The Zebras were shocking with special mention deserving for Dino Menillo, Angelo Costanzo, Bradley Armour and Coach John Nyskohous. Brooks and Mori did bugger-all up front but to be fair it was Olympic's dominance in midfield that denied them the service they needed. Scott Thomas and John Gibson would be my pick of a bad bunch.
Menillo can't run to save his life and he still persists with moronic half-baked 'pay-back' tackles every time someone dares to deprive him of possession. Costanzo is one of my favourite Zebras but he gave away possession on at least five occasions in the first twenty minutes of the game and wasn't seen for the remainder until he was subbed in the second half. Armour's just a loose cannon. Just back from suspension and he looks like he enjoyed it so much he wants to give it another go. I would compare him to Barcelona's "Raging Bull" De La Pena - but Bradley has a touch less skill.
Finally there's Nyskohous. I'm beginning to loose faith in him. Why would you substitute the League's in-form top scorer in Damian Mori with fifteen minutes left? Mori was dumb-struck too so there's no hint of injury.
Olympic looked good, especially in the first half. The Carle brothers played with great confidence and ball skills. Emerton was too much for Armour. Big Bob Catlin didn't put a foot wrong all night.
Oh, and let's not forget the officials. Poor Barry Panella finally gets another chance to show that he's up to A-League standard after spending the past two seasons polishing the spare balls and what a performance he delivered. A liberal sprinkling of incredulous decisions evenly shared between both teams. Incredible restraint was shown by most players except Chris Kalantzis who copped a yellow for dissent. Back in your box Barry.
Right. I feel better now.
BTW, I was told the curtain raiser was Sth Australia (0) vs Hiroshima Sanfrece (2).