Went to the Sydney United v Brisbane major semi today in spite of the impending weather. Arriving at 1pm for the Youth League final, this is what I saw....
Sydney United won the Youth League Grand Final 1-0 thanks to a score from their burly Viduka-like forward just before half time. Sydney United dominated the first half and looked the deserving leaders. However, in the second half it was Marconi's turn to dominate which led me to the thesis that the wind had a lot more to do with the balance of play than I first thought. A good, if not great, game saw United emerge justifiable victors.
A long wait in between.....then the celebrity match pitting Team (Jimmy) Barnes against Team (John) Hewson. The game wasn't really that enthralling to justify its kickoff after (rather than before) the Youth League Final! But nonetheless, the first few minutes were interesting if for no other reason than to determine who exactly was out there playing....A random collection of individuals it seems. Team Hewson had one John Kosmina (playing sweeper in the first half) amongst others. Team Barnes had David "The Hobbler" Hill and Andrew Orsatti (Liz "Knee Deep in it"'s friend on the News desk on On The Ball - had some skill too) and NSW Sports Minister Gabrielle Harrison....etc....etc.... The GST mob ultimately won 2-1.
Notes from the main game which was "won" by Sydney United 2-1: (3 min) Bris start with flair almost as if only to prove a point. A Meredith free kick from 30m out was intentionally deflected by one of the Strikers but the ball fell to the wrong side of the post with Kalac beaten.
(13 min) superb Milicic dribbling through many of the Brisbane defence allows him to supply Zdrilic on the far post with a head on goal that he puts just wide. Despite the fact that Zdrilic should have at least required Bolton to affect a save, the crowd applauds in awe of Milicic' brilliance.
(24 min) Jason Culina scores after being in the right spot to smash the ball into the roof of the net from close distance. A blistering run by Trajkovski down the right (leaving all in his wake) affords him room to cross to Milicic at the far post (great cross), but Bolton parries the former's header, but only into the path of Culina......1-0.
(25 min) Milicic cops a tough yellow card for allegedly felling Meredith.
(28 min) Enes receives a yellow for up-ending Brisbane's #17 (?) in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
(30 min) Gwynne cops a yellow for back chat after someone else had conceded a free kick at the top of the box. Bris pay heavily as Marusic whips the direct into the corner of the net leaving Bolton dumbfounded. Very special. 2-0.
(33 min) Meredith Medi-Cab'ed off the pitch after jarring his left ankle in attempting to drive the ball through a Bilokapic sliding tackle - Ouch! (Chey Hews comes on to replace Meredith).
The first half was dominated by the home side to the extent that one would have thought that the final score would be of the order of 4-0. At times the crowd was very vocal - albeit with the "Cro-art-zia" chant. It looked ominous and Brisbane weren't often allowed near the Pumas' goal.
2ND HALF
Cvetko replaces Marusic who I noted was complaining of some injury to his thigh when coming off for half time. Equally, Brayshaw replaced Brisbane's #17 (sorry) at half time.
(4 min) Cvetko has a clear half volley on goal albeit with the ball arriving slightly behind him at the top of the box thanks to another Trajkovski raid down the right. Cvetko puts the ball only just wide.
(12 min) Garry Phillips subbed by Matt Bell. Still no sign of Farina!
(17 min) Knipe booked for a hand-of-God that didn't even produce any sort of value for Brisbane - cheap yellow card!
In the meantime, the game was becoming quite dour with neither side achieving much beyond the line of their opponent's penalty box. United were uncharacteristically plying their game plan via long balls! Curious.
(28 min) Culina subbed by Didulica(?) #27 - strange time for a fringe player to (re-)emerge.
(29 min) Knipe secures the all important away goal! A T(?) Cranney cros remarkably runs across the face of the goal, firstly past Kalac at the near post, then a united defender before arriving at the foot of the other Cranney(?) who from 1 yard with an open goal only managed the faintest touch on the ball which allowed for a scrambled clearance from one of the retreating defenders. The clearance, however, went only a few yards to where Knipe was waiting, from which point he smashed the ball into the net.
(33 min) Somewhat startled into a more positive approach, United commit resources forward, Trajkovski audaciously shoots from no less then 30m out on a wide angle, and before one could utter the words "Yeah, right!" the ball merely skims the top of the bar with Bolton beaten.
(40 min) Brown caps off a good Brisbane counter (albeit with United pressing forward) with a clever thought to chip Kalac, that lacked a little in the execution - that is, if the concept is not doomed to fail from the start. Think about it. Chip Kalac?
Brisbanites, you will be hosting the final in two weeks time! Good luck to you. Sydney United definitely deserved the result tonight, but only Brisbane can lay claim to having scored an away goal! An anomoly, but for once in life, not because of a bad rule! The away goals rule made both games interesting for the whole 90 minutes in each case! Good rule!