1996/1997 Season Round 17 Results written by Thomas Esamie
Played (14/2/1997) Brandon Park Referee : B Hugo, Crowd : 3866
Wollongong City Brett Hughes, Alvin Ceccoli, Gary van Egmond, Stephen Laybutt (Sasho Dimoski 46), Matthew Horsley, Sonny Sevin (Jason Connelly 61), Michael Reda, Neil Harlock, Richard Lloyd, Anthony Surjan, Manis Lamond (Nick Joseski 50)	0	-	4	Brisbane Strikers Clint Bolton, Glen Gwynne Matt Bell, Frank Farina (Chris Slater 66), Rodney Brown, Danny Wright, Troy Cranney, Mark Battistin, Chay Hews, Kasey Wehrman (Ben Harris 68), Damian Waugh (Andrew Brayshaw 74) Goals : Cranney 26, 61, Farina 45, Brown 54
A hopeful Wehrman ball high through the middle was met by the outstretched leg of Troy Cranney for the first goal, just before the halftime break Farina got in front of two defenders to glance home a header from a Hews cross. Soon after the break the Striker attack continued unabated and another long ball forward gave Rod Brown the chance to beat defender Lloyd and keeper Hughes for goal #3. The rout ended with another goal from Cranney from a Wehrman cross, the latter having done the bulk of the leadup work. The closest Wollongong came to a goal was a Lloyd header onto the Brisbane bar.
Played (15/2/1997) Marconi Stadium Referee : M Shield, Crowd : 3936
Marconi-Fairfield Leslie Pogliacomi, Robert Stanton, Dominic Longo, Matthew Bingley, Craig Foster, Bradley Maloney, Vlado Zoric, Luke Casserly, Francis Awaritefe (Mark Robertson 46), Andrew Harper, Sean Babic Goal : Zoric 35	1	-	0	Gippsland Falcons Jim Kourtis, Doug Marcina, Marcus Stergiopoulos (Levent Osman 76), Claudio Canosa, Nick Palamaras, Tony Sekulic, Mark Foy (Joe Tricarico 62), Eddie Krncevic, Manny Gotis, Willie Hastie (John Hutchinson 67), Billy Mitroulas
A Vlado Zoric drive into the roof of the net was all the goal action in the match, Gippsland unable to find a way past young Pogliacomi and Francis Awaritefe a bit too keen on on getting his boot to the ball earned himself a yellow card for sticking his foot into Jim Kourtis' face.
Played (15/2/1997) Perth Oval Referee : W Dade, Crowd : 11546
Perth Glory Vincent Matassa, Craig Naven, Gavin Wilkinson, Gareth Naven, Scott Miller, Paul McVittie, Paul Strudwick, Alan MacKenzie (Marc Wingell 60), Doug Ithier (Peter Vukmirovic 60), Vasili Kalogeracos, Dale Wingell	0	-	2	Newcastle Breakers Liam Baker, Shane Pryce, Glen Sprod, Peter Ritchie, Scott Thomas, Clayton Zane, Troy Halpin, Todd McManus, Mark Wilson, Matt Austin, Liam McGuire (Harry James 78) Goals : McGuire 12, Wilson 51
Perth were expected to win, the price of sustained success, and failed to live up to expectations. A ball over the top of the defence early bounced just in front of Matassa and combined with the akward bounce the presence of McGuire (most of the defenders were busy appealing for offside) was enough to allow the ball to get past the keeer and McGuire to slot the ball in from a tight angle. Perth, as is their trademark, continued to attack and create chances but Mark Wilsons head from a corner in a crowded near post area put a spanner in the works.
Played (16/2/1997) Lakeside Stadium Referee : G Connolly, Crowd : 6802
South Melbourne Michael Petkovic, Nick Orlic Alex Kuzmanovic (sent off 56), Con Blatsis, Steve Panopoulos, Paul Trimboli (Warren Spink 78), Steve Iosifidis, David Clarkson, Michael Curcija (Bill Damianos 61), Ivan Kelic (Vaughan Coveny 68), Fausto DeAmicis	0	-	2	Adelaide City Jason Petkovic, Bradley Armour, Mark Yates, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Angelo Costanzo, Bradley Hassell, Dino Mennillo, John Gibson, Michael Brooks (Travis Dodd 86), Sergei Vaskin (sent off 88) Goals : Tobin 57pk, Brooks 67
The game was evenly balanced in the first half but the second was more to Adelaide's liking when a Costanzo cross met with the arm of Nick Orlic which resulted in a penalty taken by Alex Tobin. Well before it could be taken a scuffle between Kuzmanovic and Mennillo broke out, the former sticking his elbow in the face of the latter, and referee Connolly showed Kumanovic the way to the tunnel, misunderstanding this he headed to the Linesman instead. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The crowd was worse. About 10 minutes later a City corner was barely defended and a drive from Armour near the edge of the area rebounded to Brooks to tap in. Earlier Vaskin had been booked for loitering around a South Melbourne free kick and got himself another yellow card after he tried to disposess a Souths player and got a little carried away in flailing his arms. After the game the linesman instrumental in the penalty and send off was pelted with bottles and worse still the Adelaide bus was pelted with stones, breaking the windows and leaving Angelo Costanzo in danger of losing sight in one eye thanks to the flying glass.
Played (16/2/1997) Somers St Stadium Referee : E Lennie, Crowd : 5953
Melbourne Knights Joe Didulica, David Cervinski (Dragi Nastevski 34), Zoran Markovski, Andrew Marth, Marjan Tasevski (Damian Vojtek 82), Joe Simunic, Lubomir Lapsansky, Ice Kutlesovski (Joe Caleta 71), Tom Pondeljak, Ante Kovacevic, Adrian Cervinski Goal : A Cervinski 90	1	-	1	Sydney United Zeljko Kalac, Mark Babic, Velimir Kupresak, Robert Enes, Mark Rudan, Robert Trajkovski, Kresimir Marusic (Jason Culina 78), Ante Moric, Ante Milicic (Robert Markovac 82), David Zdrilic (Damir Cvetko 74), Paul Bilokapic, Goal : Enes 10
Enes and Zdrilic combined for Enes to curl a ball into the top corner of the net to give Sydney United the lead. Opportunities fell to both sides in the match, some gilt edged ones conspiring to stay out of goal for both sides until Lapsansky found Cervinski lurking in the area and the latter then, somewhat inelegantly, found the equaliser for his team.
Played (16/2/1997) Hindmarsh Stadium Referee : B Tanella, Crowd : 3800
West Adelaide Michael Harkness, Robert Slager, Robert Hooker, Alex Castro, Ross Aloisi, Jim Tsekinis, Andrew Borghetto (Richie Alagich 83), Branko Milosevic, Con Kokkinoplitis (Corey Artone 74), Pablo Cardozo, Frank Tibaldi (Paul Pezos 85) Goals : Aloisi 52, 79, Tsekinis 90, Alagich 93	4	-	1	Canberra Cosmos Anthony Giannasca, Paul Dee, Paul Wade (Lachlan Armstrong 59), Michael Garcia (Vincent Grella 59), Norman Kelly, Tony Lemezina, John Koch, Peter Mazis, George Sorras, Ante Juric (sent off 72), Rodrigo Moreno Goal : Lemezina 85
A Ross Aloisi goalazo from outside the area was enough to break the Cosmos dogged resistance and West Adelaide went 2 up when former Cosmos player Castro crossed to Aloisi at the far post. The game seemed safe but Lemezina headed in a cross at the other end to keep it interesting until Tsekinis somehow got a chip into goal from a tight angle and sandwiched between goalkeeper and defender, followed by an even better goalazo by Alagich also from outside the area and wider out. Cosmos finished with 10 men after Ante Juric was booked for shirt tugging late in the game having received his first Yellow Card in the 17th minute.
scheduled for (16/2/1997) Belmore Oval Referee : N/A, Crowd : N/A
UTS Olympic	3	-	0	Collingwood Warriors
The game was awarded to Olympic on 20/2 by Soccer Australia when the Warriors AFL ties were severed essentially bankrupting the club and forcing immediate withdrawal from the league. The AFL club was then reminded about some very legal commitments it had to meet or face a multimillion dollar lawsuit. Eventually something was worked out and the club limps on until the end of season. While this debacle took place this match failed to be played, Olympic are also seeking compensation for loss of gate takings. Hmmm, makes you wonder about those home figures in the past.