1997/1998 Season Round 05 Results written by Thomas Esamie
Played (31/10/1997) Topper Stadium Referee : G Leverton, Crowd : 4183
Newcastle Breakers Liam Baker, Glenn Sprod, Matthew Austin (Mark Wilson 80), Shane Pryce, Todd McManus, Robert Ironside, Peter Ritchie, Clayton Zane, Troy Halpin, Jason Bennett (Ben Lane 80), Michael Williams (Matthew Lowe 9) Goals : Pryce 19pk, Lane 87	2	-	3	Perth Glory Tom Maras, Vinko Buljubasic, Gareth Naven, Scott Miller, Paul McVittie, Paul Strudwick (Scott Halpin 80), Slobodan Despotovski, Ernest Tapai, Peter Vukmirovic (Gavin Wilkinson 67), Samson Siasia, Danny Hay Goals : Despotovski 12, Strudwick 50, Miller 64
A foul on Siasia, which was the only way his defence shredding run could be ended, left the Glory with a free kick just outside the area in front of goal. Despotovski took the shot and scored past a rather fragmented wall and an ill positioned keeper. Danny Hay pulled Jason Bennett back off the ball in the penalty box to concede the penalty and Pryce had no trouble levelling the scores. In the second half a late run from Paul Strudwick wasn't picked up by the Breaker defence and he had no trouble poking the speculative Tapai cross into the net. Tapai also supplied the pass to put Miller clear of the defence who duly pulled the ball inside the far post to put Glory 3-1 up. Youngster Ben Lane got Newcastle's consolation goal but it was certainly the most eyecatching score of the night. A left foot 20 yard effort into the top left corner of goal left the flying Maras grapsing an armful of air.
Match report by David Melo
Match report by Chris Dunkerley
Played (1/11/1997) Marconi Stadium Referee : B Hugo, Crowd : 5235
Marconi-Fairfield Mike Gibson, Luke Casserly, Christian Care, Darren McDonald (Mauro van Cuylenberg 72), Giuseppe Marino, Zeljko Babic, Francis Awaritefe, Brendan Renaud (Mark Babic 46), Brad Maloney, Paul Souris, Vlado Zoric Goals : Maloney 54, Care 76	2	-	2	South Melbourne Michael Petkovic, Fausto deAmicis, Nick Orlic (Tansel Baser 29), Con Blatsis, David Clarkson, Steve Panopoulos, Paul Trimboli, Michael Curcija (Vaughan Coveny 61), Bill Damianos, Con Boutsianis (Robert Liparoti 82), John Anastasiadis Goals : Boutsianis 29, J Anastasiadis 84
Giuseppe Marino was Paul Trimboli's shadow for the latters 300th NSL appearance and it was a foul by the former on the latter which gave Con Boutsianis a crack at a free kick which swerved inside the post and gave Souths the away lead. An undetected handball in a goalmouth scramble saved any further misfortune on the scoreline for Marconi and indeed two second half goals had Marconi in front. First a cross from McDonald was slightly overhit but the clearance was very poor allowing Maloney time and space at the edge of the area which he put to good use by drilling the ball through the crowd and into goal. Despite their best efforts to botch up a goal Marconi still managed to score their second with Christian Care belting the ball home at the near post. Paul Trimboli made his close marking companion pay for his diligence when he dummied the ball and gave John Anastasiadis a run at goal late in the game and then slipped the ball under the keeper.
Played (1/11/1997) Suncorp Stadium Referee : M Shield, Crowd : 5070
Brisbane Strikers Clint Bolton, Glenn Gwynne, Matt Bell (Mark Battistin 81), Craig Williams (Brad Ditton 75), Frank Farina (sent off 62), Sean Cranney (Andrew Brayshaw 75), Rod Brown, Troy Cranney, Chay Hews, Stephen Laybutt, Andrew Harper	0	-	1	Carlton Dean Anastasiadis, Robert Trajkovski, Marcus Stergiopoulos, Sean Douglas, Con Anthopoulos, Kresimir Marusic (Vince Grella 86), Lubomir Lapsansky, Andy Vlahos (Branko Bacak 91), John Markovski (Daniel Allsopp 81), David Cervinski, Mark Atkinson Goal : Vlahos 26
Brisbane as Champions are really not making much of a fist to retain their title and this game was no better for them and a sloppy Glenn Gwynne pass in the defensive part of the field gave Vlahos a chance to run and shoot which he did, and did well. Things got worse for Brisbane when player/coach Frank Farina, after an earlier tackle on Trajkovski, tried to reclaim the ball from Cervinski and earned his second yellow card. After that Brisbane were never really threatening, then again Carlton seemed happy to hold the score right where it was too.
Match report by David Arnold
Match report by David Marshall
Played (2/11/1997) Knights Park Referee : E Brazzale, Crowd : 4502
Melbourne Knights Joe Didulica, Ante Kovacevic, Ivan Jolic, Ransford Banini, Andrew Marth, Ice Kutlesovski (Zoran Markovski 82), Tom Pondeljak, Alan Davidson, Ivan Kelic, John Didulica, Ante Deak (Damon Collina 70)	0	-	0	Sydney United Zeljko Kalac, Peter Bennett, Velimir Kupresak, Joe Vrkic, Richard Plesa, Stuart Munro, Robert Hooker, Paul Bilokapic, Jacob Burns (Marcus Phillips 73), Abbas Saad, David Mitchell (sent off 27)
It's amazing what can happen from a simple free kick. David Mitchell wanted to take it quickly and Andrew Marth decided he'd jump in front of the ball to stop that happening. Mitch wasn't impressed and neither was the referee who showed his yellow bit of cardboard to Stabber Marth. Mitchell must have taken the argument further because the next thing I know Mitch is shown the other bit of cardboard, for what infringement I do not know. Bad round for the old-timers with Frankie Farina also walking off early up in Brisbane. No goals to speak of...
Played (1/11/1997) Seiffert Oval Referee : S Micallef, Crowd : 2005
Canberra Cosmos Tony Giannasca, Paul Dee, Andrew Roberts, Ivan Zelic, Andrew Ravanello (Lindsay Wilson 80), Ante Moric, Harry James (Tony Lemezina 39), Michael Musitano, Peter Buljan (Damien Brown 70), Toplica Popovich, Tom Haythornthwaite Goal : Musitano 90	1	-	2	Adelaide City Jason Petkovic, Bradley Armour, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin (Mark Yates 80), Angelo Costanzo, Damian Mori, John Gibson, Kris Trajanovski, Kosta Salapasidis (Michael Brooks 58), Scott Thomas (Mark Brazzale), Nick Sabljak Goals : Sabljak 15, Trajanovski 67
Some work inside the penalty area, principally by Mori, ended up with the ball rolled back into the path of Sabljak who did not err and scored comfortably. Canberra played well, but without reward and a Sabljak cross was volleyed in at the near post to seal the Adelaide win and continue Canberra's losing streak. Canberra got a late consolation when Dee's cross found a largely unmarked Musitano who headed the ball past the very stationary Petkovic.
Match report by Nick Guoth
Played (2/11/1997) Sydney Football Stadium Referee : M Breeze, Crowd : 4525
UTS Olympic Bob Catlin, Adam Ciantar, Ante Juric (sent off 20), Eric Hristodoulou, Norman Tome, Peter Tsekenis, Derek Poimer (Steve Eagleton 4 (Scott Baillie 22)), Brett Emerton, Kimon Taliadoros (Walter Ardone 65), Jean-Paul deMarigny, Hussein Jomaa	0	-	3	Wollongong City Breet Hughes, Alvin Ceccoli, Robert Stanton (George Souris 57), Jason Connolly, Matthew Horsley, Anthony Surjan (David Huxley 80), Michael Reda (Sonny Sevin 61), Scott Chipperfield, Noel Spencer, Tony Perinich, Neil Harlock Goals : Perinich 5, Connolly 8, Spencer 40
Wollongong have been threatening this sort of result for a while and after only 5 minutes Tony Perinich headed home a corner to signal the start of a bad afternoon for the home side. It got worse when only minutes later a delicately hit Surjan free kick found the head of Connolly obligingly putting the ball into the net. Then Juric, for his second crude tackle, and yellow card, dissociated himself from the proceedings and was sent off. The first half was basically the match when another free kick from Surjan was played short to Spencer and the latter had some luck as his shot defied its innocent nature thanks to Bob Catlin making a hash of it.
Match report by David Borella
Played (2/11/1997) Thebarton Oval Referee : B Panella, Crowd : 4216
Adelaide Sharks Frank Mikuletic, Alex Castro (Paul Pezos 68), Alex Kuzmanovic, Branko Milosevic, Reginaldo Bigu Da Silva, Frank Tibaldi, Pedro Oliveira (Adrian Iandorio 82), Corey Artone, Jim Tsekinis, Pablo Cardozo, John Cutillo (Nathan Day 46) Goal : Day 52	1	-	0	Gippsland Falcons Jim Kourtis, Clayton Bell, Claudio Canosa, Manny Gotis, Tony Sekulic, Nick Palamaras, Doug Marcina, Mark Foy, Archie Thompson (Levent Osman 72), Brian MacNicol (Willie Hastie 60), Joe Tricarico (Nick Tsaltas 34)