Referee: Br*d McK*y
Crowd 3496
These are just some notes/observations of the match mainly for Chris Dunkerley since he always seems to knock up these amazing match reports (how do you do it???)
An overcast night with competition from having to compete with the Newcastle Falcons for fans meant that the crowd was not very large.
The first half was one of the most mind numbing bits of football i've ever seen, both sides had limited chances with the breakers best shot coming late in the first half where the keeper went to catch the ball and dropped it almost onto the feet of 17 year old Owens, however he managed to keep it. The falcons had probably the better chances of the half with Archie Thompson forcing a save from Swancott on the near post late in the 2nd half. The breakers defence was a bit shakey and in attack the ball was too often played too far in front of Buonovoglia (try chanting it!) for him to be able to do much.
Second half started with both teams looking better - the Breakers were often let down by the ball being played too high for the forwards and the Falcons defenders managed to clear the ball most of the time.
Thompson, who had a great game asides from having a penchant for falling to the ground a bit much in the first half - it's ok if he does it for the olyroos but he _really_ should have been sent off for diving in the attempt to win a free kick from the Breakers! :) early in the second half managed to get the ball crossed in from the left wing (i think) recieved the ball at the top left corner of the 18 yard line and fired a rocket past Swancott inside the near post.
The Breakers had several chances after this (as did the Falcons) however approx 65 minutes in the Falcons won a free kick about 20 meters out - perpendicular to the left hand goal post, and managed to score by belting a shot that went through a gap in the wall and beat swancott.. this was no surprise, though swannie is a great keeper when it comes to shot-stopping and commiting himself to saves, his record from free kicks is quite crap.
Greg Owens had a shot that went just centimeters wide and it was about 5 minutes after this, when Fouad Umlil was brought on to replace Owens that the breakers perked up. Suddently they wanted the ball and started winning it. In costrast to last season the Breakers were building up moves by nice passing, this team seems to have better ball skills than last year's. The breakers were starting to look dangerous and missed several chances.
In the last 20 minutes, the Breakers started completely dominating the match, as the Falcons started packing the defence. The Breakers started breaking through the falcons almost at will, via the wings and even through the middle, using close passing and Andy Roberts started making great runs down the wing that were finished off by great crosses into the box, he was almost running the show. Unfortunately at this point there were too many shots for me to remember in any order and so, all i can say is they should have scored 3-6 goals in the last 20 minutes, especially one effort from Buonovoglia that hit the post, and rebounded back for Weiczorec, but his shot was blocked.
They did manage to get on back in the 77th minute where wilson(?) flicked a ball through and Buonavoglia {oh!} managed to get his head to the ball to put it over the keeper for a deserved goal. (thus starting the chant of 'chipped by a midget..' Well, it was funny at the time!'
Overall the Breakers were unlucky not to have won a point, had they played for even half a game as they did in the last 20 minutes, they would have strolled away with the 3 points. Good signs are that the Breakers seem to be over hoofing the ball up the wings as they used to do all the time under Kossie, and are passing the ball around and using their dribbling skills to beat players as opposed to just trying to shoot score on the Break. Buonavoglia is a great player though the balls were often played to him in the air, and the defgenders all seemed to tower over him, the Breakers need someone who is tall and strong up front to start winning those balls. For such a young team they might start being abler to get it together to start stringing some wins together soon
Brad Swancott: Had a decent game (was brought in only hours before the game as Caitlin had a stomach bug - though unsure if he was at fault for the second goal. 6.5
Shane Pryce: Had a solid game with some pretty good tackles - even got forward for a semi-decent header off a free (also known as a penalty on prime news) kick. 7
Andy Roberts: My MOM - not only did he make some crucial tackles, but he did not stop running all night, including making some great penetrating runs that were setiing up great chances - even the stands (surely not!) were heard getting all excited every time he got the ball in th second half. This was also his 107th appearance for the Breakers... equalling Ralph Maiers Record. 9.5
Todd McManus: Didn't do much but was ok.. 6
Glen Sprod: Had a good game 7
Peter Ritchie : Had a quiet game IMO 6
Mark Wilson: Did a good job in the middle, wasn't afraid to try to have a dig when everyone else was reluctant to. 7
John Buonavoglia {oh!} : Didn't stop running and scored, he was working well with Yoon and Wieczorek. was often too heavily relied upon by the midfield. 9
Brad Wieczorek: Missed a couple of chances but was faily effective down the wing. Got the MOM but noone was quite sure for what! (someone suggested that it might be because he played for hamilton olympic last season!) 7
Greg Owens: Had a few chances, played really well - considering he's 17 he'll be one to watch for the future.... 8
Rab Shannon: had an ok game - i wasn't really watching him, he came off in the 2nd half. 7
Sang-Chul Yoon: Had a good game - he's really skillfull on the ball and managed to beat players many times - i feel that his reading of the play is not quite with it yet but i'm sure he'll improve. 7
Fouad Umlil: The rowdies wanted him on the pith and once he was on he had a few nice runs. 7
Apologies for the poor report - i'm useless at trying to remember the order of incidents that happen during the match. If i've made any mistakes just tell me..