) Breakers Stadium Referee : M Breeze, Crowd : 6102
Newcastle Breakers Liam Baker, Shane Pryce, Glen Sprod, Scott Thomas (Craig Sharpley 75), Clayton Zane, Troy Halpin, Todd McManus, Andy Roberts (Peter Ritchie 88), Mark Wilson, Matt Austin, Liam McGuire Goals : Pryce 2pk, Sprod 51, Hews 63og	3	-	1	Brisbane Strikers Graham Ross, Glen Gwynne (Jeromy Harris 71), Gary Phillips (Chris Slater 80), Frank Farina, Kasey Wehrman, Rodney Brown, Andrew Brayshaw (Reece Tollenaere 54), Troy Cranney, Danny Wright, Mark Battistin, Chay Hews Goal : Brown 47
A McGuire cross was blocked by Brayshaws arms early in the match to give Pryce a chance to take the Breakers to an early lead. Into the lead the Breakers went and Zane hit the far upright in trying to extend that lead but Brisbane got back on level terms when Rod Brown slotted home from just inside the box. There were offside appeals (aren't there always) but a Breakers player was lying on the penalty spot after a clash in defending the preceding corner and I wonder if he was the reason there was no offside call. Newcastle came back with a headed goal to Glen Sprod from a Halpin cross and when Sprods shot towards the far post looked to be barely missing the mark Hews intervened much to the detriment of Brisbane's hopes for the game.
Match report by Chris Dunkerley
Played (8/2/1997) Bruce Stadium Referee : B Hugo, Crowd : 3000
Canberra Cosmos Anthony Giannasca, Paul Dee, Paul Wade, Michael Garcia (David Milin 46), Marko Perinovic (Tony Lemezina 64), James Baxter, Vincent Grella (Peter Buljan 79), John Koch, Peter Mazis, George Sorras, Rodrigo Moreno	0	-	2	UTS Olympic Tony Franken, David Barrett, Adam Ciantar, Elias Augerinos (Ivan Zelic 73), David Mitchell (Norman Tome 45), Peter Tsekenis, Walter Ardone, Brett Emerton, Kris Trajanovski, Abbas Saad, Scott Baillie Goals : Emerton 73, Ardone 88
Caretaker coach David Mitchell began with a win, though not before he had substituted himself out against the always tough but usually outclassed Canberra side. Brett Emerton, another young star with a bright future, attacked down the left wing and cut inside almost walking the ball into the net with a mazy run past several defenders before shooting home at the edge of the 6 yard box. Canberra looking to salvage the point late in the game were caught out when a cross found Ardone unmarked at the far post and he had time to measure his volley to the near post which Giannasca just managed to lay a finger on.
Played (8/2/1997) Falcons Park Referee : A Gorton, Crowd : 3251
Gippsland Falcons Jim Kourtis, Doug Marcina, Marcus Stergiopoulos, Nick Palamaras (Tony Sekulic 46), Mark Foy (Levent Osman 74), Eddie Krncevic, Esala Masi, Clayton Bell, Manny Gotis, Willie Hastie (Manoa Masi 64), Billy Mitroulas Goal : E Masi 17	1	-	2	Melbourne Knights Joe Didulica, David Cervinski, Zoran Markovski, Andrew Marth, Nick Tasevski, Joe Simunic, Lubomir Lapsansky, Ice Kutesovski (Branko Bacak 76), Ante Kovacevic, Ivan Duzel (Tom Pondeljak 55), Adrian Cervinski (Joe Caleta 86) Goals : Kutlesovski 19, 22
An ambitious ball into the box by Mitroulas was headed home by Masi, the latter getting the goalkeepers knee in the head for his trouble as he followed through. The lead was only briefly held until the ball was judged to have crossed the line after a Kutlesovski overhead kick appeared to have been headed (shouldered?) off the line into the goalkeepers hands. Insult to injury then when 'the Iceman' scored only minutes later with a suspicion of offside. Gippsland looked the goods to equalise late in the game but ran out of time.
Played (9/2/1997) Perth Oval Referee : E Lennie, Crowd : 15737
Perth Glory Vincent Matassa, Craig Naven, Gavin Wilkinson, Scott Miller, Vinko Buljubasic, Paul McVittie, Paul Strudwick, Slobodan Despotovski, Vasili Kalogeracos, Dale Wingell, Vladimir Beretovac Goal : Kalogeracos 31	1	-	1	West Adelaide Michael Harkness, Hamilton Thorp (Andrew Borghetto 81), Robert Hooker, Alex Castro, Ross Aloisi, Branko Milosevic (Richie Alagich 71), Con Kokkinoplitis, Nathan Day (Pablo Cardozo 76), Frank Tibaldi, Jim Tsekinis, Paul Pezos Goal : Tsekinis 32
Perth were missing Gareth Naven, their captain and midfield lynchpin, in this game yet most of the scoring chances came to Perth. Still it took over half an hour before one went in thanks to Kalogeracos whose run took him past Hooker and the despairing dive by Harkness to squeeze the ball into the net from a tight angle. Almost immediately Matassa was at the edge of the box trying to be first to a high ball but a West Adelaide head got there first and Tsekinis was left with an open goal and Craig Naven for company to swing the ball just inside the near post. Still Perth went for the win but a combination of selfish play and errant shooting, as much as the Sharks defence, robbed Perth of more glory.
Played (9/2/1997) Hindmarsh Stadium Referee : E Brazzale, Crowd : 3557
Adelaide City Jason Petkovic, Bradley Armour, Mark Yates, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Angelo Costanzo, Bradley Hassell, Dino Mennillo, John Gibson, Michael Musitano (Kosta Salapasidis 50), Michael Brooks (Mark Brazzale 70)	0	-	0	Wollongong City Brett Hughes, Alvin Ceccoli, Gary van Egmond, Matthew Horsley, Sonny Sevin, Sasho Dimoski (Jason Connelly 70), Michael Reda (Stephen Laybutt 79), Neil Harlock, Richard Lloyd, Anthony Surjan, Manis Lamond (Nick Joseski 82)
Yawn, yawn. Let's play stay in the top6.
Played (9/2/1997) Victoria Park Referee : S Micallef, Crowd : 2345
Collingwood Warriors Frank Juric, Joe Vrkic, Paul Della Rocca (Terry Kearns 43), Alan Davidson, Alan Scott, Rick Cerracchio, Andrew Vlahos, Con Boutsianis, Kimon Taliadoros (Peter Di Iorio 69), Ernie Tapai, Goran Lozanovski Goal : Boutsianis 33	1	-	2	Marconi Fairfield Bob Catlin (Leslie Pogliacomi 71), Robert Stanton, Matthew Bingley, Luke Casserly, Andrew Harper, Craig Foster, Brad Maloney, Dominic Longo, Sean Babic, Francis Awaritefe, Vlado Zoric Goal : Awaritefe 41, 83
Marconi were under early pressure and a Tapai-Vlahos-Boutsianis passing sequence covered the length of the field ending with a shot into the far corner past several backtracking defenders and one startled goalkeeper. The equaliser was more humour than good management, after a scamble in the Collingwood box Craig Foster finally fashioned a shot on goal which was missing handsomely until Awaritefe provided the crucial deflection, though he didn't really know much about it at the time. Marconi briefly returned to their favourite pastime of 'hit the post' while Collingwood also failed to convert chances. Only late in the game a Boutsianis error allowed Zoric to feed the ball to Awaritefe who this time scored a far more purposeful goal.
Played (9/2/1997) Edensor Park Referee : G Connolly, Crowd : 4500
Sydney United Zeljko Kalac, Mark Babic, Velimir Kupresak, Robert Enes, Mark Rudan, Robert Trajkovski, Robert Markovac (Jason Culina 80), Kresimir Marusic, Ante Moric (Chad Gibson 84), Ante Milicic (Damir Cvetko 71), David Zdrilic Goals : Trajkovski 27, Zdrilic 34	2	-	0	South Melbourne Michael Petkovic, Alex Kuzmanovic, Con Blatsis, Fausto DeAmicis, Nick Orlic, Steve Iosifidis (Jason Polak 71), Steve Panopoulos (Bill Damianos 59), David Clarkson, Vaughan Coveny (Warren Spink 46), Ivan Kelic, Paul Trimboli
Marusic laid the ball off to just outside the area where Trajkovski was running through at speed and launched the ball into the top of the net with his left foot. Quite a goal to open the scoring in a reasonably balanced game until that stage. Once Sydney had the goal they went about adding another. It came rather clumsily after some penaltybox pinball until Zdrilic was in front of goal with the ball magically appearing at his feet. The sides exchanged pleasantries for the remainder of the match but none of the chances created by either side were beyond the saving of the other.