The Qld Roar had their first away win in the A-League after a wonderful Warren Moon volley secured the three points for the visitors in a game that saw both teams have a player sent off. A smiling Qld Roar Coach Miron Bleiberg declared Moon the second best left footer in the A-League at the post match press conference. Moon scored in the 68th min after coming on as a replacement for the hard working Massimo Murdocca.
In comparison the much traveled Richard Money looked ’Äòstunned’Äô. ’ÄòI have never been involved in a game where so much can go wrong with your team in which you have no control over’Äô. He was referring to a disastrous sequence of events that occurred in the first half that saw three of his key players forced off the field. Nick Carle was shown a straight red card in the 31st min for a two footed lunge on Karl Dodd, Richard Johnson limped off with a corked thigh in the 40th min then four mins later Ante Milicic ’Äòtinged a hamstring’Äô and came off.
The Qld Roar dominated the early stages as Richard Johnson was caught in possession by Michael Baird who’Äôs up field run found Alex Brosque who shot along the ground across the face of the goal. On 10 mins a Matt McKay shot was blocked by Allan Picken and two Spase Dilevski strikes were stopped by the defence. Three mins later, the end of a Massimo Murdocca run found a fierce Brosque shot which was blocked by Ned Zelic.
The Newcastle Jets found it difficult to penetrate the well organized Qld Roar defence and on 16 mins a Corbo pass to Thompson was well cut out by Remo Buess. The 19th min saw a great Labinot Haliti run, in which he beat two defenders and provide a cross for Ante Milicic whose header forced a quality save from Tom Willis.
The 31st min saw Carle sent off for his two footed lunge on Dodd, this brought a chorus of booing from the home fans and they continued to boo every time Dodd received the ball. The 40th min saw Johnson limp off the field and four mins later saw Milicic depart, this forced Money to bring on James Monie for his debut. He was player of the year in the local competition and is loaned in for 6 weeks from the Weston club due to an injury to Craig Deans.
The closing of the half brought a number of chances to the Qld Roar who used their numerical advantage well. A header to Dodd from a cross from Dilevski, Baird force a diving save from Reddy, Dilevski high curling shot from outside the penalty area going into the far top corner before Reddy saved, a Dilevski corner that found Josh McCloughan miss a seater from 2 meters away and a Murdocca low hard shot along the ground that beat Reddy but went wide of the far upright.
In the second half the Newcastle Jets played three at the back with North and Corbo playing on the flanks. The Qld Roar brought on Jonathan Richter for Karl Dodd.
The second half became fairly scrappy as both teams failed to create opportunities.
The 54th min saw a Baird shot go over the cross bar and two mins later another effort well saved by Reddy.
The 64th min saw a controversial moment when Monie was through on goal and appeared to be held back by Buess, the home crowd awaited a penalty decision but were shocked to see a yellow card for Monie given by referee Srebe Delovski who was referring his first A-League match.
The 68th min saw Warren Moon’Äôs goal came from a run to the byline by Baird who out paced Zelic and pulled the ball back only for Stuart Musialik to clear the ball directly to Moon.
Jordan Simpson the former St George State League Player finally made his A-League debut as a 72nd min sub for Michael Baird after a long term injury, he looked quiet effective and will be value adding to this strong Qld Roar line up.
The 80th min saw another strange decision by referee Delovski. Mackay seemed to genuinely fall over at the edge of the penalty area but was given a yellow card (his second) which turned to red for diving.
The closing minutes saw Musialik and North go close for the Jets and Brosque go narrowly wide for the Qld Roar. The full time whistle saw a chorus of boos from the home fans which were directed at the referee.
Quotes :
Richard Money:
On the referee, "No Comment."
’ÄúTwo weeks ago we were flying high ’Äì but that’Äôs football."
"Corbo was terrific."
Miron Bleiberg:
"We did a lot of work on our defence during the week."
"I felt sorry for Newcastle its not easy when you lose Milicic,
Carle and Johnson all in the first half."
Warren Moon:
"I feel fantastic’Äô ’ÄòI am happy to play the super sub role."